Stop upselling sparkling water

Toast Delivery Services' new partnership with Uber has confused some restaurant owners. Thankfully, the point-of-sale system provider has come back to clarify what it all means for you and your customers and their food deliveries. 

Plus, who knew there were so many opinions about sparkling water?

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What we're following: Toast's Uber announcement. Confused about Toast Delivery Services' deal with Uber? You are not alone. Thankfully, Expedite's Kristen Hawley clarifies a few things for the flummoxed restaurant operators out there. Namely, Toast is adding Uber Direct as a white-label delivery partner, but it's also keeping DoorDash. This will, no doubt, be a relief to many. 

What we're reading: New York Magazine's inside look at Dan Richer's complex pizza-making process at Razza Pizza Artigianale in New Jersey.

Restaurant tech on our radar: Pickpad, a smart pad with weight sensors that can detect if a restaurant order is missing an item and help avoid some of the chaos that comes with pickup orders.

What we're keeping an eye on: How tariffs on alcohol could be worse for the industry during this Trump presidency. 

Plus: Preshift asked bartenders and chefs what they want for the holidays this year. The answers did not disappoint. 

Here for the sparkling water, not the upsell

In Eater, writer Jaya Saxena argues that sparkling water should be free at restaurants. It might cost a bit for restaurants (around $300 a month), says Chase Sinzer, owner of Claud and Penny restaurants in Manhattan where he offers filtered, carbonated water for free. But many restaurants find the costs outweigh the benefits. Free sparkling water also gives diners a sense of value, even when they’re spending a lot on fine dining. 

"We always thought if you’re going to spend that much money on dinner, you should be getting your water for free, whether it’s bubbly or not," says Sinzer. "If we can imprint something, and that imprint is something that showcases the value we’re trying to give you, it’s a good thing, hypothetically, for us as a business to keep you coming back to the restaurant." (Eater)

29%

Number of diners who say they will skip ordering an appetizer in order to save money. (Datassential)

Cancelling reservations. Keeping hospitality. 

An unexpected, temporary restaurant closure doesn’t mean operators can forgo hospitality. There’s a right way and a wrong way to cancel reservations and keep potential and expected diners up-to-date, says author Dave Foss, co-founder of creative hospitality group Maverick Theory. A lot of it comes down to communication. Call and email diners who have reservations that will be impacted by closures, and post updates on restaurant closures on social media. But why not go above and beyond and offer to help secure reservations at another restaurant for disappointed guests? Or make note in your reservation system to treat those guests next time they’re in, Foss says. "You can apologize again for canceling their reservation, and you can send out a drink or a dessert on the house. Even if they don’t come back for a year, if you do this, they will be blown away that you remembered the situation." (VinePair) 

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"It’s a privilege and a right to be able to serve food to people in this country, and safety and making sure that people feel safe in consuming that food is a critical component of that."

- Christine Schindler, co-founder and CEO of PathSpot, a food health and safety technology company

(🎧The Simmer)

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