In this episode of Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants, host Paul Molinari delivers something more personal — a 40-year journey through restaurant technology through the lens of a Gen X operator. From washing dishes at a Long Island Italian restaurant in 1985 to navigating AI-driven tech stacks today, Molinari traces how his generation lived through every major disruption the industry has seen — the first POS systems, OpenTable, Y2K, third-party delivery, COVID, and now artificial intelligence — and why that hard-won, skeptical-but-practical perspective is exactly what the industry needs right now.

In this Thirsty Thursday episode, we welcome Scott Siegel of Curbit to discuss digital order orchestration and kitchen capacity management to reduce late pickups, cold food, and crowded pickup areas. Scott explains Curbit’s origins as a curbside pickup solution and how the pandemic-driven surge in digital ordering revealed a need to coordinate guest arrival with real-time kitchen production.

In early March, McDonald’s CEO posted a LinkedIn video taking a careful bite of the new Big Arch burger, sparking widespread mockery and triggering response videos from Burger King and Wendy’s in what became the “great fast food CEO war of 2026.” Paul Molinari, founder of Popcorn GTM breaks down how the moment became a data and tech story: McDonald’s saw 47,000+ mentions and 5.8B reach, yet Burger King appeared in 68% of the conversation and later saw a 7.4% year-over-year visit lift versus McDonald’s 2.2% and Wendy’s down 10.7%. The episode argues that viral attention converts only when brands have integrated digital ecosystems—loyalty, apps, POS, and marketing stacks—highlighting McDonald’s AI, edge computing, and geofenced order systems, Burger King’s Royal Perks growth, and lessons from the 2019 chicken sandwich wars.

Breaking down Olo’s new customer-facing ordering app and asking who really benefits—guests, restaurant brands, or Olo. It frames the app as a “remote control” for ordering across many Olo-powered restaurants, potentially reducing app clutter, avoiding marketplace-style price inflation, and enabling “second-party ordering” where brands retain guest relationships while benefiting from network reach and data for better reordering and personalization. We highlight tradeoffs around privacy, unified guest profiles, notifications, and the risk of the app becoming a tracking tool or ad mall. Is the app is a guest win only if it’s meaningfully simpler, offers fairer economics, and earns trust with clean controls? And how does loyalty, discovery, and promotion work, notes a late-2026 network expansion, and points to Curbit’s order-orchestration as a potential advantage.

Paul and Matt are joined by Kerry Leo, Vice President of Technology at Shipley Donuts, to discuss Shipley’s modernization journey since he joined in 2021. Leo explains how Shipley moved from fragmented franchise technology to a cloud-based, franchise-ready ecosystem by standardizing POS and networking across 340 locations, standing up Oracle NetSuite for ERP and back office, and launching online ordering with Olo and a mobile app. They detail how AI-assisted ordering now supports roughly 22% of online orders and is generating about 24% higher average checks through features like auto-boxing, suggesting dozen discounts, and quickly building large meeting or event orders. They also cover how Shipley measures success beyond check size and preview Leo’s upcoming MURTEC talk on AI in ordering and operations. Visit: https://popcorngtm.com/podcasts

It's another Thirsty Thursday episode! This time Paul and Matt welcome Laurens Pitts, VP of Technology at Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill, a Charlotte, North Carolina–based fast-casual Tex-Mex chain founded in 2000 with 80+ locations. Drawing on Laurens' experience on both the vendor and operator sides, they discuss how vendor–operator relationships have become less healthy over the past 5–15 years, with less coaching around relationship-building and more lead-generation pressure. The conversation focuses on trade show season etiquette: using “bar etiquette” and body language, avoiding aggressive aisle-blocking and overbearing follow-ups, and understanding how first impressions shape months of post-show outreach. Laurens' highlights common mistakes like “bumping to the top of your inbox,” replying repeatedly to the same email thread, overusing the “five minutes on your calendar” ask, auto-subscribing prospects to marketing newsletters, and insulting a buyer’s existing tech stack. They also touch on using LinkedIn to stay current on industry activity, the importance of referral networks and credible operator advocates, and the FORKED LinkedIn community (Forum of Restaurant Knowledge Exchange and Development) as a non-pitch space for sharing insights between operators and restaurant tech companies. Visit: Salsarita's at https://salsaritas.com/ Visit: Popcorn GTM at https://popcorngtm.com Visit: OGC at https://onegoalconsulting.com

Guest Joanna Fantozzi, Senior Editor at Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, joins Paul and Matt to discuss where restaurant loyalty is headed. Fantozzi argues “is loyalty dead?” is the wrong question and explains that loyalty programs mainly attract already-loyal guests, that consumers have limited appetite for downloading multiple apps, and that loyalty is evolving beyond points. The group discusses Starbucks reintroducing tiered rewards (including a new Reserve tier requiring about $104/month spend) and how changes like fewer stars per dollar and added complexity can frustrate customers and reduce perceived value. Fantozzi highlights consumer concerns about transparency and moving goalposts, shares a non-restaurant example of points expiring quickly, and points to digital wallet-based rewards as a growing alternative to apps. She previews an upcoming NRN story on unique loyalty approaches, including a Brazilian steakhouse using group rewards, and says subscription loyalty is unlikely to grow due to subscription fatigue despite examples like Panera’s Sip Club. They also cover how creators and influencers affect brand affinity, citing Chili’s momentum from influencer-driven content, and note that influencer-friendly loyalty is authentic and easy to explain.