Restaurant operators are navigating one of the most challenging business environments in recent memory, marked by rising food and labor costs, staffing shortages, and heightened customer expectations. But even in this climate, many are finding efficiency and resilience through technology and automation behind the scenes and strengthening performance where it's greatly needed—in the kitchen and across overall back-of-house operations.
To better understand how restaurateurs are adapting, MachineQ, a Comcast Company, commissioned independent research firm Censuswide to conduct the 2026 Restaurant Readiness: Ops Meets Tech Report. The study surveyed more than 400 U.S.-based quick service and fast-casual restaurant leaders to learn how technology is reshaping day-to-day operations and helping businesses reduce downtime, manage costs, and improve customer experiences.
The Current State: Downtime and Inefficiency Eat into Profits
For many restaurants, unplanned downtime is more than an inconvenience; it’s a costly setback. Nearly half (49%) of survey respondents reported experiencing significant downtime due to equipment failures or unplanned maintenance, with 24 percent of them estimating revenue loss between $1,001-5,000 per hour of disruption.
That kind of loss adds up quickly, especially when combined with labor shortages and increasing operating costs.
“Restaurants today are operating in one of the toughest cost environments we’ve seen,” said Tom Woodbury, Restaurant Technology Lead at MachineQ. “Back-of-house automation is proving to be a critical lever, not just to help reduce costly downtime, but to help improve food safety, reduce waste, and give staff more time to focus on customers.”
The report also found that more than half (58%) of operators believe that investing in technology to automate routine back-of-house tasks would improve efficiency. That number jumps to nearly 70 percent for those managing 50 or more locations. This indicates confidence in the potential of digital tools to deliver efficiency and consistency at scale, especially for large chains with multiple locations.
Looking Ahead: Technology Investments Are on the Rise
The data points to a clear trend: restaurant leaders are prioritizing technology to optimize back-of-house operations, which, in turn, can strengthen the customer experience.
Key findings include:
· Food safety, supply chain reliability, and waste reduction ranked as the top areas where back-of-house improvements can directly enhance front-of-house performance.
· 63% of respondents believe that real-time visibility into energy and equipment usage would help reduce expenses and support sustainability goals.
· A third of respondents (33.5%) are already investing in IoT technology and over half (52.5%) plan to invest over the next two years to improve monitoring, automate compliance, and streamline operations across locations.
· 46% expect to increase their technology budgets in the year ahead, outpacing planned spending increases for staffing, equipment, or menu expansion.
These insights highlight how automation and IoT are becoming integral to foodservice operations, helping restaurants better compete, increase profits, and thrive. With better visibility and data, operators can make confident, data-driven decisions that help reduce waste, mitigate downtime, and improve overall performance.
Building the Restaurant of the Future
Today's modern, tech-enabled restaurants are seeing benefits from temperature monitoring, predictive maintenance, sustainability tracking, and automation. Back-of-house technology can help operators run more efficient, resilient, and profitable businesses.
The bottom line: smarter kitchens lead to better dining experiences.
For an in-depth look at the data, download the full 2026 Restaurant Readiness: Ops Meets Tech Report here.
