Hungry Howie’s Modernizes Delivery Operations with Cartwheel

September 02, 2026 // Franchising.com // LOS ANGELES — Cartwheel, the AI-powered delivery platform for restaurants, today announced that Hungry Howie’s Pizza, the originator of Flavored Crust® pizza, is adopting Cartwheel's Hybrid Delivery technology to manage delivery across its stores. Following a successful pilot, the top 10 U.S. pizza chain is progressing with a phased rollout across its nearly 500-location system, with all locations targeted to be live by Q2 2027.

The Cartwheel partnership builds on a broader technology modernization Hungry Howie’s set in motion earlier this year, extending that work from digital ordering into how orders actually get to the door.

Cartwheel’s Hybrid Delivery gives franchisees a single view of in-house and third-party delivery, with fulfillment powered by DoorDash Drive. Hybrid Delivery prioritizes in-house fleets based on configurable factors such as proximity to the store, order value and driver availability, then automatically routes to third-party drivers when demand peaks. Operators can see every driver in real time from one place, while automated rules handle the manual work required to coordinate delivery capacity.

Cartwheel’s also gives franchisees more brand control over orders they do not deliver themselves. Third-party deliveries carry Hungry Howie’s branded real-time tracking, promotional banners and post-delivery feedback prompts, keeping the guest experience consistent no matter which fleet handles the order and giving operators clearer visibility into delivery performance.

“We continue to see real value in maintaining a direct relationship with our guests and investing in our in-house delivery capabilities,” said Moe Shrikian, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Hungry Howie’s. “Third-party delivery provides important additional reach and flexibility, and Cartwheel helps us bring these approaches together while maintaining a consistent guest experience as we modernize our delivery operations.”

Hungry Howie's adds to Cartwheel’s footprint among enterprise pizza brands running complex, multi-fleet delivery operations. As part of the Toast Partner Ecosystem, Cartwheel connects directly into the Toast restaurant technology platform, giving operators the experience of a connected, unified system.

“As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, enterprise pizza brands are accelerating their move from legacy systems to modern, integrated technology stacks built around best-of-breed partners,” said Alex Vasilkin, co-founder and CEO of Cartwheel. “Cartwheel simplifies the complexity of multi-fleet delivery with AI-powered orchestration today, and it provides the delivery infrastructure for what comes next, including autonomous delivery and other emerging fulfillment models.”

Cartwheel’s AI-powered auto-dispatch cuts routing decisions from up to 10 minutes manually to less than a second. Built on SOC 2-compliant infrastructure, the platform orchestrates orders across national delivery providers based on brand-defined priorities including fastest, lowest-cost or preferred provider, and connects restaurants with more than 50 local catering delivery providers. Cartwheel's Driver App averages 4.6 stars across thousands of reviews.

Cartwheel supports thousands of restaurant locations and powers delivery for many brands, including Jason's Deli, Portillo’s, Potbelly, P.F. Chang's, WOWorks, Lou Malnati's, Giordano's and more. Customer case studies show brands saving up to 3 hours of management time per day with AI-powered auto-dispatch, improving on-time delivery by 24%, and increasing repeat orders by up to 10% through branded real-time tracking and promotional banners. For more case studies and customer results, visit www.trycartwheel.com/case-studies/.

Cartwheel will demonstrate products including Hybrid Delivery at FS/TEC 2026, September 23-25 in Grapevine, Texas, at booth 102.

SOURCE Cartwheel

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