From Eater to Blackbird: Ben Leventhal on Restaurants, Loyalty, and Rebuilding Payments
•February 11, 2026
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Why It Matters
Blackbird’s approach could redistribute payment‑network profits and data control from legacy POS firms to restaurants and diners, redefining the economics of the $1 trillion restaurant industry.
Key Takeaways
- •Restaurants seek lower costs, more seats, loyalty solutions.
- •Blackbird uses crypto to give consumers control over data.
- •Decentralized payments network aims for trillion‑dollar 2025 volume.
- •Current focus on 1,000 restaurants; scaling to 100k needed.
- •Pitch emphasizes practical benefits, not blockchain jargon, to owners.
Summary
Ben Leventhal, founder of Eater, Resi and now Blackbird, explains how his new venture is tackling two persistent restaurant pain points: high operating costs and weak loyalty tools. He argues that the industry’s $1 trillion projected payment flow by 2025 is still funneled through legacy POS and reservation platforms that own the data, leaving restaurants without control. Blackbird leverages blockchain to anonymize consumer information on‑chain, giving diners ownership of their data and laying groundwork for a future decentralized payments network. The conversation reveals that Blackbird’s short‑term value proposition is pragmatic rather than technical. Leventhal says sales pitches focus on cost reduction, seat‑utilization and loyalty, reserving crypto discussions for tech‑savvy owners. The company currently serves about a thousand venues and acknowledges that true network effects—and the justification for full decentralization—won’t materialize until it reaches roughly 100,000 restaurants. Leventhal punctuates his vision with memorable lines: “We don’t lead with crypto; we talk about lowering my costs and putting more seats.” He also shares founder lessons, dismissing the common advice to “slow down” and emphasizing relentless forward motion, even if progress is incremental. The interview underscores the cultural importance of restaurants to consumers and the need for technology that feels “magical” without adding friction. If Blackbird succeeds, it could reshape the economics of restaurant payments, shift data ownership back to consumers, and pressure incumbent POS providers to innovate. For investors and restaurateurs, the startup offers a glimpse of how blockchain might move from hype to a functional layer in a $1 trillion market, provided it can scale beyond its current niche.
Original Description
Restaurants generated more than a trillion dollars in sales last year — but they don’t control the payment rails those dollars flow through.
In this episode, Ben Leventhal (founder of Eater, Resy, and now Blackbird) joins show host Robert Hackett to explain why that’s a problem, how loyalty and payments have failed independent restaurants, and where crypto fits into fixing it.
Ben breaks down:
- Why most restaurant tech misses the point
- How Blackbird uses crypto without making restaurants think about crypto
- What “restaurant-first” really means in payments and loyalty
- Why decentralization only makes sense at scale
- Lessons from building multiple companies in hospitality
- Why we’re living in the golden age of restaurants
- Plus: favorite NYC spots, founder productivity hacks, and the smallest hill he’ll die on.
This is a grounded conversation about technology, ownership, and the future of restaurants — from someone who’s been building in the space for over a decade.
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