Ordinami.itEvery January, restaurant trends are written about, usually with a lot of hype and little substance. Let's try the opposite: look at what's actually changing in the daily work of local restaurants in 2026, and what a practical restaurateur can do about each point.
1. The staff shortage is calling the shots
The difficulty in finding waiters and chefs is not a phase: it's the structural condition of the industry. The practical consequences: shorter, more manageable menus with reduced teams, technology that eliminates low-value tasks - orders, payments, translations - and more attention to retaining existing staff, because replacing them costs more than keeping them, even within the team.
2. QR codes are no longer a novelty
The QR code menu, which entered our habits years ago, is now simply a standard in 2026: customers don't comment on it anymore, they use it. The difference now lies in the quality of execution: real photos, clear allergens, languages for tourists, and increasingly, ordering directly from the table. Those who still have a photographed PDF stand out, and not in a good way: a well-crafted digital menu has become the minimum expected level, like a functioning POS.
3. The return of the direct channel
After years of relying on portals and platforms with their commissions, the most savvy restaurants are bringing bookings and orders back in-house: a curated Google profile, their own online menu, loyalty cards to bring customers back without paying intermediaries each time. The logic is textbook: platforms for visibility, direct channels for retention.
4. Data enters small restaurants
Average receipt, best-selling dishes, food cost per dish: analyses that were once the domain of chains are now entering independent restaurants, because digital tools produce them automatically as a byproduct of the service. Those who check them once a month make better decisions on menus and prices; those who don't continue to navigate by instinct, but now against competitors who measure. With Ordinami, for example, dish statistics come with the PRO plan, included in the subscription price of 9.90 euro per month.
5. Sustainability: from words to numbers
The sustainability that remains in 2026 is the kind that saves money: fighting waste with short and seasonal menus, portions calibrated on sales data, less printed paper, short supply chains that reduce transportation costs. Customers appreciate it, but the real drive is economic - and that's the guarantee that this time it's not a fad.
What to do, in practice
You don't need to chase everything: choose the point where your restaurant is most behind and fix it in a quarter. For most restaurants, the first realistic step is the same: get your menu, Google profile, and direct channel in order. From there, the rest follows.