Automation in Restaurants is Here to Stay

Automated Grease Disposal  

One way to simplify the kitchen staff’s work is to make taking out the trash easier. Or, eliminate one thing that they have to do at the end of the night before clocking out. 

Automated used cooking oil (UCO) containers are a great way to do just that. Cooking oil is a necessary ingredient to have and use in all commercial kitchens, but especially fast food ones. Disposing of the used oil that is no longer good for cooking can be a big ordeal, but not with quality UCO containers. 

DAR PRO offers automated cooking systems that take the used cooking oil directly from the fryers to the UCO container. It’s not a fit for every kitchen, but we’ll help you find the best solution for yours. 

Automation Tools for Restaurants 

If you’ve been struggling with staffing and serving efficiency, or if you’re simply looking into adding some automation to your restaurant operation, this is a good place to start. Digital waitlists have been around forever to help servers and hosts, but here are a few new ways to automate for a better customer experience.  

Some of the top automations tools that restaurants use include QR code menus, online ordering, and mobile point-of-sale systems. 

QR Code Menus 

QR codes aren’t a new concept, but their popularity soared during the pandemic, and they aren’t likely to go anywhere. QR codes take just seconds to generate online. All you need is a website with an up-to-date menu for people to view once they scan the QR code. 

You can secure the QR codes to the tables, making it easy for people to view the menu whenever they’re ready on their own phone. Most commonly, restaurants laminate the QR codes and secure them to the table with tape. You can also post these QR codes all about the restaurant, at the bar, outside, on the door, so people can view them anywhere in the restaurant or even scan it to take a look for later.  

Tip: If you go all-out for QR codes, don’t forget to keep a few traditional menus as backup in case of technical difficulties. 

Online Ordering 

Online ordering has become more popular at bars and restaurants. The best practice is to tie the QR code to your online ordering system/POS where the customer is able to view the menu while placing their order. 

Label QR codes as “Order Here” or “Order Online” so customers know exactly what to do. Also, make sure the table numbers are obvious so that the food and drink runners can send everything to the right place and the right customers. 

Mobile apps are also commonly used for pick up and delivery orders nowadays. 

Mobile POS Technology 

POS stands for point of sale system. It's the system that the servers send your orders through and completes the transactions to pay your bill when you’re finished and ready to go. Traditionally, servers take the order at the table via stunning memory or pen and paper, then walk back to the POS station to input it to send the ticket to the bar and kitchen.  

Many POS companies are now offering either tablets or small phone-like handhelds so the server can send the order right from the table. This saves time and helps to eliminate discrepancies that may come from not being able to read your handwriting, forgetting part of the order, and missing details or modifications. The handheld device prompts you to input those details and the order while you’re still with the customers. 

Automation Systems for Fast Food  

The fast food industry is likely to be where we’ll see the most advances in automation. Fast food chains have been riddled with labor shortages that continue to push the industry’s evolution with automation. The use of various automated restaurant equipment and systems continue to be implemented every day.  

Self-Service Kiosks 

When you walk into a fast food establishment nowadays, there is a good chance you’ll first be met by some kind of technology before you interact with a human employee. 

At some fast food joints, customers don’t need to wait for an employee to take their order at the counter. Instead, they can waltz up to a self-service ordering kiosk at their own convenience and place an order without ever having to speak a word.  

While the social implications of this technology remain to be seen, there’s no doubt that it can save significant time and energy.  

Robots  

Some fast food places are testing out burger-flipping, deep frying robots. While this may not work for higher-end, sit-down restaurants, fast food has a standard menu with standard items at every location.  

Robots are being tested not only as cooks in fast food restaurants but for food delivery as well. Drones and little robot wagons have become more and more popular in urban areas around the country.  

Automate Your Kitchen and Be More Efficient with DAR PRO 

Here at DAR PRO, we specialize in eliminating duties that once fell to kitchen staff, or making it safer and easier to do those duties. Through the use of our automated systems, secure bins, and secure transportation of UCO to those bins, employees no longer have to worry about unsafely lugging around hot oil at the end of a shift.  

Once the oil is in the container, we’ll collect it on your schedule. Dealing with UCO is inevitable in a commercial kitchen, but DAR PRO makes it simple and mess-free while taking care of it for you. 

Reach out to DAR PRO today at (855) 727-0459 to make your life, and the lives of your employees, easier, safer, and more efficient.