East Islip Long Island Applebee’s Deploys New Pickup Lockers To Facilitate Speedy, Contactless Food Order Handoffs

Doherty Enterprises, an Applebee’s® franchisee, announced today that its Applebee’s restaurant in East Islip, Long Island now features an innovative new pickup locker system for delivery service providers (DSPs). The new pickup lockers enable quick, contactless, food order handoff to popular DSPs such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub. The East Islip Long Island Applebee’s is the first casual dining restaurant in the United States to make use of these pickup lockers.

“The new pickup lockers mean drivers no longer spend precious time at the counter requesting their pickup order, instead, they are alerted when the order is ready,” said Kurt Pahlitzsch, VP of Operations, Doherty Enterprises. “This aligns with our company-wide commitment to get our delicious food to our guests hot and fast, so they can enjoy it wherever they choose to dine at our Applebee’s restaurants. We are excited to share this first with our East Islip neighbors.”

OrderHQ smart lockers make it easy for busy kitchens to offer quick, secure, and convenient order pickup experiences for DSPs. At this location, once the order is ready, the Applebee’s team member loads it into the back of the locker straight from the kitchen. When the delivery driver arrives, they go straight to the locker and enter their unique code to easily unlock their specific pickup order. The solution features indicator lights to guide DSPs to the correct compartment that contains their delivery. The entire pickup process lasts less than 10 seconds.

After testing and refining, Doherty Enterprises plans to roll out the new technology to additional Applebee’s restaurants in their portfolio. This is not an Applebee’s systemwide initiative.

About OrderHQ

OrderHQ smart locker system provides customers and delivery service providers with a secure, quick, and easy way to pick up orders and be on their way. The system was developed by Apex Order Pickup Solutions, a leading global provider of contactless automated pickup solutions, and manufactured by Merco, a Welbilt brand. Welbilt, Inc. (NYSE:WBT) a leading global provider of commercial foodservice equipment.

About Doherty Enterprises, Inc.

Established in 1985, Doherty Enterprises owns and operates more than 160 restaurants in New Jersey, New York, including seven restaurant concepts: Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Panera Bread, Wendy’s, Jinya Ramen Bar, Chevys Fresh Mex and its own concepts, The Shannon Rose Irish Pub and Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas. In addition, Doherty Enterprises is also a franchisee of Sola Salon Studios with 15 locations in Staten Island and New Jersey.

Doherty Enterprises is ranked 27th Largest Franchisee in the United States by Restaurant Finance Monitor, is recognized as the 80th largest Foodservice revenue company in the United States by Nation’s Restaurant News, the 67th largest privately held business in the New York Metro area by Crain’s Business, and 26th in NJ’s Top 250 privately held companies & 5th Largest Family-Owned Business Based on Employees in New Jersey by NJBIZ.

The Doherty vision is to be the “Best Food Service Company in the Communities We Serve” and its mission is to “Wow Every Guest Every Time, Wow our People, Wow Our Communities and Wow Our Suppliers.” Doherty Enterprises has also been lending a helping hand to team members and their immediate families when financially burdened through the WOW a Friend Foundation. To date, the foundation has assisted more than 4,200 people and donated over $5.7 million directly back to those in need. (www.DohertyInc.com).