ChowNow

ChowNow

ChowNow operates a SaaS platform for independent restaurants, providing online ordering, branded mobile apps, and marketing automation. The firm's core pitch is replacing per-order commissions charged by delivery marketplaces with a subscription model, which it states has saved restaurant partners more than $650 million in cumulative commissions. The platform's ordering layer includes direct website ordering, a ChowNow marketplace, syndicated discovery on channels such as Google, QR-code dine-in ordering, and catering. Marketing tools span email and SMS campaigns, automated segmentation based on order behavior, and a loyalty program. Confirmed active integrations cover more than 20 point-of-sale systems, including Toast, Square, Revel, and Clover. The operational footprint is US-only, supporting single-location independents as well as small groups such as 4Top Hospitality. ChowNow explicitly does not handle delivery itself but provides a dispatch management layer; fraud and chargeback protection on card transactions is included without caps. The firm's public materials emphasize that customer data remains with the restaurant, with no third-party sale. ChowNow reports more than 500 combined years of restaurant-industry experience across its team and lists 22,000 restaurant partners on its website. Recent named restaurant clients in its marketing include Ollie's (New York), Renegade Burrito (Denver), Sushi-Zen (Arlington), ingrained (Chicago), 4Top Hospitality, Emporium Thai (Los Angeles), and Rendezvous (Memphis). No AUM, funding round, or parent-company details are disclosed on the firm's public-facing pages, and no executive or founder names are published. ChowNow's structural differentiator is its subscription-only revenue model in a category where competitors primarily earn through per-transaction commissions. By decoupling software fees from order volume, the firm transfers the marginal economics of digital takeout to the restaurant operator. This architecture appeals to independent owners who want to capture direct customer relationships rather than renting access through a marketplace, though it requires the restaurant to drive its own traffic or pay for the firm's syndicated discovery placements.