Restaurants are buying more customer tech even as visits stay 7% below 2019
U.S. restaurant operators are budgeting more customer-facing technology for 2026, with 60% prioritizing customer experience investments, according to the National Restaurant Association data reported by Restaurant Business. The push comes while average chain restaurant occasions remain 7% below 2019 levels, a gap Restaurant Business says has persisted even as kiosks, digital menu boards, loyalty programs, and AI tools proliferated. Bar & Restaurant’s reporting on high-volume staffing shows why the timing matters operationally: with labor still tight and peak periods exposing process friction, operators are trying to shift guest decisions earlier, improve scheduling discipline, and free managers to coach instead of firefight. The near coin-flip in consumer sentiment, 41% saying tech improves hospitality versus 38% saying it hurts, indicates deployments that reduce staff burden without making the guest feel “sent to a screen” will be the ones that hold up in 2026 traffic conditions.
