DK Sushi Uses Toast Kiosks to Deliver a Seamless Quick Service Guest Experience

With fully integrated technology, DK Sushi has created a seamless web of communication between in-store, online, and the back-of-house with Toast Kiosk, Toast Kitchen Display System, and Toast Online Ordering.

Leveraging Self-Serve Kiosks for a Quick Serve Restaurant Concept

In an effort to open a technology-focused quick service restaurant concept, DK Sushi operates a self-ordering, kiosk-only business. The self-service kiosks enable guests to browse, order, and pay for items themselves while improving the restaurant's efficiency and guest experience, in addition to leveraging the 10% higher average order value (AOV) observed with Kiosks.

“We wanted to open a self-service restaurant concept because we were opening in a new rebranded food hall on the University of Pennsylvania campus where the demographic is technology-focused, resulting in a minimal learning curve with kiosk," says Natalie DiBattista, the Director of Operations at DK Sushi.

A key driver for selecting Toast was the ability to fully customize every landing page. Compared to competitors, Toast Kiosk offers more flexibility with branding, descriptions, and visual ordering. DK Sushi had previously used Aloha, but the kiosks did not offer this same flexibility with visual customization.

Technology-Centric Solution to Increase Order Accuracy and Speed of Service

At DK Sushi, customers have the opportunity to go from submitting their order to receiving their food by interacting with technology alone. According to Natalie, guests love to be able to go through the technology-driven dining experience and, surprisingly, the team receives very few customer questions.

“Our primary customers are college students and they love the seamless process the kiosks offer - for them, the technology is fast and intuitive.”

To complement the front-of-house technology, DK Sushi takes advantage of Toast’s advanced solutions. When tickets are fired from the kiosk, the kitchen fulfills the orders on a digital kitchen display screen. For customers who opt to provide their phone number for a digital receipt, Toast’s Kitchen Display System sends a SMS to the guest once food is ready for pick up once their order is ready.

“Toast’s SMS functionality is a game changer. We let customers know their order is up in real time. Customers who provide their cell phone number receive a SMS once their food is ready, enabling our team to focus on preparing orders instead of calling out orders.”

Additionally, the ability to self-order has increased accuracy, and the menu offers the ability for guests to submit allergy information.

“With the kiosks, our customers have the ability to review and confirm their order prior to submitting; they no longer have to rely on a cashier to capture their order or modifications.”

A primary driver for self-service kiosks was to enable rapid turn time. DK Sushi’s optimal timeline is eight minutes from order received to delivered to customer; an ambitious goal that has been achieved, considering that all orders are made from scratch! 

With Toast Kiosks, the guests set the pace and demand. The DK Sushi team tracks ticket times through Toast KDS and actively lets customers know when wait times increase during the lunch and dinner rush.

Real-Time Order Processing with Toast KDS and Online Ordering

Online Ordering was key for DK Sushi’s customer base as students regularly order from their laptop or mobile phone for quick pick up in the food hall at UPenn. Online Ordering was simple for the team to set up as the same images and descriptions created for the Kiosks are shared with the Online Ordering Menu, and it integrates with Toast KDS so the kitchen receives orders in real-time.

“Online Ordering was a key requirement for our technology focused customer base and Toast’s products proved to be simple and integrated, the photos and descriptions we set up on the Kiosks were transferred to Online Ordering, making it extremely simple for us to set up,” says Natalie.

Armed with a strong technology partner and hyper-efficient workflow, DK Sushi plans to open more locations to expand their technology-focused restaurant concept to serve broader customer segments in the future.