On TV, the founder CEO has a corner office and a sweeping view. My view was the seatback in front of me. Last row. Middle seat. Negotiating for an armrest. My suitcase wasn’t full of the latest fashion, instead, Palona brochures and swag. My clothes were traveling on standby. Fourteen days: Phoenix, Seattle, Dallas, Salt Lake City, home to San Francisco for meetings, then Columbus, Ohio, Palm Springs, and home again. Crossing America can take most of a day. I knew this in geography. I now...
11 days ago • 2 min read
I believe the restaurants that win catering over the next five years will use marketplaces to grow while building relationships they own, and Uber’s $2.3 billion move on ezCater just raised the stakes. A large catering order can fill a slow weekday and introduce your food to dozens of potential regulars. Restaurant owners have good reasons to welcome that business, and every reason to examine what it costs them. My position? Use third parties to grow, and fight for your first party. Take...
12 days ago • 2 min read
A cashier is checking a pickup order when the phone rings. They stop, answer a question about opening hours, and return to the guest. A minute later, another caller wants to place an order. The phone is bringing business to the restaurant. The challenge is serving those callers without repeatedly pulling employees away from the people and food in front of them. Reducing restaurant phone interruptions starts with three practical changes: make routine information easier to find, give callers a...
17 days ago • 3 min read
“Are you still taking pickup orders?” “Do you have vegetarian options?” “Is this the location on Main Street?” These calls may be quick to answer, but they still pull an employee away from another guest or task. For the caller, they are often the questions that determine whether to visit or place an order. A restaurant AI phone agent should be ready to answer the recurring questions guests need resolved before they can buy: hours, location, menu choices, ordering rules, and how to get the...
17 days ago • 3 min read
The office lunch went well. The food arrived as planned, the organizer was happy, and the restaurant earned a new catering customer. Then the event ends, the team returns to service, and the customer’s details stay in an old email. When the office needs lunch again, your restaurant may be one of several options they consider. Repeat catering business starts with delivering a good event and keeping the relationship useful afterward. Palona Catering AI supports that work through a catering...
17 days ago • 3 min read
An office coordinator needs lunch for 40 people. They have a budget and an event date, but they do not know how many trays to order or which combinations will work for the group. A catering menu shows what your restaurant sells. The customer still needs help turning those options into a meal. Palona Catering AI helps build orders around budget, party size, event type, dietary requirements, and available menu options. It guides customers through food choices and quantities, then gives the...
17 days ago • 3 min read
A customer calls about lunch for an office. Another sends an email about a family celebration. A third starts planning an event through your website. Each could become a valuable catering order. But when the details live in different places, your team has to find the request, understand what the customer needs, and keep track of the next step. Palona Catering AI captures catering orders through connected phone, email, and website channels and centralizes the details for the restaurant team....
17 days ago • 3 min read
Your restaurant’s phone rings throughout the day. Some callers want to order lunch. Others ask about hours, menu options, or reservations. Each conversation tells you something about the business guests are trying to bring you. Without a shared record, much of that information stays with the employee who answered. A regional manager may hear that one location gets “a lot of calls,” but have little detail about what those customers actually needed. Palona’s Voice dashboard brings call volume,...
17 days ago • 3 min read
A caller wants to place an order. Another needs to discuss a problem with yesterday’s pickup. Both deserve help, but the conversations require different kinds of attention. Palona Voice AI can handle menu questions and phone ordering while giving callers a way to reach restaurant staff when a person is needed. Transfer behavior can be configured around your operation, including how readily callers reach the team. A useful setup does two jobs: it gives routine callers assistance and makes the...
17 days ago • 3 min read