Every May, tens of thousands of hospitality pros descend on Chicago for the National Restaurant Association Show—four days packed with product demos, trend forecasting, and enough cold brew samples to power a small city. The show is a barometer for where the industry is headed next.
For restaurant operators navigating challenges from labor shortages to selecting the right technology partners, the conversations happening on the floor – and on panels – offer valuable insight into how the best int he business are thinking about growth, efficiency, and customer experience this year.
This year restauranteurs joined Nick Stone, Founder and Chairman of Bluestone Lane, and Ming-Tai Huh, Square’s Head of Food & Beverage, for a live discussion on building and scaling successful hospitality brands in today’s digital-first world. Here are some takeaways that stood out.
1. Better data, smarter loyalty
With AI supported solutions and enhanced data insights, Bluestone Lane is leaning into personalized loyalty—this gives them the ability to generate offers that reflect their customers’ behavior and create more personalized offerings. The goal? Make every regular feel like a VIP.
2. Tie team incentives to guest feedback
Bluestone Lane CEO Nick Stone says he links employee bonuses to Google review scores—proving that service is not just a brand value, but a measurable KPI for his staff. It’s a modern twist on accountability that puts guest satisfaction front and center.
3. Choose tech partners that play well with others
Stone shares how Bluestone Lane switched all 65 of its locations to Square, citing ease of use, accessible insights, and a strong partner ecosystem. In a fragmented tech world, plug-and-play integration has become more critical than ever.
4. Tech alone isn’t enough. Hospitality still wins
Delivering exceptional service is at the heart of success for restaurants. ice. Even the slickest tech stack can’t replace a human-first, hospitality-driven approach.
According to the Square Future of Restaurants report, restauranteurs are spending more time on business strategy, management, and marketing or social media this year versus a year ago.
“Restaurant work is so fast-paced that you need to make things efficient wherever you can. Square bundles everything together — sales reporting, employee timekeeping, and more. That means employees can focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences.” - Chef Edgar Rico, Co-founder of Nixta Taqueria, Austin
“We integrated Square in one day. It was very intuitive. That was really the key. I loved how simple it is to implement and how scalable it is. One location, five locations, it doesn't matter.” — Alex Donley, Co-Owner of Gioia’s Deli, St. Louis, MO
“Square has helped simplify things for us, from training to daily operations to efficiency. Everything is integrated. We see the same information everywhere we look.” — Omar Nazihi, Vice President of Operations, The Kebab Shop, San Diego, CA
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