Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit

Optimizing off-premise orders

In a session at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit held in San Diego, California from March 16 to 18, restaurant veterans will chat about how to dominate the delivery, takeout, catering and drive through effective strategies.

Photo: Networld Media Group

January 26, 2026 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

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No matter how large or small, restaurants know the importance of having a great off-premise strategy. After all, the dining room is not the primary measure of growth. So, how do restaurants optimize these off premise orders, whether takeout, delivery, catering and of course drive-thru?

In a session at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summitheld in San Diego, California, from March 16 to 18, 2026, restaurant veterans will chat about how to dominate the delivery, takeout, catering and drive through effective strategies.

Meredith Yerkes, SVP of commercial strategy and growth at DSA Signage will moderate the discussion with Brian Bailey, founder and CEO, Old Carolina Barbeque Co., Craig Dunaway, COO of Penn Station East Coast Subs, Robin Robinson, president of emerging brands at Thrive Restaurant Group, Modern Market Eatery & HomeGrown Daytime Eatery and Sam Stanovich, SVP of franchise leadership at Craveworthy Brands.

Topics under discussion will include:

How to tap into ghost kitchen models.
Marketing strategies to attract repeat corporate and group customers.
Building high-impact loyalty programs.
How to maintain brand quality and operational efficiency.
Handling third-party delivery partnerships.

Read below for a sneak peak into what the panelists will share:

Q: What's the secret sauce to making a ghost kitchen successful?

Brian Bailey:A successful ghost kitchen is all about simplicity — tight menu, easy execution and heavy ingredient cross-utilization. We launched Chicken Uprising using the chicken items we already did well at Old Carolina, just packaged as a chicken-first concept for third-party customers. The only truly new SKUs we added were a few traditional wing sauces that weren't on the Old Carolina menu.

Q. What about catering or third-party delivery?

Brian Bailey:Third-party delivery only works when you price and menu-engineer to cover commissions — guests are paying for convenience so you have leeway with higher pricing versus your direct menu pricing. Catering is a little different: it has to travel well and self-serve easily, so you can't just copy-and-paste your dine-in menu.

Q. What is one thing you are most excited to share during the panel?

Brian Bailey: I'm excited to share how we're growing catering in a crowded market — it's about 40% of our corporate store revenue and grew 13% last year. We've built a repeatable system that keeps quality high while scaling off-premises sales.

Clickhere to register for the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit. Use the code AMCEDIT20 for 20% off checkout.

Catering DeliveryCraveworthy Brands DSA Signage

About Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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