What AI are restaurants actually using in 2026? The survey data

Restaurants use less AI than the headlines suggest, and very little of it takes orders. In the National Restaurant Association’s 2026 report, 26% of US operators said they use AI-related tools, and “only 6% of restaurants are using AI for customer orders” (NRA via Restaurant Dive, 2026). Guests are getting more comfortable with it, but they still want a person they can reach. Below, every survey is shown with who paid for it and when its data was collected, so you can judge each number yourself.

Figures as published on 15 Oct 2026.

Which surveys are behind the numbers, and who ran them?

Short answer: two trade-association surveys, one vendor survey, one investment-bank survey and one peer-reviewed study. Only the last one measures what technology actually did.

Two cautions apply to the whole table. The NRA 2026 figures come from Restaurant Dive’s report on the study, because the full report costs $349 for non-members. And the PAR figures come from PAR, a company that sells restaurant AI, as reported by trade press. Neither makes the numbers wrong, but you should know where they came from.

How many restaurants actually use AI in 2026?

Short answer: about one in four US operators uses some AI tool, and about one in seventeen uses it to take customer orders.

The 26% figure covers “AI-related tools” of any kind, so it includes scheduling, marketing, inventory and menu-writing software as well as anything guest-facing. The 6% figure is the one that matters if you are thinking about AI ordering: it says AI ordering is still early, and the coverage we read does not say which channels (phone, drive-thru, kiosk or table) the 6% covers.

Here is the direction over three years. The questions differ, so treat it as a trend, not an exact comparison.

The same 2024 NRA report found that 76% of operators say technology gives them a competitive edge, while only 13% think they are on the leading edge. Most restaurants are not early adopters, and that is fine.

What are restaurants using AI for?

Short answer: mostly behind the scenes and at the drive-thru. Taking orders at the table is the smallest slice.

Vendor pages show where AI is being sold. These are the products as each vendor described them on its own page, as published on 15 Oct 2026. They are vendor descriptions, not independent reviews.

If you want to know what an AI waiter is, read the AI waiter guide; for how it differs from a robot or a voice bot, see AI waiter vs robot waiter vs voice AI.

Do guests want to order from an AI?

Short answer: more of them than a year ago, as long as a person is still easy to reach.

PAR’s figures were reported by QSR Web on 24 Aug 2026 and Franchising.com on 31 Aug 2026.

Put together, the picture is consistent. Younger guests are open to ordering from an AI, older guests much less so, and almost half of all guests draw the line at losing the human. An AI tool that takes the order but makes it hard to reach a server is the version guests say they don’t want.

What does the evidence say AI ordering changes?

Short answer: there is no peer-reviewed study of chat-based AI ordering that we could find. The best evidence is about tabletop tablets, and it points to speed, not bigger checks.

The strongest study of guest-side ordering technology is Tan and Netessine’s, published in Management Science and based on 2.6 million transactions from 2012 to 2014 in a 66-restaurant US chain. Tabletop tablets raised sales per check by about 1% and cut meal duration by about 10% (Restaurant Technology News, 2019). We cover it in detail in does tabletop ordering increase check size?.

Operators seem to expect the same. In the NRA’s 2024 report, 69% said technology “will augment rather than replace human labor”, and 47% expected tech and automation “to help with a current labor shortage” to become more common. For the staffing side of that story, see our dated restaurant labor data page.

AI-waiter vendors do publish bigger numbers: Butlaroo claims a “30% lift in average cover value” and AI-Waiter.com “UP TO +25% AVG CHECK INCREASE” (both as published on 15 Oct 2026). Neither page gives a sample, a period or a comparison group.

How should you read an AI survey before you act on it?

Use this checklist on every number in this post, and on every number a vendor shows you, including us:

1. Who paid for it? A trade association, a vendor that sells AI, a bank or a university? Name the sponsor when you repeat the number.
2. When was the data collected? A 2023 attitude survey can be out of date by 2026. If the fieldwork date isn’t given, say so.
3. Who was asked? Operators or guests? US only? Full-service or all restaurants?
4. What exactly was the question? “Use AI-related tools” and “use AI for customer orders” are very different numbers (26% vs 6%).
5. Primary or secondary? Did you read the report, or a news story about it? Several figures here are secondary, and we say which.
6. Is it a measured effect or an opinion? “Would order through” is an intention. Only the tabletop study above measured what guests actually did.

Where does WaiterPilot fit in this picture?

Short answer: in the small “chat waiter at the table” group, built so that guests can call a person with one tap.

WaiterPilot by BroadNet.AI works like this:

• Guests scan the QR code on their table and the menu opens in their phone’s browser. No app to download, no sign-up.
• They ask about the menu in their own words. Answers come from the restaurant’s menu, and when the menu doesn’t say, WaiterPilot tells the guest to ask a staff member. It stays on the menu and steers off-topic questions back to food.
• The chat answers in the guest’s language. We have tested English, Arabic (several dialects) and Spanish, and it answers most other languages too. The screen buttons are in English or Arabic.
• The first order at each table waits for a staff member to tap Confirm. After that, new orders from the same table go straight to the kitchen until staff close the table.
• Guests can call a waiter or ask for the check from their phone, and it appears on the floor screen within seconds. That is our answer to the 44% who don’t want AI when they can’t easily reach a person.
• For allergies, WaiterPilot gives what the menu says and asks the guest to confirm with staff. Staff always have the final word.

What it doesn’t do: it has no POS or kitchen-printer connection, and it takes no payment. Guests see a live bill and split it, then pay your staff as they do today. It costs $200 per location per month after 30 days free, with 0% commission. More on the product on the AI waiter page.

What to do next

If you’re weighing AI ordering, start with your own floor, not the surveys: where does server time go on a busy night, and how many of your guests struggle with the menu’s language? Then compare the categories honestly in AI waiter vs QR menu vs POS ordering, and try a sample order to see a chat order reach a staff board. It’s a simulation in your browser, with no real order placed.