Technology

Part 2: Cool technology at the NRA Show 2026

Editor Mandy Wolf Detwiler spent time in the tech pavilion at the NRA Show checking out the modern tech and wares the show had to offer.

Photo: National Restaurant Association

May 29, 2026 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

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Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series. Click HERE for part one.

If you haven't already read part 1 of this two-part series looking at the technology available at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, read it here. There's some cool tech you might have missed!

I spent time in the tech pavilion at the show, visiting booths and listening to vendors with great technology you may not know about. The show floor was filled with food, wares and technology. Here are just a few more tech offerings I saw on the show floor this year.

Review management

So, you're getting reviews from Yelp, Google, third-party delivery sites and other online places. What to do with it all? If you're not responding to negative reviews, you're probably losing customers.

That's where Ovation comes in. The review management platform specializes in guest recovery, guest feedback and public reputation management.

Julio Arevalo, account executive for Ovation, said the company helps restaurants understand what's being said about their brands online. That's done with a quick and easy two-question survey that goes out to guests via text message.

"A lot of times restaurants are playing defense, and what I mean by that is somebody comes into their restaurant, they have an experience and a server can come up to them and say 'hey, how's it going?' and regardless of how it's going they're going to say 'good,'" Arevalo said. "And then they're leave the restaurant and leave whatever review they want, whether it's a positive or negative review. Most people will leave a negative one because they want their voice to be heard."

Ovation helps a brand play offense — taking the initiative to send a message and get ahead of negative reviews. If it's a five-star experience, restaurants should thank them and tell them to spread the good word. But if it was a negative experience, restaurants should respond in a timely manner and try to make it up to the customer.

"The restaurant can interact with them and create a dialogue with them and do guest recovery privately and intimately with that guest and offer them an incentive to come back or even just offer them an avenue to let out their frustration," Arevalo added. Bad feedback is a great way to make adjustments to operations in real time, he said.

Digital tips with ease

Branch provides workforce financial infrastructure that allows restaurants to automate, pool and disburse cashless tips directly to employees' digital wallets, according to Sam Harris, sales development manager for the company.

"The instant digital tips pretty much eliminate the wait for payroll that a lot of restaurants put their tips on," Harris said. "Or, if they're getting cash and they get cashed out nightly, 90% of transactions, if not more, when you go to a restaurant are through credit cards, right? So, you're going to be cash negative at the end of the night. Your servers are still getting the cash."

There's typically two ways to get that cash — making bank runs or having a company do cash delivery. Branch eliminates that process, which can save restaurants money.

Employees get a digital wallet and a physical card, but there are still those who want their cash.

"That's not something that we want to prevent," Harris added. "So, we have a partnership with Allpoint Network, which has over 60,000 ATMs throughout the country. The ATM locator is also in our app. So, any CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, gas stations, they all have ATMs with that Allpoint logo on them, so they can use the Branch card and pull out cash completely surcharge free."

Branch also debuted TipCal, an automated tip software. It helps split tips evenly in lieu of spreadsheets that cost payroll teams plenty of time. It takes the burden off of managers and payroll accountants.

"If Branch is saying they can pay us out daily, how's that going to affect my payroll?" Harris asked. "It actually doesn't affect your payroll, and in many cases, we can integrate with your payroll. So, we're actually fronting those funds to the wallet. It doesn't affect your payroll process at all."

365 Retain Markets' Pico Cooler with age verification lets consumers buy alcohol by showing their face and entering their phone number. Photo: Mandy Wolf Detwiler// Connect Media

Modern vending

365 Retail Markets specializes in unattended retail vending machines. At the NRA show, the vendor showcased its Pico Cooler with age verification. It uses Clear — the very same Clear that TSA uses — for age verification.

Customers don't need to have a TSA Clear account, but what the machine does is take a picture of a buyer's face and he or she puts in their phone number. It verifies that a consumer is over 21 to purchase, say, the alcohol inside the vending machine.

"You don't actually have to put in your name or anything," said Brianna Theraub, manager of sales for 365 Retail Marketing.

The machine is great for restaurants, breweries, wineries and more. When lines get long, restaurants can put their alcoholic beverages in the cooler and customers can avoid waiting in line at the counter to show their IDs and get drinks.

Agentic AI marketing

Toast showed off its Toast IQ Grow platform. Emily Nichols, senior director of product marketing for Toast, said running a restaurant is a full-time job for operators and it is time consuming for them to do all the digital marketing it takes to compete in today's modern restaurant scene. That includes social media, email campaigns and running an attractive website.

"We hear from a lot of operators that it's an activity that they recognize is essential but often falls to the backburner because they simply don't have the time to do it well and often don't have the expertise to do it," Nichols said.

Toast IQ Grow is a 24/7 marketing partner that combines software, agentic AI and human-led support to take that marketing job off operators' plates.

"It packages all the tools they need, the human resources they need and the AI they need, to run lots of those marketing activities as automation in the background and lets operators view content that it generates approve it and ship it and it becomes a much less time-consuming task," Nichols added.

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the Pizzamarketplace.com and QSRweb.com editor for Connect Media. An award-winning journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and, yes, she can tell you where to find the best pizza slices in the country.

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