I read a Wall Street Journal article about fast food chains walking back the kiosk experiment, then drove to a Wendy's and ran my own live test. What I watched an older couple go through at the kiosk, while I built a five part custom Freestyle drink and bit into my burger before they finished ordering, says everything about where restaurant technology went wrong and how the biggest names in QSR are now spending real money to fix it.

McDonald's is retraining over two million workers worldwide and grading franchisees on hospitality. Burger King is mandating staffed counters and moving kiosks to the side. Wendy's is reviewing its own AI drive-thru trials. Chick-fil-A is winning on service by pairing tablets with people, not replacing people with tablets. This episode breaks down the receipts, what "good" technology actually looks like versus what just looks modern, and a kiosk feature I think every operator should be demanding from their vendors.

In this episode:

• The Wendy's kiosk experiment that inspired this episode
• Why fast food went all in on digital for a decade, and what it actually got right
• McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Starbucks all walking back the digital-first playbook
• Why the Freestyle machine is proof technology isn't the enemy
• The Chick-fil-A service data and what it says about tech plus people beating tech alone
• What operators should actually watch for in their own dining rooms
• An idea for kiosks borrowed straight from self-checkout lanes

Referenced: Haddon, Heather. "America's Fast-Food Chains Are Making a Big Pivot—Back to Humans." The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 10, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/americas-fast-food-chains-are-making-a-big-pivotback-to-humans-3b8bb5b8

Modern Solutions for Modern Restaurants is hosted by Paul Molinari, founder of Popcorn GTM, and distributed on the Savor FM Network.

https://linkedin.com/in/paulmolinari https://popcorngtm.com

Have you ever had to help a stranger through a kiosk? Tell me about it in the comments, and let me know about any restaurant tech that's created more friction than it removed.

Keep building modern solutions for modern restaurants.