How Often Should a Busy Restaurant Change Prices?

Nick Kokonas says a busy restaurant should change its prices every day, every hour, or every minute. Owners who print a menu once a quarter stay stuck on the old price, and on a packed Wednesday the staff sends guests to a rival down the street.

Uber had the right idea and the worst name. Surge pricing drew real trouble because of the word. On New Year's Eve, people called it gouging. Higher pay was the point: more money gets more drivers on the road so supply rises to meet demand. Drop surge and call it dynamic.

The gap is still open across the economy, even after a sale for hundreds of millions. He believes geofenced pricing, localized and variable prices for time-slotted businesses, will make someone hundreds of billions of dollars. He got tired of convincing restaurant owners. Every day is game day for them, and constant repricing is the work they self-selected out of. They need one big button that says make more money, with the hard part hidden behind it. With AI, maybe that button is finally here.