News Briefs

TGI Fridays opened a new restaurant inside the Hilton Garden Inn in Hollywood, Calif. 

Located in the heart of high-traffic Hollywood tourist destinations, the newest Fridays is core to the brand's transformation strategy – offering hotel guests a quintessential Fridays experience while creating a model that's focused on operational value and efficiency.

A Profit Center for the Hotel

To develop the new Fridays location, the brand reimaged existing restaurant space within the Hilton Garden Inn Hollywood to create a profit center for the hotel and a value add for both its guests and the surrounding community that chooses to dine-in or order delivery. Executed in collaboration with Aimbridge Hospitality, the leading, global hotel management company operating the Hilton Garden Inn Hollywood, the renovation maximized underutilized space to create an elevated full-service bar and restaurant experience at a fraction of the cost and time than traditional streetside restaurant locations.

• Related: Denny’s Courts Hotel Partnerships 

The new restaurant opening comes as TGI Fridays continues to see dominance across travel and tourism-focused destinations, including airports, hotels, and casinos. Following the July 2023 renovation of the brand's Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Terminal B restaurant, the location is on track to be the highest volume sales location of any U.S. airport restaurant. Across the country, full-size Fridays restaurants attached to hotels are seeing significantly higher sales volumes than traditional streetside locations.

"Whether domestic or international, leisure or business, we're seeing travelers gravitate to the familiar comfort of the beloved and iconic Fridays brand while they're on the road and away from home," said Chris Devlin, Chief Development Officer at TGI Fridays. "There is massive white space for TGI Fridays within travel-driven locations, representing an incredible growth opportunity for our brand, as we continue to find innovative ways to bring That Fridays Feeling™ to our fans wherever they crave it."

• Related:  Hotel Debuts Pizzeria Uno Franchise

The Hollywood location seats 150 guests across 4,000 square feet, including an outdoor patio overlooking a pedestrian walkway. This is the second Fridays hotel location for RLJ Lodging Trust, the hotel owner which also owns the full-size Fridays attached to the Courtyard by Marriott location near Chicago Midway International Airport.

PopID and Steak n Shake announced today that all Steak n Shake locations in the United States now accept PopID Check In (to review favorite orders and loyalty points) and PopPay for checkout. With more than 300 locations, Steak n Shake is the first national restaurant brand in the United States to adopt biometric check-in and checkout nationwide. PopID’s biometric check-in feature makes kiosk ordering faster, easier, and more personalized.

The implementation of PopID in every Steak n Shake location was accomplished rapidly and at low cost through a partnership between PopID and ACRELEC, a leading supplier of kiosk-ordering hardware and drive-through products. Cameras were shipped to every restaurant for attachment to the existing ACRELEC kiosks. “As explained in our recent publication, ACRELEC believes that our integrated biometric solution provides various benefits to restaurant operators related to throughput, ticket size, and loyalty engagement,” says Bruno Lo-Re, President of ACRELEC America.

“We are thrilled about our partnership with PopID and to be on the edge of biometric technology for the benefit of our customers. Our guests now have the option to use biometrics for a faster and more seamless experience,” says Sardar Biglari, Chairman of Biglari Holdings, the parent company of Steak n Shake.

Now that biometrics are enabled for all ordering and payment inside Steak n Shake restaurants, PopID and Steak n Shake will begin implementing biometric check-in and checkout at the restaurant’s drive-through units. “Similar to the kiosks, biometric check in can increase loyalty participation and revenue at the drive thru while also reducing payment processing costs,” says John Miller, CEO of PopID and Chairman of Cali Group. “Additionally, biometric payment at the order confirmation screen enables staff members to work on tasks other than taking payments by card and phone at the order pick-up window.”

Bojangles officially offers catering through a new partnership with ezCater.

Customers across the brand’s footprint will be able to place catering orders from participating restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner to feed the whole crowd with convenient delivery and pick-up options through ezCater. Simply visit ezcater.com/brand/pvt/bojangles to place an order.

ezCater’s technology makes it easy for Bojangles’ customers to place their catering orders online. They can simply choose items from the Bojangles menu and schedule a delivery or pickup. There is a $50 delivery minimum, and items are portioned to feed crowds, with descriptions indicating how much food comes with each order.

• 85% say integrations with other systems is driving POS purchasing decisions, according to HT's 2024 POS Software Trends Survey 

“Since Bojangles started in 1977, our brand has been synonymous with bringing people together over delicious, home-cooked food. That’s truly what ‘It’s Bo Time’ is all about,” said Sergio Perez, Bojangles’ Sr. Director of Omnichannel Initiatives. “We’re there for our fans and customers on all occasions, and now we’ve made sharing Bojangles’ famous chicken, biscuits and tea even easier with ezCater.”

This is Bojangles’ first official venture into catering as a company, though select franchisees have previously offered this convenience. The streamlined move indicates Bojangles’ widespread commitment to making its food accessible for gatherings of all kinds and celebrating fans at every moment. From popular breakfast items like its signature made-from-scratch biscuits and Bo Rounds to staple lunch and dinner items like fried chicken, sandwiches, fixins and Legendary Iced Tea, there’s something for everyone on the catering menu. As summer approaches, Bojangles expects fans to take advantage of this offering for graduations, summer celebrations, family gatherings, weddings and more.

“ezCater is extremely well-positioned in the business catering market,” added Perez, “so we’re excited about the potential to bring our beloved breakfast biscuits and popular chicken to more and more businesses all across Bojangles country.”

“We are thrilled to support Bojangles in launching their catering program and look forward to sending them large, incremental orders from workplaces across the country,” said Michelle Smart, Chief Customer Care Officer at ezCater. “They are sure to be a big hit with our customers. What could be better than bringing your team together over a platter of their delicious chicken biscuits?”

Bojangles plans to celebrate the new catering option by catering special moments and gatherings with some lucky fans throughout the summer, so stay tuned for more on the festive opportunities.

iPourIt, a self-pour beverage dispense technology provider, and GoTab Inc., an e-commerce platform for hospitality, have announced a groundbreaking integration that will transform the way businesses manage their self-pour operations. This partnership combines iPourIt's technology with GoTab's guest ordering and payment solutions to increase operator revenue and enhance the customer experience.

iPourIt and GoTab work together seamlessly, eliminating the need to manage food and beverage tabs separately. RFID cards and wristbands for iPourIt self-serve beverage system access can now be issued directly from the GoTab Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal. This allows guests to pour from the iPourIt self-pour system and make other purchases through the GoTab POS using the same RFID card or wristband, and pay for everything on a single tab. With GoTab’s Easy Tab feature, guests can also view their tab in real-time on their phone and order food and other items straight from their device with no app downloads or registration required.

"We are thrilled to partner with GoTab to deliver a truly seamless self-pour experience," said Flinn Flexer, CEO of iPourIt. "This integration will empower businesses to simplify their operations, boost efficiency, and ultimately increase their bottom line."

The iPourIt and GoTab integration offers a wide range of benefits, including:

• Streamlined efficiency: Fast checkouts and consolidated transactions create a seamless, streamlined experience for both businesses and customers.
• Actionable insights: Centralized management and simplified reporting enable data-driven decisions that drive growth and optimization.
• User-friendly experience: Operators can offer an engaging and satisfying self-pour and food ordering experience, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty while driving repeat business.

"We’re excited to bring this integration to our mutual customers. By combining our expertise, we are empowering businesses to provide a more efficient, profitable, and enjoyable experience for both staff and customers,” said GoTab CEO Tim McLaughlin.

This partnership marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the self-pour industry, offering businesses a powerful solution to enhance their operations and drive growth.

Award-winning New Zealand tech innovator, Fingermark, has secured a cornerstone investment from global water, hygiene and infection prevention leader, Ecolab. This investment includes a multimillion dollar capital injection that will support Fingermark’s rapidly rising global growth trajectory.

Luke Irving, Founder and Chief Executive of Fingermark, hailed the deal as transformative. “This is a true collaboration that will help both companies better serve global Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) customers and further establish Fingermark’s growing reputation,” said Irving.

Fingermark is a computer vision and self ordering technology provider to some of the world’s largest enterprise QSR brands. Their technology provides automation that supports restaurant processes to enhance profitability and competitiveness, reduce costs, mitigate labour shortages and meet heightened customer expectations. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

A trusted partner for millions of customers, Ecolab is a global sustainability leader with annual sales of $15 billion and 48,000 associates serving customers in more than 170 countries around the world. Ecolab’s innovative solutions improve operational efficiencies and sustainability for customers in the food, healthcare, life sciences, hospitality and industrial markets.

“For more than 100 years, Ecolab has worked to help our hospitality and foodservice customers achieve their operational and sustainability goals,” says Chris Loflin, Senior Vice President & General Manager Global QSR. “Teaming up with Fingermark will help us address modern operational challenges and begin delivering on the promise of AI and computer vision technology at scale for our global QSR customers.”
 

“There is massive change in the Global QSR sector as the move to automation gathers pace,” Irving comments. “While this is just the start of our work with Ecolab, they see Fingermark as playing a critical role in the long-term strategies for the QSR market."
 

At the latest AmCham awards, where Fingermark won the DHL Express Success & Innovation Award for Technology Exporter of the Year to the United States, the judges noted the company’s dedication, innovation, and capacity to succeed on a global scale.

The judging criteria included showcasing a deep passion for achieving business success, fostering innovation and harnessing marketing opportunities, with Fingermark exemplifying these characteristics, as well as the power of innovation, collaboration, and determination, said the judges.
 

Premium Parking, the leader in full-stack digital parking, today announced the launch of FolioCharge™️, a new service that allows hotel guests to seamlessly charge parking to their hotel rooms. The first application of its kind, FolioCharge makes hotel parking more convenient for guests and manageable for hotels. Integrating Premium Parking’s API Connection with hotels’ PMS systems, the application allows guests to charge parking directly to their rooms using their smart phones’ using CameraPay® or TextPay® features. 

“FolioCharge will revolutionize hotel parking,” said Ben Montgomery, President, Premium Parking. “Hotels strive to provide the best possible guest experience, and that includes parking. FolioCharge gives guests complete control over their hotel parking experience, in the palms of their hands and on their own personal devices.”

The launch of FolioCharge was announced at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference in New York City.

Premium Parking also announced that hospitality industry legend Lee LaRochelle has joined the company as a consultant. A revered hotel industry leader with more than 45 years of experience, LaRochelle has served in many leadership positions, including as Vice President of Operations and Sales for Marriott International for nearly 25 years. As a consultant to Premium Parking, he will provide his expertise and experience in the development of new parking technology products and services to improve the hotel parking experience.