Dave Shula Returns as President of Shula's Restaurant Group
Dave Shula rejoins Shula's Restaurant Group as president, leading growth into Palm Beach Gardens and a 2027 Thomasville, Georgia expansion.
Sep 23, 2026
Dave Shula rejoins Shula's Restaurant Group as president, leading growth into Palm Beach Gardens and a 2027 Thomasville, Georgia expansion.
Sep 23, 2026
McDonald's commits $8.5 billion through 2036 to modernize restaurants, boost cash flow by $100,000 per store, and grow chicken and beverage sales.
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WKS Restaurant Group promotes Jay Spongberg to president and COO after he helped grow the company from 65 to 382 restaurants over 16 years.
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Smokey Mo's BBQ names Von Dawson, a Dine Brands veteran, as VP of Franchise Development to lead its Texas expansion strategy.
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Meritage Hospitality's Chapter 11 filing pulls 5% of Wendy's U.S. stores into bankruptcy, exposing cracks in franchising's bigger-is-safer bet.
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Jack in the Box names Rachel Ruggeri to its board as Michael Murphy retires, amid a CEO transition and deal with investor GreenWood.
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Improve restaurant Google Maps rankings by optimizing your business profile, selecting accurate categories, gathering reviews, adding photos, and strengthening local relevance signals.
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Restaurant inventory tracking helps owners monitor stock, control food costs, reduce waste, improve purchasing, and make informed operational decisions.
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Restaurant owners can significantly reduce restaurant costs by leveraging technology across inventory, labor, procurement, forecasting, and administrative operations for better profit margins.
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Understand how to forecast restaurant revenue and expenses with methods for sales projection, cost scaling, fixed-cost planning, and risk buffering.
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Explore how automation is reshaping the restaurant industry, focusing on Donatos' innovative strategies and the wider trend towards AI integration.

Under the leadership of CEO Kevin King, Donatos has positioned automation as a core strategy to drive efficiency and enhance customer engagement. By leveraging technology, particularly AI and innovative menu approaches, the company aims to increase customer frequency while empowering employees to focus on delivering exceptional hospitality.
Revmo’s AI system, seamlessly integrated into Donatos' point-of-sale platform, offers advanced capabilities such as secure credit card processing over the phone and intelligent coupon recognition. The system's proprietary 'INSANO Mode' voice engine provides customers with a personalized, human-like ordering experience, streamlining the process and reducing errors and wait times.

Technology plays a pivotal role in Donatos' growth strategy as it targets increased comparable sales and store-level EBITDA margins. By signing multi-unit deals and expanding into new markets like North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas, Donatos is building a robust system to scale its operations. The focus on automation is particularly vital in Texas, where the company envisions establishing 100 locations over time.

Donatos is not the only restaurant chain embracing automation; several others like Taco Bell, Bojangles, Wendy’s, Torchy’s Tacos, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, and Portillo’s are investing in technology to improve operational efficiency. From drive-thru voice AI systems to phone AI ordering and even computer vision for enhancing drive-thru speeds, automation is becoming a standard across the industry.
