Restaurants
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Yelp's new AI features include auto-generated business summaries, among other updates
Yelp just announced a fairly substantial app upgrade that’s packed with AI features. These include LLM-powered business summaries, in addition to a completely revamped visual experience across the home feed and search.
Rally's and Checkers are using AI chatbots for Spanish-language food orders
Checkers and Rally's restaurants have launched the first Spanish ordering system that uses AI.
How Google is working to help you find food and local businesses
A conversation with the company's VP and general manager of Local.
Scammers are blackmailing restaurants across the US with one-star Google reviews
For the past week, a handful of high-profile and Michelin-starred restaurants from San Francisco to New York City have been targeted in an extortion campaign weaponizing Google reviews.
Yelp expands its restaurant health-grading initiative
Each individual restaurant page will include a score based on previous inspections.
Yelp's new iOS home feed makes it easier to discover local restaurants
Yelp is introducing a vertical home feed featuring images of dishes and more, designed to help people discover local restaurants.
Dining inside Park Row, London's DC Comics-themed restaurant
Backed by DC Comics, welcome to Park Row, the Gotham City dining experience. It involves augmented reality courses, a Batcave entrance and bathrooms even the Joker would love.
Facebook pledges $100 million to small businesses impacted by coronavirus
Until now, Facebook's response to the coronavirus outbreak has focused on fighting the spread of misinformation -- by offering free WHO ads and banning ads that promote false 'cures.' Now, Facebook plans to invest $100 million in 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries where its employees work and live. Facebook is also giving $1,000 bonuses to each of its employees, CNBC reports.
Uber Eats waives delivery fees for over 100,000 independent restaurants
In response to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the restaurant industry, Uber Eats is waiving delivery fees for over 100,000 independent restaurants across the US and Canada. It's the latest move by gig-economy businesses like Uber, Lyft and Grubhub to help alleviate some of the financial challenges that the coronavirus outbreak presents.
Grubhub waives fees for independent restaurants impacted by COVID-19
As people around the country begin "social distancing" to limit the spread of COVID-19, restaurants are already seeing a downturn in business. In partnership with mayors from Boston, Chicago, New York City and San Francisco, Grubhub is stepping up to help its small restaurant clients.
Google Maps borrows Lens tech to highlight popular restaurant dishes
Google introduced big changes to Lens at its I/O conference last year by turning your phone's camera into a powerful search tool. With one of the key features, you could point your camera at a restaurant menu and it would highlight the most popular dishes and even translate menu items. Now, Google has made that feature much more useful in Google Maps by cleverly sourcing menu photos taken by restaurant customers, 9to5Google reported.
Google Maps will help you discover cities by following Local Guides
Google has a new strategy for helping you discover new restaurants: it's getting some of its most active contributors to show you around. The search firm has unveiled a test feature that will let you follow top Local Guides to see where they're going and what they recommend. Tap "follow" and you'll see their recommendations both in the For You tab as well as in the map view. If all goes well, you could find the best place to eat in an unfamiliar city by following a local who knows all the out-of-the-way eateries.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella joins Starbucks' board of directors
Starbucks has long had a fondness for technology in its coffee shops, and it's now reflecting that philosophy in its directors. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has just joined the Starbucks board, giving the restaurant chain a major voice from the technology industry. While it's not clear just what got Nadella on to the board (besides his clout in Seattle-area business), he doesn't mince words about his potential contribution -- he believes his "years of experience" in tech will play an important role.
Uber uses trip data to recommend popular restaurants
As you might expect, a lot of Uber riders use the service to get to and from restaurants and bars. Thanks to its customer base, the ride-sharing company has a lot of info on which spots are popular in the cities where it operates. Uber announced this week that its putting all of those trip details to use with a new restaurant guide.
Restauranteur hopes the Apple Watch will improve fine dining
Danny Meyer is considered to be quite the progressive restauranteur. His employees don't rely on tips to make ends meet (the practice is outlawed at his establishments, in fact), and they get various benefits including a share of profits. Aside from running his hospitality empire in an unorthodox way, he's also the mastermind behind Shake Shack. His next forward-thinking initiative doesn't involve any new management strategies, however. Rather, at one of his flagship restaurants he'll soon be ceding some of that responsibility to the Apple Watch.
Amazon adds restaurant deliveries to Prime Now in London
As if there weren't enough ways to order takeout in London, Amazon has jumped in with a Deliveroo-style competitor. If you live in the English capital and subscribe to Prime, you'll soon see a postcode option inside the Prime Now app. Chuck it in and -- provided you're in a supported neighbourhood -- you'll get a list of cafes and restaurants that are available for delivery. Amazon promises to complete each order in under an hour; in the US, the average drop-off takes less than 45 minutes, it claims.
Foursquare wants you to order food from its phone app
Foursquare doesn't just want to help you find nearby restaurants these days... it wants to bring the food to you. It's partnering with Delivery.com to let you order food, groceries and even alcohol through its mobile app. It's technically kicking you over to Delivery.com's app to finish the order, but that's almost beside the point -- you can have that new Indian restaurant deliver some food rather than remind yourself to check it out later.
Groupon's food delivery service brings discounts with every order
You're about to get a fresh alternative to internet-based restaurant delivery services like GrubHub and Seamless. Groupon has just launched the simply-titled Groupon To Go, an order-in service that focuses on (what else?) discounts for your food. The company promises that you'll get at least 10 percent cash back on every order, which could add up if you're ordering pizza every week. The offering is only available in Chicago right now, but there are over 500 included restaurants ranging from big chains like Subway to local eateries like Al's Beef and Ditka's Restaurant. And don't worry about waiting long to give it a shot -- Groupon is expanding the service later this year, with Austin and Boston among the early highlights. It'll eventually be available nationwide.
Facebook tests critic reviews in your restaurant searches
Ever had a Facebook friend rave about a restaurant, only to find out that it leaves your own tastebuds underwhelmed? Facebook might just come to your rescue. It's experimenting with a feature that adds critic reviews to certain restaurant pages in New York and San Francisco, so you'll know whether or not that burger joint is really as good as your aunt says. This is ultimately a response to Google's Zagat ratings, but you probably won't mind if it saves you from taking some bad dinner advice -- here's hoping that the feature expands quickly.
Google hopes Yelp-like perks will get you to review more local spots
It's pretty easy to find local restaurants using Google Maps, but figuring out if they're any good or not? Most folks turn to Yelp or TripAdvisor, which have larger, more hardcore user communities. But Google has just done a makeover on its City Experts service, by switching the name to Local Guides and making it a lot more like Yelp's Elite Squad. The idea is still to encourage local reviewers to sign on, but there are now four expert levels instead of one. As soon as you hit 50 reviews, you'll also get a badge and be highlighted as a top reviewer on Google Maps for Android and iOS.
