How is AI used in restaurants? A 2026 map of uses, job by job

Restaurants use AI for about eight jobs, and each is done by a different kind of tool: writing marketing copy and replying to reviews, answering the phone, taking orders at the drive-thru or the table, writing and translating menus, helping with payments and reconciliation, planning stock and prep, building staff rotas, and summarizing the night for the owner. Adoption is still early. In the National Restaurant Association’s 2026 report, 26% of US operators said they use AI-related tools, and only 6% use AI for customer orders (NRA, reported by Restaurant Dive, 2026).

This is a map of those jobs, not a ranking of products. For each one we say what the AI does, who sells it (as published on vendors’ own pages on 15 October 2026), and what proof exists. We make WaiterPilot, an AI waiter by BroadNet.AI, which sits in one cell of the map; we say which one, and what it doesn’t cover. For the survey side of the story, see our companion piece on what AI restaurants are actually using in 2026.

How are restaurants using AI, job by job?

Short answer: in eight jobs, with very different levels of maturity and proof.

The map below shows each job, the kind of tool that does it, example vendors as published on 15 October 2026, and what proof a buyer can check. “Vendor figure” means a number the vendor publishes about itself, which nobody has checked independently. “Not checked” means we did not review vendors in that category for this article.

Two things are often sold next to AI without being AI. A kitchen display screen shows tickets on a screen instead of paper; Square lists its KDS app at $30 a month per device on its Plus plan, and that is screen software, not a model making decisions. A self-order kiosk is a touch screen; Square lists its Kiosk at $99 a month per device. Both can be useful, but don’t pay an “AI” premium for them.

How can AI help restaurants with marketing and reviews?

Short answer: it drafts the words and builds the pages; you still decide what goes out under your name.

This is the most crowded part of the map. Website builders, online-ordering platforms and review tools now write menus, social posts, emails and review replies. Owner.com, for example, sells an AI-optimized website with online ordering, a branded app, loyalty and marketing, at $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee per order, or $499 a month flat (as published on 15 October 2026). sunday lists AI online reputation in its AI suite.

What to watch: drafted review replies that promise things you don’t do, and marketing copy with invented facts. Read every draft before it is published. The guest who reads the reply sees your name, not the tool’s.

Can AI answer the restaurant phone?

Short answer: yes. Phone AI picks up, answers questions and takes takeaway orders by voice.

Phone AI is the right kind of tool if missed calls at peak cost you takeaway orders. It needs your menu, call forwarding and a way to get orders to the kitchen. Ordder lists an AI phone waiter on its Enterprise plan; Owner.com lists AI Phone Ordering with a waitlist; me&u lists voice AI among its products without saying which channel it serves. Our guide to whether AI can take restaurant orders compares phone, drive-thru and table AI side by side.

WaiterPilot does not answer phones.

How is AI used to take orders?

Short answer: at drive-thrus by voice, on the phone by voice, and at the table by chat on the guest’s own phone.

Drive-thrus are where voice ordering AI is most visible. Presto, once known for tabletop tablets, now sells drive-thru voice AI.

At the table, the guest scans a QR code and orders by talking to the AI, by chat or, with some vendors, by voice. Butlaroo says its Vivi takes orders “by voice or chat”; Ordder’s AI Waiter sits inside its own POS; AI-Waiter.com charges $0.01 per AI request. WaiterPilot is chat only: guests scan the table’s QR code, the menu opens in the phone’s browser with no app, and they ask and order in their own words. Answers come from your menu, and when the menu doesn’t say, the guest is told to ask a staff member.

The best independent evidence on ordering at the table is about tabletop devices, not AI chat. A peer-reviewed study of a 66-restaurant US chain found tabletop ordering devices were linked to about 1% more per check and about 10% shorter meals (Tan and Netessine, Management Science, reported by Restaurant Technology News, 2019). The gain was speed, not bigger checks. No comparable study of AI chat ordering exists yet.

Is AI used in restaurant kitchens?

Short answer: a little, mostly for forecasting and prep; most kitchen screens are not AI.

Vendors pitch AI that forecasts covers and suggests prep lists, and some pitch camera-based monitoring. We did not review any of those vendors for this article, so we name none and quote no figures. If you look at one, ask it to forecast last month from the months before, using your own sales data, and compare its forecast with what really happened.

Kitchen display screens, which replace paper tickets, are usually plain software. WaiterPilot’s kitchen screen is the same kind of thing: it shows dishes, choices and notes, with no prices, on a phone or tablet you already have.

Can AI help with inventory and scheduling?

Short answer: in principle yes, because both start from a forecast; in practice, test it on your own numbers first.

Inventory and scheduling tools take your sales history, predict how busy you’ll be, and suggest what to order and who to roster. The idea is sound. The risk is a forecast that looks precise but misses local events, weather or a new menu. Ask any vendor for a back-test on your own data, ask what it does with a holiday it hasn’t seen before, and keep a person signing off every rota and order.

Restaurants have long expected technology to help with staffing. In 2024, 47% of operators expected tech and automation “to help with a current labor shortage” to become more common, and 69% said technology “will augment rather than replace human labor” (NRA, 2024).

How many restaurants actually use AI in 2026?

Short answer: about a quarter say they use some AI tool, and very few use it to take orders.

The NRA surveys asked different questions each year, so treat them as a trend, not an exact comparison. More detail, and how to read each survey, is in AI in restaurants in 2026.

What is the best AI for restaurants?

Short answer: the one that fixes your most expensive weekly problem; there is no all-round winner.

Here is a short way to choose:

1. Name the job. Which one costs you most: missed calls, slow first orders, a weak website, over-ordering stock, or rotas that don’t match covers?
2. Find the tool for that job only. A tool that claims to do all eight jobs probably does a few of them well.
3. Ask who measured the result. Most numbers in this market are the vendor’s own figures. Ask for the sample, the period and the comparison group.
4. Trial it on your own service. Pick one number before you start, such as calls answered, minutes to first order or waste, and check it after 30 days.
5. Keep a person in charge. Allergies, refunds, complaints and anything a guest disputes stay with staff.

Where does WaiterPilot fit on the map?

Short answer: in one cell, ordering at the table, plus owner reports on what guests asked.

WaiterPilot is an AI waiter for dine-in tables. Guests chat in their own language; the chat has been tested in English, Arabic dialects and Spanish, and the guest buttons are in English or Arabic. For allergies it gives what the menu says and asks the guest to confirm with staff, who always have the final word. The owner page shows busy hours, top dishes, what guests asked for that isn’t on the menu and questions it couldn’t answer, and the owner can send a “Tonight at” summary by text or WhatsApp.

It does not do marketing, phones, drive-thrus, payments, stock or rotas, and it doesn’t connect to your POS or kitchen printer. It costs $200 per location per month after 30 days free, with 0% commission and no contract. If table ordering isn’t your most expensive problem, start somewhere else on the map.

What to do next

Pick the one job from the map that costs you most this month and look only at tools for that job. If it’s ordering at the table, compare options in our AI waiter software comparison, read the AI waiter page, and check pricing against what you’d pay elsewhere.