Month: April 2018

EVERETT — Glistening water, passing ships and inquisitive seals could delight visitors willing to pay at least $150 for an overnight stay. Hotel Indigo will offer 142 rooms at the city’s waterfront by summer or fall 2019. A celebration of Everett’s next large lodging is planned at 10 a.m. Thursday. (The Herald)

US restaurants saw breakfast and morning snack traffic rise 1% in the 12-month period ending Feb. 18, while traffic was flat or down the rest of the day, according to NPD Group. Eateries are innovating to win breakfast fans, with new options including craft pancakes at Denny’s, King’s Hawaiian French Toast at IHOP and Breakfast Green Bowls at Rouge Tomate Cafe in New York City. (Nation’s Restaurant News)

Volara, the creator of a hotel concierge service powered by AWS’ Alexa for Business, today announced it has extended calling capabilities to hotel guests. Though Alexa for Business could already initiate video conference calls, more traditional phone calls were not available before today, Volara cofounder and CEO Dave Berger told VentureBeat in an email. (VentureBeat)

Grubhub is upping the ante when it comes to cashless payment options for time-pressed diners, especially Millennials. The online and mobile ordering platform used by thousands of restaurants has partnered with Venmo, a peer-to-peer payment app favored by younger diners. (Nation’s Restaurant News)

With spicy flavors continuing to grow on menus, operators have plenty of opportunity to expand these ingredients on menus. While Sriracha has dominated the spicy arena for the past few years, consumers are now demanding more diverse global flavors, and operators are turning toward less common, more adventurous cuisines such as Spanish, Caribbean, Filipino, Cuban and more. (Restaurant Business)