Steak n Shake to deploy self-order kiosks

Steak n Shake Inc. will install self-service kiosks to improve efficiency and transition to empower guests to place and pick up their own orders, according to a letter to shareholders dated Feb. 26, 2021 by Sardar Biglari, chairman of the board of Biglari Holdings.

«Although most of our dining rooms are currently closed, we are not dispensing with them altogether; rather, we intend to equip units with advanced self-service,» Biglari wrote in the letter. «What will be most evident to our returning patrons is that instead of ordering at the table, or even at a counter with an attendant, our guests will now initiate their transaction at a kiosk.»

The company planned to convert to a self-service model prior to the pandemic, Biglari wrote, but the plan would have taken several years to implement.

«We therefore made the decision to emerge from the public health crisis with a different service model for the entire system,» he wrote. «In effect, the pandemic hastened the inevitable.»

Biglari said the capital outlay per unit will be between $100,000 and $200,000 to remodel the restaurant interior, introduce a point-of-sale system and install self-order kiosks.

Each of the company's 86 franchise partners is on a different schedule for reopening their dining room with self-service, according to the letter.

Source: Kiosk Marketplace