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 130 restaurants in New Jersey,
New York, Florida and Georgia, including five restaurant concepts: Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar,
Panera Bread, 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 11
locations in Staten Island and New Jersey. Doherty Enterprises is ranked 23rd in Top 200 Franchisees in
the United States by Restaurant Finance Monitor and is recognized as the 80th largest Foodservice revenue
company in the United States by Nation’s Restaurant News, the 73rd largest privately held business in
the New York Metro area by Crain’s Business, and 24th largest privately held company 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 3,900 people and donated over $5.1 million directly back to those in
need. (www.DohertyInc.com).