During our recent webinar, “Emerging Restaurant Trends You Need to Know for 2025,” leaders from &pizza, Tupelo Honey, and Olo discussed how brands are adapting to evolving consumer demand, must-have tech for streamlining operations and driving profitable traffic, and tips for accelerating growth.
Keep scrolling for highlights from our conversation—including the top trends restaurant operators need to know to stay ahead this year.
Then, watch the full video to hear directly from Greg LaFauci, VP of IT at &pizza, Caroline Skinner, COO at Tupelo Honey, and Matt Finch, VP of Sales Engineering at Olo.
Redefining value—beyond price
To win over cost-conscious guests, restaurants are prioritizing quality, consistency, and reasonable prices over discounts. As Caroline Skinner from Tupelo Honey shared:
“Value for us is really the entire worth of the experience, in the restaurant or taking food home... Rather than extensive promotions or discounting, we’ve chosen to approach value by creating a holistic experience for the guest and making everybody feel like a regular.”
This means restaurants must focus on personalized service, hospitality—regardless of how a guest chooses to order or engage with the brand—and fostering a connection with each guest.
The “phygital” experience
Guests today expect a seamless blend of online and in-person experiences, whether they use your restaurant’s mobile app, order via a self-service kiosk, or dine in-store. Greg LaFauci from &pizza highlighted the need for consistency across platforms:
“You can no longer have gift cards that don’t work in both places, loyalty that doesn’t work in both, or a menu that’s different online than in-store. The guest experience has to feel the same throughout.”
Restaurants that fail to create a fluid “phygital” (physical + digital) experience risk losing guests to competitors who do.
Leveraging technology to elevate hospitality
Restaurant technology is no longer just about streamlining operations or making the guest experience more convenient, it’s about enhancing human connection. Instead of replacing human interaction, brands are using tech to create more meaningful guest engagement. As Caroline explained:
“A lot of our tech strategy is about how can we elevate humanity and take out some of the transactional components, allowing our staff to be more human in their interactions... Also, how we communicate with our guests from a digital marketing standpoint—tailoring messages using data like order trends and frequency to target guests based on what they want to hear from us as opposed to blanket promotions.”
Greg added:
“We’re leaning in on kiosks... It allows our team to engage with guests on a more personal level. Instead of just taking an order, they can ask, ‘Did you see the game last night?’ or have a real conversation.”
Additionally, AI-driven personalization is helping restaurants tailor guest experiences. Matt Finch from Olo emphasized the shift toward hyper-personalization:
“Having a single view of the guest, whether they order online or in-store, is critical. AI allows restaurants to recognize patterns in guest behavior and create highly personalized offers and experiences.”
Embracing new revenue streams
With shifting dining habits, catering and large-format takeout have become major growth opportunities for restaurants. Catering alone has the potential to represent up to 20% of a restaurant’s total revenue. Caroline noted:
“We know dine-in will always be core to who we are, but we’re leaning into catering and large-format takeout because guests want to experience our brand in different ways.”
Matt echoed this sentiment, stating:
“Catering is a huge opportunity right now. It introduces new guests to your brand and provides a high-margin revenue stream that operators can leverage.”
By offering guests a variety of ways to engage with your brand, you can attract new audiences and maximize revenue beyond traditional dine-in experiences.
Future-proofing the restaurant tech stack
As brands scale, selecting the right technology stack is crucial. Fragmented point solutions that offer an incomplete view of guest behavior and make personalized marketing impossible are a non-starter.
Greg emphasized the importance of scalability and eliminating data silos:
“Scalability in both capacity and cost is key. You need technology partners that grow with you. Having the right integration capabilities is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity.”
Caroline added that brands must think long-term when evaluating technologies:
“You don’t want to be in a position where you have to rip and replace your entire tech stack every few years. Future-proofing means selecting flexible and compatible solutions from the start.”
Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The decision to build or buy restaurant tech is highly nuanced and can have drastically different outcomes depending on your brand’s objectives, existing tech ecosystem, and budget.
Community building
Creating strong community ties remains a priority for growing restaurant brands in 2025. As Caroline shared:
“The best version of a restaurant is one that’s rooted in the community. We want our operators to have the capacity to step outside their four walls and engage with local schools and organizations.”
Greg agreed, emphasizing that real-time guest feedback is crucial:
“We’re putting phones back in our shops. It allows us to resolve guest concerns immediately rather than letting negative experiences turn into bad reviews online.”
Accelerating growth
Finding the right partners and optimizing operations is key for emerging brands looking to scale quickly. Greg advised:
“A mentor of mine used to say a rocket ship strips off layers as it ascends. You need to choose the right technology partners at each stage of your growth.”
Matt highlighted the importance of agility:
“The restaurant industry is always changing. Brands that stay adaptable, integrate AI, and expand into catering will position themselves for success in 2025.”
How to watch the webinar on demand
This year, restaurants that prioritize experience-driven value, offer multiple ways for guests to seamlessly engage with the brand, and make strategic, long-term technology investments will be best positioned for success.
Watch the entire webinar on demand to hear Greg, Caroline, and Matt weigh in on some of the most important issues and opportunities restaurants face today—and offer strategies for increasing orders, streamlining operations, and improving guest experiences.
Subscribe to The Olo Feed for more restaurant tech news and data-driven insights from industry experts. To discover how Olo can help your emerging restaurant brand meet guests’ evolving expectations, streamline operations, and future-proof your tech stack, request a demo.
