Kristen Hawley

A full restaurant is great for business, but too full can be off-putting. Striking the right balance between walk-ins and reservations is crucial to success, but it's not easy.

Wingstop's digital sales and tech-forward initiatives are poised to launch it into pizza delivery territory, but it still needs to contend with a nationwide awareness and recognition issue.

Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol outlined his turnaround plan in June, but still cautions it's "early days" for just about everything, from menu changes to price changes to a new customer loyalty program.

Uber Eats has proven its model is easily replicable in new markets, and it continues to increase its speed of growth. A new feature, just announced, aims to speed it up even more: now restaurants can sign up to work with Uber Eats on their own, no salesperson (or sales process) required.

Finally, an interesting development in the business of casual all-day cafés: sometimes, they get turned into something else completely.

The complete consolidation of Kayak and OpenTable's teams means OpenTable — Booking Holdings' only restaurant business — won't have a dedicated leader. It's disappointing to lose one of the few female CEOs in the restaurant tech space, especially the one who's arguably the most visible.

Amazon's Alexa has already proven its value to consumers at home, but integrating voice technology into front of house restaurant operations could be a true time-saver for busy staff.

At this point, group-level features are table stakes for reservations companies and are a huge part of winning the all-important group contracts.

Will delivery "save" Subway? No. But since delivery is becoming a mission critical part of a restaurant's operational strategy, the chain is smart to roll it out in a big way.

Gone are the days of the stodgy hotel restaurant. Now, restaurants within hotels play an integral role in the vibe, business model, and guest experience. There's also plenty of room to affect real change.