Step into the back room of restaurant tech with raw, unfiltered takes from Steve. This section dishes out personal insights, critiques, and commentary on the tools shaping the food service industry—especially when they don’t live up to the hype. No fluff, no spin—just honest reflections from someone who’s been in the trenches.
I still sling pies at a local pizza shop. Before that, I worked in restaurants , fast food joints, and a couple of mid-tier chains. One thing hasn’t changed: restaurants are hooked on tech—Toast, Uber Eats, DoorDash, you name it. It’s not just about convenience anymore. It’s about control, write-offs, and dodging taxes.
These platforms promise efficiency, but what they really offer is a loophole. Restaurants lean on gig workers and third-party apps so they can classify expenses differently, write off tech fees, and avoid the overhead of hiring full-time staff. It’s a clever system—until you realize who’s paying the price.
The apps take a cut. The gig workers get no benefits. And the websites? They’re often templated, shallow, and built more for tax strategy than customer experience. I’ve seen places spend more on their online ordering fees than on actual kitchen upgrades.
We can make it better. Real websites. Real staff. Real investment in the people who make the food—not just the platforms that deliver it. Tech should support restaurants, not replace their soul.
