Moe's Southwest Grill To Open First All-Digital Restaurant In Oakland
OAKLAND (KDKA) -- Moe's is preparing to debut its first all-digital restaurant right here in Pittsburgh.
Right now, the building is an empty shell along Fifth Avenue in Oakland. But it will soon be a new-look Moe's Southwest Grill.
"There are 750 Moe's Southwest Grill locations in the country. We're going to be the first of what we're calling all-digital Moe's," Mike Geiger told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Tuesday.
All-digital, meaning you order and pay for your food on an app or at a kiosk, said Geiger, who owns eight Moe's in this region with his partner.
"With the age of the audience and the desire of less interaction and quicker service of that audience, we want to meet what our customers want," added Geiger.
"Millennials love the kiosks because they grew up in the technological realm where they're interacting with phones and with tablets all the time. So this is just a natural progression for them," said David Anzia, senior vice president at Frank Mayer and Associates, a company that designs and sells kiosks to restaurants.
Anzia said both customers and restaurants like them.
"One of the biggest impacts we've seen with self-ordering kiosks, restaurants are seeing an uptick of 25 to 30 percent on the orders that are being placed by the customers."
According to a survey by the National Restaurant Association, 38 percent of millennials have already ordered food via kiosk versus 18 percent of baby boomers.
Matt Gray of Bellevue prefers to order his food electronically.
"It's just a lot more convenient," said Gray. "I work in PPG Place, so it's just a lot easier for me to order, run down, grab my food, and go back to work than for me to go, wait in line, and take that much time out of my day."
One thing at Moe's will remain the same, said Geiger.
"'Welcome to Moe's' will absolutely be heard loud and clear," he said.
If all goes according to plan, this unique Moe's Southwest Grill will open in Oakland in January.
