Google and restaurant digital ordering platform, Olo, have joined to allow customers at more than 70,000 Olo-connected restaurant locations to order directly through Google Search, Maps and the Google Assistant. In fact, consumers can simply ask Google Assistant to place the order by first saying either "Hey Google, order food from (specific restaurant)," or "Hey Google, order food again from specific restaurant]."

This is all possible now that Olo's Rails restaurant ordering and fulfillment platform has integrated with Search, Maps and the Google Assistant, allowing orders to go directly into the restaurant POS systems and ordering streams, a news release said. 

The companies said this functionality provides more accurate pricing, menu, and product availability, as well as automatically inserting inbound orders into restaurants' existing POS systems. Similarly, Google and Olo said that aside from eliminating the need for tablets on the restaurant counters, this option also cuts the proliferation of disparate order flows, reduces lag and increases order success rates for faster, more accurate ordering. 

"Search is increasingly becoming the path to purchase in the restaurant space and we are thrilled to team up with Google to make ordering easy while allowing restaurants to own the digital relationship with their guests," Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass, said in the release. "Any consumer searching for a restaurant brand should have easy options to order from the restaurant directly with as few clicks as possible, which is what this integration enables."

Two QSRs, Portillo's Hot Dogs and Checkers & Rally's were the first Olo brands to pioneer this integration with Google, facilitating ordering and fulfillment for both brands. 

"The latest integration with Google enables the brand to conveniently serve guests that are already searching for a Checkers or Rally's near them, and provide a frictionless ordering and pickup experience," Checkers & Rally's Vice President of Digital and Guest Experience Jason Carrigan, said in the release. "We view this as a major growth opportunity for Checkers & Rally's and we are proud to be one of the first restaurant brands to partner with Olo to make food ordering easier across Google's platforms.

Portillo's Hot Dogs Senior Vice President of Marketing and Off-Premise Dining Nick Scarpino said his brand also is delighted to help launch the new capability. 

"Our team takes great pride in making the ordering process as seamless as possible, and this integration enables guests to place a direct digital order more quickly than ever," he said in the release. "We are proud to partner with Olo to continue improving our guests' digital ordering experience across Google's platforms."