Robots, Selfies, and BBQ: Inside the California Restaurant Show

Our robot may have won the popularity contest at the California Restaurant Show.

It roamed the floor, joined us onstage and posed for more photos than the rest of the Palona team combined. We are still deciding whether selfie volume qualifies it for commission.

But the biggest takeaway from the show was clear:

Invisible demand is real.

It appears in missed calls during a busy shift, catering inquiries that never receive a response and guests who give up when placing an order becomes too difficult. The demand already exists. The revenue is simply not being captured.

We met hundreds of restaurant operators in Anaheim, and they recognized this problem immediately. Our conversations centered on revenue expansion: helping restaurants uncover that invisible demand, convert more of it into revenue and create stronger relationships with their guests.

Onstage, Shawn Walchef of Cali BBQ and I shared a simple idea:

Be the show. Build the system.

Creating attention is only the beginning. Restaurants also need a system capable of converting that attention into actual business.

Cali BBQ brought the idea to life. At second year with Shawn AI, the restaurant generated an 18% year-over-year sales increase on Father’s Day. Shawn AI also captured 22 orders worth $1,905 that the restaurant otherwise could not have accepted that day, turning real invisible demand to revenue and profit.

That is invisible demand made visible—and turned into revenue.

Some of the most meaningful moments happened away from the stage.

Several Palona customers stopped by our booth to shake hands. We had already onboarded their restaurants, completed integrations and launched the product together, but had never met in person.

Those warm handshakes made months of hard work feel real.

Behind every deployment and revenue result are people trusting us with their restaurants, their teams and their guests. Finally meeting those customers face to face made the work even more meaningful.

Our team spent three days demonstrating Palona, answering detailed questions and learning directly from operators. The robot brought people to the booth. Our customer results, revenue expansion platform and the people behind Palona gave them a reason to stay.

We left Anaheim with stronger relationships with the customers and partners we already serve, exciting new relationships taking shape and even greater conviction that restaurants are ready to capture the demand hiding in plain sight.

We are already counting down to next year—with more customer stories, more revenue expansion results and a robot fully prepared for another round of selfies.

California Restaurant Show, we can’t wait to see you next year!