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Tech Tracker

Tech Tracker: Restaurants enter the metaverseTech Tracker: Restaurants enter the metaverse

Find out what it all means as chains line up to enter this new virtual reality

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

May 5, 2022

The metaverse is a big mystery to many people, but it’s one that restaurant chains are beginning to realize the full potential of them as they stake claims by filing trademarks or opening units in the virtual world.

Restaurant companies that have filed trademarks to join the metaverse include Burger King, Panera, Next Level Burger, Bareburger, Yum Brands, Inspire Brands, Hooters, Panda Express, Bojangles, Wendy’s, Chipotle, Wingstop, McDonald’s, and Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A filed this week for what it’s calling its own “Moo-taverse.” It sounds like Wendy’s Wendyverse in the trademark application, but the jury is out on whether it will be realized.

NRN editors Holly Petre and Joanna Fantozzi discuss two of the restaurants entering the metaverse — Wendy’s and Chipotle — in this episode of Tech Tracker. Wendyverse opened to the public on April 2 and Chipotle’s digital burrito game was a limited time offer that has since expired.

Watch Petre and Fantozzi discuss how brands are making their way into the metaverse on this edition of Tech Tracker.

About the Author

Holly Petre

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

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