There's nothing new about restaurants integrating fresh ideas into their business practices. However, implementations such as, mobile payment, has been picking up steam in the restaurant world. Owners are realizing what their customers desire, like convenience and transparency, and giving them what they want.

Here are the latest trends that are growing in popularity:

#1: Mobile Payment

Quick service giants, Burger King and Subway, contracted with third-party tech developers in July to add a mobile payment function to their respective apps. It has been hugely successful for Panera Bread. CEO Ron Shaich said the new addition has led Panera Bread to having the largest percentage of high-margin digital sales in any other category, besides the pizza segment.

#2: Transparent Wait Times

Patrons are never happy with waiting for a seat, but what irks them even more is when they don't know when a table will free up. Results from a survey conducted by OpenTable shared that 85 percent of consumers said they wished they could learn the wait time for a table before heading to a restaurant. 83 percent said they would have liked to been able to put their names down on a waitlist remotely.

#3: Digital Orders

With the growth of food and delivery apps, restaurants are receiving a higher volume of digital orders. On top of the regular in-house orders, it can lead to 'throttling', or an overload in the system. There is only a certain amount of tickets a restaurant kitchen and its staff can take. Software developers have created a solution. Apps are now smart enough to know whether or not the back-of-house staff can handle additional orders. Problems with customers who are upset about bad orders and wait times have decreased considerably.

(via Restaurant Business Online)

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A year ago, Gavin Kaysen left his executive chef position at Café Boulud in New York City. He packed up his bags, and headed back to his hometown of Minneapolis, where he set up his own restaurant, Spoon and Stable.

Kaysen says one of the advantages of opening a restaurant back home is being closer to his support system. He happily shares that he gets to spend more time with his family and children.

Another plus was the space. Kaysen found an office building that was originally an old horse stable, and thought it had lots of potential and charm. Construction started in early May and Kaysen was able to have a grand opening on November 16th. Putting together a restaurant in the short span of only six months was an amazing feat.

In addition, Kaysen notes that Minneapolis is an agricultural haven. He has been forming relationships with countless local farmers and producers.

Kaysen thinks the talent has been leaving big cities, like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, because chefs are embracing the old European restaurant concept again. He mentions how Michelin was initially created to expose the small, out-of-the-way shops to people and tourists.

He states that there no denying that metropolitan cities push out excellent food and chef talent. However, he points out how that it's not the locality that makes a great chef. Kaysen says, "I still believe if you cook really good food, and you create beautiful hospitality and great service, people will find you."

Kaysen finds it extremely humbling when patrons are lining out the door for a seat in his restaurant, especially since it is in Minneapolis. He is excited to see Minneapolis being a game changer to the culinary world.

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