Restaurant Apps | Online Food Ordering System

2 Dudes and a Prius...Day 2

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:35:45 -0700

Road Trip Random Facts:
Nebraska = Butterflies
Eric Hearts Iowa

Day 1 was a long day, but we achieved our goal. Denver. The Mile High City. Home of ~~Tim Tebow~~ Peyton Manning, and a highly delicious hot dog empire known as Biker Jim’s. We woke up early, got our continental breakfast, and hit the road.

This was the part of the journey that we knew we were going to dread. Aside from our scheduled DDD stop in Omaha, we knew we were gonna see a whole lot of nothing. And we were right.

(BTW, Arbor Day is cool and all, but is Nebraska the best ambassador for this holiday that revolves around trees? Pretty sure those trees behind the sign are the only ones in the entire state.)

Field…butterfly…field…field….butterfly…butterfly….butterfly…cow….lake….field..field…. butterfly…Omaha. Thank goodness. And as a side note, Eric’s new name is butterfly killer, at no fault of his own. The prettiest part of this leg of the trip was all the beautiful butterflies flying around. Too bad the majority of them ended up on our windshield or wedged in the grill. Anyways…Omaha and California Tacos.

Yep, California Tacos and More in Omaha, NE. Who woulda thought? This place was a little out of the way, but considering the monotony of this part of the trip, and the stench of old Arby’s in the car, neither of us cared about adding an extra hour on the drive so we could have a little bit of scenery and some good food.

If we’re voting, which we are, California Tacos turned out to be my favorite DDD stop on the entire trip. (Aside from the fact they don’t use ChowNow…yet. If anyone from California Tacos sees this, click here.) Not my favorite meal, mind you, just my favorite DDD stop. (My favorite meal was at Lou Malnati’s in Chicago, just FYI) This place is a fun, divey, college hangout and the food did not disappoint. It’s basically what you think it is, tacos, but not sure why they are “California” tacos as they were basically just tacos wrapped in dough and deep fried. The outcome was a crispy, puffy, yummy taco that got 2 thumbs up from the ChowNow road crew. And there was a toppings bar you could add whatever goodies you like. And you know those juice dispensers that typically hold lemonade or fruit punch? There was one of those that was filled with 2 kinds of homemade salsa. Double thumbs up! It was good, but hey, I have yet to come across anything fried that isn’t good. Wait, I take that back. Okra. People love that stuff but it just tastes like pure oil to me. Sorry anyone from Texas reading this.

After enjoying our delicious meal, it was back on the road. We were obviously less than psyched, but we had some miles to make up and there was no more screwing around. Wait…Beef Jerky Outlet! Ok, this really is the last stop.

About 15 hours in and just a couple hours outside of our Day 2 d.estination of Chicago, we find ourselves in the coolest storm either of us had ever witnessed. (Only to find out a day later these things are as common as butterflies to Nebraska) Crazy clouds, and even crazier lightning was putting on a show for us as we drove smack through the middle of it towards Chicago. We were mesmerized and entertained, even though a Prius car rally would’ve been entertaining at that point, but it really was a beautiful display of Mother Nature at her finest.

It was at this point where I went on to make the worst decision of the trip, which was to take the toll road into Chicago rather than the interstate, as it appeared it would save us around 30 minutes drive time.

So aren’t toll roads supposed to make your trip easier/quicker? Seriously, isn’t that what you pay for? Cause apparently in Chicago the toll road means pay us and we’ll make your drive suck more than it already does. The non-stop construction probably added another 30 minutes to an hour on to our trip, but we did finally make it.

We snuck in the back door at my sister’s house, as it was around 1am, where she promised to have pizza, blankets and beer waiting for us. Snooped around in the kitchen, in the oven, in the fridge…no pizza, no beer. Oh well, we’re too tired to care right now, let’s just get some shuteye. Oh look, 1 blanket. Thanks sis. But being the nice guy I am, I tossed it to Eric and went down to the basement to rummage up another one. Nothing. Ended up finding a tablecloth and Zinny, the house dog, and figured I’d be warm enough. At least the air mattress worked.

We woke up to a freezing cold room, myself covered in a table cloth, and Eric wearing 3 more layers of clothes than when we went to bed. The blanket I so generously gave to him sitting folded on the coffee table. What the…? My sister comes down with my nephew and we commence piling toys on Eric until he wakes up. It’s about 6am. She laughs at us and continues to point out the closet full of blankets about a foot away from our heads, and then pulls the cold pizza out of the fridge that I somehow overlooked. Son of a…

Who cares, we made it. 2 days and 32 hours later. The NRA Show. Let’s party.

2 Dudes and a Prius...Day 1

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:35:55 -0700

Foreword -

So my goal was to give our loyal blog following, all 3 of you, a day by day, live journal of our journey to the 2012 NRA Show. Things started off great as I actually wrote the first post at a gas station in Vegas.

After that the wheels fell off, (no, not the Prius wheels, even though I’m pretty sure they’re compostable/disposable), the real-time blog train wheels.

Anyhoo, I hope you’ll forgive me for being so late on the first installment. We’re not even fully recovered 3 weeks after arriving back home, but one thing’s for sure, it was all worth it. ChowNow staked a flag, made our mark on the restaurant technology scene, and are very excited for what the future holds.

Road Trip Random Fact, courtesy of Steve Martin:
Did you know the band is called “Eagles”, not “The Eagles”?

Day 1 -

Road trips rule. And I’m not just saying that because I hate flying. The open road, fresh air (conditioning), non stop music, good company, 14 hour long audio books of America’s greatest speeches… …what’s not to like?!

So how do you make a road trip even better? Download the Diners, Drive-in’s and Dive’s app and hit up the most gluttonous, artery hardening, delicious food joints along your path.

This game started in Vegas at the Four Kegs Sports Pub where we had their world famous stromboli. I wasn’t even sure what a stromboli was, but it was the special of the day and, I’m pretty sure is what Guy Fieri featured on their episode. Plus it came with a side of dipping marinara, so we couldn’t lose. (Anyone from the Midwest understands this. It’s all about gravy people, or anything resembling gravy, or something that serves a gravy-like purpose.)

The stromboli was awesome, pretty much just a pizza folded into some dough to resemble more of a calzone, but it was delicious. Most things lathered in cheese are. The highlight of lunch, for Eric at least, was his creation of a game I would grow to loathe. This lunch was the birth of him sneaking pics of me as I’m stuffing my face.

I know…creepy. And it only gets worse.

All in all it was a good stop that ended with us putting our mark on the old 4 Kegs wall, and heading on our way. We got a few sneers on the way out, as any 2 dudes in a Prius would, also because I think everyone else was drunk, (it was noon on Wednesday, why wouldn’t they be), and losing all their money at the video poker machines. Regardless, we made our way to the Prius, fired up the battery, and silently rolled on to the freeway.

The next several hours consisted of some beautiful scenery, but not a lot of excitement, as they day started to wear on us and energy levels were low. Not to say we weren’t still having a great time, we just need some sleep after eating 4lbs. of bread and cheese.

Next stop…Denver.

2 Dudes and a Prius - ChowNow Road Trips to the 2012 NRA Show

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:32:00 -0700

The life of a startup is not a glamorous one, but it sure is fun. While we may not be flying first class and staying in fancy hotels, we are sure to make the most of our time and enjoy every step along the way, as we strive to make ChowNow the best company it can possibly be.

With this in mind, we embark on an epic journey for the 2012 National Restaurant Association Show, May 5-8 in Chicago, IL. But flying is too easy. We’re driving. That’s right, 2 full size men, a lot of tradeshow gear, and Eric’s bad taste in music. All packed on top of a 43 horsepower, 87mpg hybrid beast that is known as Prius.

Mind you, I have my concerns on what is about to take place. Will we make it on time? Is everything going to fit? Will Eric ever stop singing? Valid concerns. But we are men on a mission, and failure is not an option.

“Whatever it takes” is a common theme among startups, and we’re no different. We’re going to save a nice chunk of change by driving ourselves, and all our gear over there, but that’s only part of it. Building these memories with my good buddy and colleague will give us many good times to reminisce about once we take ChowNow to the next level.

Stay tuned, day 1 starts right now…

Is Los Angeles the New Tech Startup Capital?

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:47:00 -0800

For years Silicon Valley has been considered Techy Heaven. Many amazing companies were born and raised there and it was truly the Capital of Tech Startups.

Times are changing and L.A. is making it’s mark on the Tech scene. With the emergence of several local incubators/accelerators, such as LaunchPad LA, companies like ChowNow are encouraged and rewarded for staying and growing in Los Angeles.

Here’s a great article in Forbes by Tara Tiger Brown discussing why Los Angeles is set to become the next hot spot in the Tech World.

Click here for full story

New Digs at LaunchPad LA

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:28:00 -0800

It’s an exciting time for ChowNow as we have moved offices from our humble beginnings on Abbot Kinney to powerhouse LaunchPad LA headquarters, right down the road in Santa Monica. The move marks a milestone in our growth, as joining forces with LaunchPad LA is a dream opportunity that any startup is grateful to have.

LaunchPad LA is an accelerator and mentorship organization founded in 2009 by Mark Suster, with its goal being to help young, talented startup entrepreneurs get funded, build relationships, and grow, while remaining in Southern California. It allows early stage companies, such as ChowNow, to gain insight and knowledge from some of the best business minds around. Top VC’s in Southern California, experienced CEO’s, and a select group of service providers will all be part of the LaunchPad LA program.

ChowNow joins 9 other startups in this venture and the chatter and buzz have been lighting up the office from day 1. To be in an environment like this is both motivational and inspiring. Being able to engage with other top entrepreneurs is an amazing tool to have in itself. Throw in the fact that we all have access to some of the most successful and brightest business minds in the country to help guide us along the way is something that is a once in a lifetime opportunity that nobody around here is going to take for granted.

For more information check out Mark Suster’s TechCrunch article about LaunchPad LA.

Welcome 2012, We've Been Expecting You...

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:16:08 -0800

All of us at ChowNow would like to wish our friends, family, restaurant partners, Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers a very Happy Holidays. This has been a great year and things are only going to get better. A big Thank You to everyone for being with us and making us what we are today. Looking forward to what the New Year brings!

Wishing everyone health, happiness and success!

Cheers,

ChowNow

The Value of Social Media for Your Restaurant

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:58:14 -0800

The Value of Social Media for Your Restaurant:

The value of social media in relation to online food ordering for your restaurant, or any business for that matter, is more important than ever. This is a really great video that we wanted to share that really puts things in perspective. If you haven’t adopted a solid social media strategy yet, take the time NOW to map out and plan what you’re going to do to step up your social media game.

Enjoy,

ChowNow

Claiming Your Vanity URL for Your Restaurant's Facebook Page

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:33:00 -0800

When you create a Facebook account for your restaurant, you are assigned some random ID such as this, facebook.com/pages/My-Business-Name/909932628188. This used to be no big deal and probably not something you, as a business owner, would even think twice about. But nowadays it’s imperative to keep up with the ever changing digital world in order to stay on top of the competition. Here are 3 reasons you need to claim your custom Facebook URL, ASAP!

1. Marketing - You should be doing as much marketing as possible. If you ever need to use your FB URL on printed advertising or online posts, which you often should, you don’t want it to say, facebook.com/pages/My-Business-Name/909932628188. It just doesn’t look right and nobody is going to take the time to write down or copy that lengthy behemoth. Changing it to facebook.com/MyBusinessName is much easier on the eyes and something that will not only help your branding efforts, but make it much easier for people to refer others to your page.

2. Competition - Chances are you aren’t the only person out there who has thought of “My Business Name” as your company name. And as you probably have no shot at claiming the domain, MyBusinessName.com, you may still have a shot at claiming it on Facebook as, facebook.com/MyBusinessName. Do it…do it.

3. Search Engine Optimization - The search engines, like Google, place a high value on URL’s when determining rankings. If your URL isn’t exact match, or very similar, for what you’d like to be found for, (such as My Business Name), you aren’t going to rank very well. By claiming that exact match URL you have a great shot at ranking highly for your restaurant’s Facebook page.

Now that you understand why it’s so necessary to claim a custom URL, here is how you do it:

*IMPORTANT: You only get to make this change once so watch for typos and make sure you’re happy with it before you save the change.*

1) Login to Facebook under your administrator account for your business page.

2) Go to your Facebook business page. (Make sure you are signed in as your business page and not your personal profile!)

3) Click “Edit Page” at the top right.

4) Click “Basic Information” on the left sidebar.

5) Change the username to your liking. Again, be careful, you only get to make this change once so watch for typos and make sure you’re happy with it before you save the change.

After you change the username, you should be able to see the new Facebook url in your browser’s address bar like this: facebook.com/MyBusinessName.

Here’s a few more tips for changing your Facebook username and getting the most benefit from it:

1) Make it short.

2) Make it memorable.

3) It should match the common name of your business or be very similar.

4) Capitalize the first letter of each word to make it more readable.

5) No spaces or special characters. Only a-z and 0-9 are allowed.

6) Double and triple check for errors before you save your new FB business page username because, again, YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT.

Bonus Tip: Try to match your FB restaurant username to your Twitter restaurant username, your YouTube restaurant username and any other social media usernames. Consistency helps with branding. Also, if the name you want is already taken, just choose the next best option and something that still closely represents your brand. In our case, if facebook.com/MyBusinessName was taken, we could try /MyBusinessNameInc or /MyBusinessNameLosAngeles. The goal is to have the name in there somewhere and have it match as closely as possible to the actual name.

Good luck!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:11:00 -0700

The annual Taste of Abbot Kinney is happening this weekend on Sunday, 10/23, and ChowNow is happy to be a sponsor to the festivities. I mean, we like to eat, we like to drink and we’re often merry, so it was fitting.

VIP Reception and Early Tasting tickets can be purchased for $100 and general Tasting Tour tickets are $60. All guests are invited to take part in the Silent Auction featuring hotel packages at Hotel Erwin, Hotel Wilshire and Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Also up for auction will be a sculpture and paintings by Ellie Riley, in addition to other items.

There will also be an Opportunity Drawing which will feature special items from select Abbot Kinney merchants, tickets to LACMA’s “California Design” exhibit, and packages at local restaurants including James Beach, Gjelina and Terranea Resort.

Hosting the VIP Reception will be Adam Gertler, a regular on The Food Network and The Cooking Chanel. He is also a contributor to such shows as The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Chef Vs. City, Food Network Challenge: All Star Grill-off and Food Network Star: After Party. Adam also hosts The Food Network’s primetime series, Kid in a Candy Store.

To find a list of restaurants attending, purchase tickets and general information about the event visit http://www.insideoutca.org.

ChowNow Digs In at US Foods Expo

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:23:00 -0700

ChowNow was recently invited to attend the 2011 US Foods Expo in Pleasanton, CA where thousands of food industry professionals flooded the local Fairgrounds to talk shop, network and showcase their products to the big wigs in the restaurant industry. Top names from around the country were there and one thing is for sure…nobody left hungry.

The US Foods Expo is one of the biggest and best in the country and the perfect time to showcase the ChowNow system of restaurant apps and our unique method of ordering food through Facebook. The show consisted of everything from restaurant owners to food manufacturers and everyone quickly took a liking to our innovative new way to order food online.

Set up with a big screen, some Samsung Galaxy’s from Sprint, a couple iPods and a wealth of knowledge, the team showcased our online ordering product through a variety of demos and intriguing conversations with not only potential users, but passers-by wondering what this “ChowNow” thing was that everyone at the Expo was talking about.

The crowd never subsided as the day wore on and new faces were appearing at our table every second. People were actually saying they could see the excitement emanating from us about our product and this made them eager to learn more. We also had an opportunity to talk with several of the US Foods Executives that were just as excited about our new technology as we are and had some amazing feedback that only reinforced what we have known all along…ChowNow is the future.

Do you ChowNow?

The Top 6 Pizzas in Los Angeles

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:04:19 -0700

The Top 6 Pizzas in Los Angeles :

It’s not quite lunch time yet but this article is making me way hungry!

Publix Still Tinkering With its Curbside Pickup

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:44:00 -0700

Publix Still Tinkering With its Curbside Pickup :

Publix Curbside is an online grocery ordering service provided by the Florida based supermarket chain.

Customers who want to avoid the hassle of crowds, impulse buying and waiting in long lines can chose the groceries they want using their computers and the internet. It is very similar to FreshDirect aside from one aspect. Publix only offers on-location pickup, after losing $50 million to its online home delivery supermarket in south Florida in 2003. Apparently people would rather drive up to several miles to pick up their groceries than wait at home for a 2 hour delivery window. They also still charge a significant ($7.99) for each order, no matter the size. Still, customers to save upwards of 25-50 dollars a week using the service. The other downside is that Publix is moving slow with online ordering this go-around and only offers it at two locations in Georgia and one in Florida.

What do you think? Would you rather drive to pick up your groceries or have them delivered, say, between 5pm and 7pm? Similarly, are you more a fan of takeout or having your meals ordered online to be brought to your doorstep?

How Mobile, Apps and Social Media Have Changed The Restaurant Industry

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:59:02 -0700

How Mobile, Apps and Social Media Have Changed The Restaurant Industry:

It’s no secret. Technology is here to stay. Large corporations have been on top of the tech game for years and now even Mom and Pop are learning the iRopes. Surprisingly, however, this article only focuses on how technology has allowed for increased sharing of restaurant reviews and photos via social applications.

While having the ability to see what your friends think of a restaurant in real time can be useful in making a purchase decision, you still have to physically drive to the venue or make an expensive (wink wink) phone call to place an order.

How can online food ordering be left out? In more recent years, thousands of brands have adopted this new technology, probably none more famous than Dominos. If you live in a city like Chicago or New York, more than likely ordering food online is nothing new. For everyone else, unfortunately, it is probably a foreign concept. ChowNow is aiming to change that. Our suite of apps are targeted at the smaller restaurants and chains we all adore. Soon, you will be able to order food from anywhere with a cellular signal or internet connection.

Finding New Investors Through Twitter

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:18:57 -0700

Finding New Investors Through Twitter:

New Orleans based Naked Pizza says it has received about 8,000 investment inquiries in just the past 18 months large in part due to its twitter presence. Their tweets attracted the likes of the Kraft Group (not the Mac ‘N Cheese brand) who then helped the business grow from one outlet to 20 locations around the globe and 450 more under contract. Naked Pizza is also backed by business extraordinaire Mark Cuban who suggested the brand use twitter to expand its influence.

Gordon Ramsay To Help Struggling Anaheim restaurant

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:24:12 -0700

Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay is in town filming a new episode for his show “Kitchen Nightmares”, on which he helps revive failing restaurants. This week he is in Anaheim to work with Luigi’s D’ Italia. According to producers, Ramsay has helped the aging restaurant with a new paint job and revised their menu. The show will be taping the Italian restaurant’s relaunch tonight so don’t think about trying to drop in for your 2 seconds of fame, they are already booked. Now that Ramsay has made over the physical part of the restaurant, maybe Luigi’s wouldn’t mind a digital makeover from ChowNow!

Source: Fast Food Maven | OC Register

The State of the Tablet and Ereader Market

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:20:00 -0700

The State of the Tablet and Ereader Market:

Tablets and have become more than just a storage and viewing dock for e-books. While they still aren’t major sources of content creation, tablets can be used to watch movies and TV shows, play games, browse the web, and listen to music. Essentially, tablets are used to consume several forms of digital media. Here at ChowNow, we take consumption to a whole new level. Not only will our customers be able to use the iPad restaurant apps to order food online, the restaurant they order from will also be receiving the order on one of our tablets. In the end, ChowNow users will be physically consuming great tasting food from our partner restaurants!

ChowNow launched a new website. Have you checked it out yet?...

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:37:00 -0700

ChowNow launched a new website. Have you checked it out yet? Here are some screen shots if you are too lazy to click the link.

Almost Dinner Time!

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:51:56 -0700

We would like to thank everyone for taking the time to view our Tumblr. All of us have been very hard at work getting ready to launch Version 1.0 of the ChowNow application next month. Naturally, we are both thrilled and anxious for what is to come. We have a team of some of the best developers and engineers ChowBux can buy and will be rolling out a superior product that should no doubt change the way you order meals.

To get the latest and greatest ChowNow news, we recommend liking us on Facebook or simply following us here. Our official company blog will also be rolling out in the coming days so keep your eyes and stomachs open for that!

That is all, Chow for Now.

Baseball Team Launches Mobile Food Ordering

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:32:07 -0700

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced the Chase Field debut of At Bat Express Lane, beginning with the three ballpark events comprising All-Star Week in Phoenix and continuing for every D-backs home game after the All-Star Game. This new app, currently available on the iPhone, lets fans watching games at Chase Field order their favorite ballpark foods directly from their iPhone using MLB.com At Bat and then pick up their order at specially-designated concession locations.

The system uses Wi-Fi that was installed throughout the ballpark earlier this season and works in 3 simple steps from selecting a favorite team, corresponding stadium and then placing an order. Orders are securely processed through Chase Fields’ Micros 9700 integrated POS platform. Once the order is processed, fans will be alerted via text message that their order is ready for immediate pick-up at the specially-designated Express Lane concession locations.

Full story at MLB.com

Indian QSR Chain Launches Facebook Ordering

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:32:00 -0700

Kaati Zone, a quick service restaurant chain in India, now allows customers to order their favorite meals on Facebook! With the help of Social Media Management major, AliveNow, the online ordering application allows users to select food items, choose quantities, change locations, and customize meals without even requiring a credit card.

Full story at MyBanglore