Some restaurants lose up to two hours a day just switching between tech systems. This week, we look at that "toggle tax," how to get a real handle on food costs and why Wonder is betting on AI, robots and autonomous delivery. Plus, fine-dining chefs are chasing grocery deals and Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Kitchen is opening its doors to dine-in guests.

But first, DoorDash pays out a whopping $131.5 million settlement to delivery workers in NYC over unpaid wages.

Selling out. Fine-dining chefs are looking to cash in at the grocery aisle.

Resurrected. Iconic NYC restaurant on the Upper West Side will reopen under new management.

Dialing back. Los Angeles fine-dining restaurants are pivoting to more casual concepts. 

Have a seat. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Kitchen is leaning into brick-and-mortar dine-in business.

Coming soon. The NYTimes drops its fall restaurant preview and includes a few trends.

Food cost percentages can obscure their real impact on profitability. Rather than focusing solely on percentages, restaurants should evaluate food costs in actual dollars and understand how reductions flow directly to the bottom line. Purchasing, inventory, recipe management, waste reduction, yield management and ingredient cross-utilization are key levers.

Why it matters: With ingredient prices putting continued pressure on margins, small improvements in food-cost control can translate directly into increased profit. Operators should involve kitchen teams in understanding food costs, track actual versus theoretical usage, improve purchasing and storage, minimize waste and design menus that maximize expensive ingredients across multiple dishes. (Nation’s Restaurant News)

Wonder is building an autonomous food platform that combines AI, robotics and autonomous delivery to produce and distribute meals more efficiently. At FSTEC, executives outlined plans to automate more of the kitchen and delivery process, aiming to lower costs, increase throughput and make restaurant food more accessible.

Why it matters: Wonder’s model points toward a restaurant industry where technology increasingly handles production, fulfillment and delivery. For operators, that could reshape labor needs, kitchen design and delivery economics while raising customer expectations around speed and convenience. It also signals growing competition from technology-driven concepts designed to scale restaurant brands with fewer traditional barriers, and fewer humans. (Restaurant Business)

Do you have too many silos? Restaurant operators increasingly rely on multiple technology platforms for ordering, loyalty, scheduling, reporting and analytics, but disconnected systems can create a “toggle tax.” One study found 35% of restaurant businesses spend one to two hours daily switching between systems, while 27% spend 30–60 minutes doing so.

Why it matters: More technology doesn't automatically mean greater efficiency. When systems fail to communicate, employees waste time switching dashboards, re-entering information and reconciling data instead of serving guests or driving revenue. Owners should evaluate technology based not only on individual features, but also on integration, interoperability and whether each new platform actually reduces operational friction. (QSR Magazine)

The percentage that restaurant sales grew in August to $105.1 billion in revenue, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth. (National Restaurant Association)

Modernization often sounds like starting from scratch: new systems, retrained crews, disrupted franchisees. This article makes the case for a different path, one where familiar restaurant workflows carry forward onto modern architecture instead of being replaced overnight. It explores what operators should weigh when evaluating a platform change: how much retraining is required, franchisee impact, and transition continuity. Aloha Next by NCR Voyix is built on this idea, giving operators a practical route to modern architecture without forcing crews to relearn the basics or rip out what already works.

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The Prep is written by Kelly Dobkin and edited by Bianca Prieto.