Joe Guszkowski

Milwaukee

Senior Editor at Restaurant Business

I cover restaurant tech and casual dining and write a weekly column called Tech Check for @RB_magazine

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Articles

Value remains a top priority for restaurant customers, finds Yelp

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Pat Cobe |Bret Thorn |Timothy Inklebarger |Joe Guszkowski |Jonathan Maze |Lisa Jennings | +1 more

Searches for "cheap eats" and "meal deals" have spiked this year, according to the platform’s 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry
Newtide launches AI agent for fuel, convenience retailers

2 weeks ago | cspdailynews.com | Rachel Gignac |Heather Lalley |Diane Adam |Hannah Prokop |Greg Lindenberg |Jonathan Maze | +2 more

Data management technology captures information, generates insights and orchestrates automation
Coco Robotics raises $80M to scale up autonomous delivery fleet

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

FacebookTwitterLinkedInThere are about 1,000 Coco robots in the wild today. | Photo courtesy of Coco RoboticsHere come the delivery robots. Coco Robotics, the maker of four-wheeled autonomous sidewalk rovers, has raised $80 million to help grow its fleet. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and an existing Coco investor, contributed to the fundraising round. About 1,000 Coco bots are currently making deliveries in Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami and Helsinki.
DoorDash wants to be everywhere

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

Once upon a time, DoorDash was a spoke on a big wheel of restaurant ordering channels. These days, it is starting to look more like a hub. That’s our biggest takeaway after a pair of acquisitions by the delivery company that have it set to take a bigger share of the restaurant tech ecosystem. Last month, DoorDash announced plans to acquire reservations and marketing service SevenRooms for $1.2 billion in a deal that officially closed last week.
Denny's-owned Keke's Breakfast Cafe begins national expansion push

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

FacebookTwitterLinkedInA Keke's in Gallatin, Tennessee, sporting the brand's refreshed design. | All photos courtesy of Keke's Breakfast CafeKeke’s Breakfast Cafe is about to start opening a lot more restaurants. Three years after it was acquired by Denny’s, the family-dining chain has already opened nine locations this year, with 11 more in the hopper. If that holds, it will be the most locations Keke’s has ever opened in a year, and would bring the chain to more than 85 total units.
Perkins and Huddle House aim for revivals with boba, smash burgers and drive-thrus

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

FacebookTwitterLinkedInHuddle House will add drive-thrus as it moves into more urban and suburban markets. | All photos courtesy of Ascent Hospitality ManagementA pair of legacy family-dining brands are out to prove that age is only a number. Perkins, the 68-year-old chain best known for its bakery case, recently began serving boba and frozen margaritas, while its younger sibling Huddle House, 61, is rolling out smash burgers.
Hulk Hogan's Real American Beer brand is trying to buy Hooters

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

Hulk Hogan apparently wants to be the next face of Hooters. The former pro wrestler’s Real American Beer brand is reportedly planning a bid to buy Hooters of America (HOA), the Atlanta-based franchisor that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. The 1-year-old beer company said last month that it was interested in acquiring the Hooters brand name to use on merchandise.
Why some restaurants aren't sold on AI yet

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

If you attend restaurant conferences or tune in to restaurant earnings calls, you might assume that every restaurant on earth is investing in artificial intelligence. And it’s true that most of the biggest chains are doing that. But for the broader restaurant universe, the reality is more mixed. Not every operator is sold on the promise of AI.
Restaurant tech giants Crunchtime and QSR Automations are merging

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

FacebookTwitterLinkedInQSR Automations offers kitchen display systems for large restaurant chains. | Photo courtesy of QSR AutomationsQSR Automations and Crunchtime, two of the biggest back-of-house technology suppliers in the restaurant industry, are planning to merge, the companies said Tuesday.
Tech supplier SpotOn launches a mobile app to compete with aggregators

2 weeks ago | restaurantbusinessonline.com | Joe Guszkowski

POS provider SpotOn is going after restaurant “super apps” like DoorDash and Uber Eats with a mobile ordering app of its own. The company on Monday launched GoTo Place, a way for customers to order from nearby restaurants that use SpotOn’s online ordering software. Consumers can use it to place an order for pickup or delivery; make a reservation or get on the waitlist; and collect loyalty points.