Restaurants mostly use AI where the phone rings during service: reservations, opening hours, allergens and private events. Some also use it for menu pricing and marketing. The tools below appear in sourced restaurant and food-business cases.
Based on 20 sourced cases (15 with numbers). No sponsored placements.
| Tool | Cases | Used by | Example of a reported result |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 10 | The Original Tamale Co., Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee), Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee), The Den Family Social, Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee), Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee) … | The source reports the locator was built in a single afternoon by a non-coder. |
| Slang AI | 7 | Red Rocks Cafe, Lil Beaver Brewery, PLNT Burger, Burning Rice, Rodizio Grill, Glynn Hospitality … | The source reports 60% of calls fully automated. |
| Gemini | 2 | Jamie's Farm, Custard Stand Chili | The source reports a full day's label work reduced to about one hour. |
| Any AI assistant | 1 | Jackie's Jams | The source reports at least an hour a day saved on back-office tasks. |
A restaurant with heavy call volume used an AI phone agent to answer questions about hours, policies and dietary needs, and to manage reservations, so several calls can be handled at once.
Red Rocks Cafe
A California tamale maker that sells at farmers' markets wanted customers to know where to find them each week. The owner, who doesn't code, used ChatGPT to build a farmers-market …
The Original Tamale Co. · US
An Illinois brewery was losing staff time to the phone, including a lot of robocalls. An AI phone agent now answers common questions and screens out spam calls.
Lil Beaver Brewery · US
When a new state rule required a written procedure, the owner drafted one with AI in about 30 seconds. A social-media policy drafted the same way was later reviewed by an outside HR …
Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee) · US
A New York granola maker used AI to check distribution compliance requirements and to generate a CSV for a label template, then built a spreadsheet tracking inventory, sales and …
Jamie's Farm · US
Each month the owner uploads each store's cash transaction data and bank records, and AI matches transactions to deposits. He also uses AI to summarise payroll inputs.
Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee) · US
A San Diego jam maker that grew from farmers' markets into grocery chains and hotels uses generative AI to write social-media ads and messages and handle back-office writing.
Jackie's Jams · US
A plant-based burger chain tested an AI phone agent at three locations with 23 custom answers per site, covering hours, addresses and parking. All three went live within two weeks.
PLNT Burger · US
A Dallas-area restaurant group with seven locations put an AI voice agent on its phone lines. It answers routine questions and, when a caller wants to order, texts them the online …
Burning Rice · US
A Denver social club for parents, opening a second location, connected its email, chat and drive to ChatGPT so it could gather documents, spot what was missing and convert files for a …
The Den Family Social · US
A Brazilian steakhouse chain picked an AI phone agent that integrates with OpenTable and Tripleseat and speaks Spanish, since many callers prefer Spanish and not every location had …
Rodizio Grill · US
A Boston restaurant group connected its AI phone agent to Tripleseat, so callers asking about private events become leads in the events system, including after hours.
Glynn Hospitality · US
A busy Los Angeles restaurant and events venue set up a hybrid model: the AI agent takes routine calls and bookings, and staff pick up the conversations that need a person.
Casaléna · US
An independent franchisee with three restaurants reprices menus yearly. He has AI research local competitor prices and strategy, then gives it the menu with in-store and delivery …
Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee) · US
With read-only access to sales and labour data, AI compares scheduled, budgeted and actual hours to sales and flags overtime and gaps. For one store, it also drafts the weekly schedule …
Ted Taylor (Schlotzsky's & Cinnabon franchisee) · US
The same tamale business uses ChatGPT to turn Spanish drafts into clear English letters for staff matters, so the owner can write in the language she thinks in.
The Original Tamale Co. · US
The general manager collected financial reports from the accountant plus sales and inventory data from the point-of-sale systems and used ChatGPT to organise them into one digestible …
The Den Family Social · US
A cookie-dough business run by a mother and her three daughters relies on ChatGPT for marketing, social media and content, with Shopify for inventory and finances.
Something Sweet COOKie Dough · US
A West Virginia chili maker's team uses AI daily: the marketing director for emails and captions, the owner for summarising long threads, and the office manager for onboarding …
Custard Stand Chili · US
A San Francisco family coffee roaster designed, with ChatGPT's help, a system using software and sensors that sprays water on beans to prevent static, which made bagging messy.
Henry's House of Coffee · US
In our sourced cases, Slang AI is the most common, mainly because it books straight into reservation systems. Check that whichever tool you pick integrates with the system you already use.
Prices change often and depend on volume (per seat, per call or per conversation), so we don't list them. Check the vendor's pricing page, start with one workflow on a trial or the lowest plan, and compare the cost with the hours or bookings the sources report.
It can give general menu information, but serious allergy questions should go to staff. Every restaurant case we list recommends a human path for these.
We have not tested or ranked them ourselves. The list shows tools named in sourced small-business cases, ordered by how many cases mention them. We take no commissions.
Results are as reported by the source and have not been independently verified. Steps are our own suggestions. We are not affiliated with the vendors named and earn nothing from these links.
Best AI receptionists for small businessesBest AI tools for bookkeeping and accounting firmsBest AI tools for salons, barbers and spasBest AI tools for real estate agentsBest AI tools for plumbers, HVAC and home-service businessesBest AI tools for therapists and counsellorsBest AI tools for photographersBest AI customer service tools for online shopsBest AI tools for consultants and professional-service firmsBest AI tools for small clinics and health practices
Free weekly email: one sourced use case, the exact steps, and what to watch out for. Plus the free guide “50 AI tools & workflows for small businesses”.