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Let’s rewind The year is 2005. Smartphones don’t exist, social media is in its infancy, and ordering food online seems theoretical. This is a time where “going digital” means having a basic website with your menu and hours, if you’re ahead of the curve. Most restaurants consider advanced technology to be a point-of-sale (POS) system. Having reliable Internet in your restaurant is rather unusual.

Chipotle gained a guest for life the first time I tried its burrito. I was visiting friends in Chicago in 2004, and I stopped into Chipotle hoping for an inexpensive, filling lunch. Maybe the manager could tell I was working at a nonprofit at the time, because as he handed me the burrito he said, “This one’s on me.”

When it comes to restaurant technology, there’s a huge difference between offering online ordering and creating a personalized, easy-to-use guest experience.

With the tight margins of the restaurant world, investing in new technology requires an airtight business case. Will an off-the-shelf online ordering platform meet all the needs of your restaurants, or is that something better tackled in-house to create a more custom solution? And if you do choose to work with a technology partner, how do you choose the right one?