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Hospitality has always been about more than serving delicious food. In the video series “Running a Restaurant Is No Joke,” comedian Eric Wareheim said, “It’s about giving. It’s about that act of giving something that you made to someone else and making them laugh or making them smile because it’s so good.” The series explores what it takes to run a successful and profitable restaurant. And his sentiment holds true, whether you’re running a quick-service establishment or a fine dining restaurant.
Restaurant owners are catering to diners who want personalized, memorable experiences, but they’re also dining in more ways than ever: in person, through takeout, and delivery. They also expect great service every time. A PwC survey found that 76% of consumers say consistent service and great experiences are key to earning their trust, while McKinsey reports that 71% of customers expect a personalized experience. And many get frustrated when their expectations aren’t met. With so many new ways to dine and check out, it can be difficult for owners to know where to invest their time and resources to meet customer preferences. Staffing remains a hurdle, and there’s always more to manage behind the scenes, from tracking inventory to ensuring quality. So, how do you maintain a personal connection while keeping everything else running smoothly?
This is where technology comes in — not to replace the human side of hospitality, but to make it easier to deliver the kind of service that keeps people coming back. With the right tools, you can offer seamless ordering, thoughtful personalization, and loyalty programs that make every guest feel valued, whether they’re grabbing a quick lunch or ordering dinner from their couch. Here’s how.
Personalize the dining experience with data.
Understanding your customers is the foundation of providing exceptional hospitality. And technology helps make this easier than ever. Using integrated systems, restaurants can gather valuable insights about customer preferences and behaviors without being intrusive.
That’s why award-winning chefs like Alvin Cailan appreciate the value delivered by modern comprehensive tools. “Square has all these great apps where my employees check in through Square,” explained Alvin Cailan. “We use Square for our POS; we can check our inventory through Square, and it also manages our third-party delivery.”
Data collected from these channels come together in the Square Dashboard and become a powerful tool for delivering personalized touches that keep guests coming back. Practically, this could mean:
- Greeting returning customers by name and recalling their preferences thanks to customer profiles that show detailed purchase history
- Sending personalized offers based on past purchases, like alerting a regular coffee customer about your new breakfast menu
- Creating targeted rewards that match customer behaviors, like offering special dessert promotions to diners who frequently order sweets
“The fact that [Square] condenses it all in one analytical sheet where I don’t have to sit down and learn Excel formulas – it’s a no-brainer for me,” Cailan explained. Once you have the data, you can use it to create genuine moments of connection with customers.
Expand your ordering options.
The way customers want to order and pay for their food has fundamentally changed. According to research by the National Restaurant Association, 62% of full-service customers would use contactless or mobile payment options if available, while 68% of quick-service customers would place orders online through restaurant websites.
Offering more ways to order means creating more opportunities to serve customers how they prefer. For example, online orders might capture office workers ordering lunch, while a kiosk might appeal to on-the-go customers looking for quick service.
Multiple ordering options can also help reduce wait times during peak hours. A self-service kiosk, for example, allows customers to place orders independently, cutting waiting lines and freeing up staff for more value-adding tasks. A handheld POS like Square Terminal enables servers to take orders and process payments tableside without crowding the counter. If you stack that with a Square Online site, you can take orders that sync seamlessly with your physical POS and hardware.
The key to effectively managing multiple ordering channels lies in integration. For example, Square POS can unify orders from various sources — whether they’re coming from your counter, website, third-party delivery apps, or self-service kiosks — into a single, manageable stream. This ensures your kitchen runs smoothly and efficiently, regardless of where the orders originate, helping you scale without sacrificing service quality.
At the end of the day, hospitality is about meeting your guests where they are and making their experience as seamless and enjoyable as possible. Offering customers multiple ways to order shows that their time and preferences matter, which is essential for building trust and loyalty.
Strengthen hospitality with a loyalty program.
When guests become regulars, they become part of your restaurant’s story. “I have regulars since 2013 who still come here and order the same thing,” Executive Chef Alisa Reynolds, founder of My 2 Cents, confirmed. “We have been blessed to have regular regulars that basically keep this restaurant open. We get a lot of celebrities; we get a lot of things like that, but we don’t forget about the people that just come every week.”
Creating a well-structured loyalty program powered by modern tools is a great way to encourage repeat visits and build those connections.
Modern loyalty programs do more than just track points — they create a digital connection between restaurants and customers. For example, Square Loyalty integrates with your point-of-sale systems, so you can automatically identify returning customers, track their preferences, and deliver personalized rewards that feel meaningful rather than generic. This digital relationship complements and enhances traditional hospitality by helping staff recognize and reward loyal customers without requiring them to present physical cards or remember phone numbers.
Cailan believes digital loyalty programs work best when paired with genuine community engagement. “A lot of it has to be about the community. If you feed the community, you’re able to strategize even better.” Cailan’s 50/50 marketing approach – giving out 50% and selling 50% – demonstrates how traditional community building supports modern loyalty efforts.
“Even in this climate now where everyone orders on third-party delivery, you still have to do that outreach,” Cailan explains. “I will pop up with a griddle in the middle of the street and just make, like, 50 burgers and just give them away. At the end of the day, our favorite restaurants are always our neighborhood restaurants.”
With Square Loyalty and Square Marketing, you can amplify these community-building efforts in so many ways:
- Track customer visits and rewards automatically.
- Offer personalized promotions based on ordering history.
- Enable targeted communication with different customer segments.
- Create incentives to try new menu items or visit during off-peak hours.
- Gather feedback to continuously improve the dining experience.
Use automation tools to free up more time for guests.
The secret sauce of restaurant technology lies in its ability to free up staff time for meaningful customer interactions. With modern tools, you can simplify back-office operations like payroll, shift scheduling, and inventory management. For example, with Square Payroll, you can import your team’s hours and tips from your POS and run payroll faster. Square Inventory Management tracks inventory in real time and sends daily stock alerts when items are low.
When routine tasks like these are automated, your team can focus on what matters most, such as:
- Building genuine connections with guests
- Providing attentive, personalized service
- Addressing special requests and dietary needs
- Creating memorable dining experiences
Keegan Fong, founder of Woon Kitchen, advocates that these systems should be implemented naturally and organically to avoid losing touch with customers. “My philosophy is always, like, do things organically that feel right,” Keegan Fong explained. “You can’t really do that right off the bat. But you kind of have to give it time and let things kind of happen.”
Deliver memorable experiences at scale.
When implemented thoughtfully, technology doesn’t replace hospitality — it enhances it, allowing restaurants to serve more guests while making each one feel special. As Fong explains, “Having a physical restaurant is a great way to tell the story and bring people into the entire experience – the food, the music, the ambiance.”
Technology’s role is to strengthen the elements that make your restaurant special, helping you create an experience guests can take home with them. After all, hospitality is about making people feel valued, whether dining in, ordering takeout, or getting delivery. The right technology helps deliver this connection more effectively than ever before, across every channel where you serve your guests.
