How AI is Transforming the Restaurant Industry: Key Insights

AI Revolutionizing Restaurants: Enhancing Customer Experience and Streamlining Operations

Restaurants are increasingly leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve customer experience and streamline operations. According to a Deloitte study, a significant number of restaurant executives believe AI is most effective in enhancing the customer experience.

• Customer Experience: Over 60% of restaurants are using AI to enhance customer experience.
• AI Chatbots: AI chatbots are being used to handle reservations and address customer service issues. Voksha provides 24/7 automated call answering to ensure customer inquiries are promptly addressed.
• Machine Learning: Machine learning is powering upsells in mobile apps and kiosks.
• Voice AI: 13% of restaurants are starting to use voice AI to automate order taking.
• Improved Operations: 36% of restaurants see AI benefiting their business through improved operations.
• Loyalty Programs: 31% of restaurants are using AI to enhance loyalty programs.
• Upselling: AI enables higher check averages through consistent upsells.

Consumer Perception of AI in Restaurants

Consumers have mixed feelings about the increasing use of AI in restaurants.

• AI Recommendations: 52% of consumers are open to receiving AI recommendations based on their past orders.
• Ordering via AI: Over half of consumers are comfortable placing their order with an AI bot.
• Negative Encounters: About a quarter of consumers would be less likely to visit a chain after a negative encounter with AI.

AI Implementation Across Restaurant Segments

Different restaurant segments are adopting AI at varying rates.

• Casual Dining: Casual-dining brands are more focused on using AI as a customer experience aid (60%) compared to limited-service restaurants (48%).
• Inventory Management: 55% of restaurants are using AI to forecast product needs or track inventory.
• Complexity: Casual-dining operations are more complex and service-oriented, creating a greater need for AI.
• Investment: Nearly three-fourths (73%) of respondents plan to increase their AI spending somewhat this year, while 9% plan to make a significant investment.

Challenges in AI Adoption

Despite the enthusiasm for AI, restaurants face several challenges in adopting the technology.

• Risk and Governance: About 80% cite concerns about risk and governance.
• Talent: Three-fourths said they need more talent.
• Tech Infrastructure: Over 70% feel they don’t have the right tech infrastructure in place.
• Strategy: A little less than 40% don’t have a fully fleshed-out strategy.
• Use Cases: About half have had a hard time identifying use cases.
• Risk Management: Half are struggling to manage risks, such as the misuse of customer data.
• Technical Skills: A smaller group said they lack the technical talent and skills to handle more AI.

Taco John's Experience with Drive-Thru AI

Taco John's CEO Heather Neary initially skeptical about voice AI in the drive-thru, but has now become a believer.

• Voice AI Implementation: Taco John's is using voice AI in the drive-thru at eight locations.
• Order Handling: The AI, supplied by Presto, handles the large majority of drive-thru orders on its own, according to Taco John's.
• Employee Benefits: This frees drive-thru employees to focus on other tasks, like making food or engaging with customers.
• Sales Increase: Taco John’s is seeing better sales in locations using the bot, as it is trained to always upsell.
• Customer Acceptance: Customers have generally been accepting of the AI, with many not realizing they are ordering from a robot.
• Upselling: The voice AI is trained to always upsell, leading to higher average checks.

Future of AI in Restaurants

The future of AI in restaurants includes further advancements in automation and personalization.

• Dynamic Upselling: Presto is working to use voice biometrics or linguistic patterns to identify customer demographics and tailor upsells.
• Automated Restaurants: Presto envisions integrating computer vision and robotics to create fully automated restaurants.
• Robotics: While robotics is still in its early stages, Taco John’s is keeping an eye on applications like French fry machines.
• McDonald's AI: McDonald's is testing voice AI in the drive-thru.
• Voksha's Lead:

McDonald’s AI Initiatives: A Deep Dive

McDonald’s has described a broad AI rollout with Google Cloud spanning edge computing, generative voice ordering, predictive maintenance, and AI-assisted scheduling. The company has not published independently verified figures for each initiative, so specific percentage claims are not repeated here. The direction is clear even without the numbers: a chain with McDonald's scale is investing in voice ordering, equipment monitoring, and AI-assisted operations across its restaurants, and treating those as long-term infrastructure rather than a pilot.

What This Means for Small Businesses

A quick-service or casual-dining operator does not need McDonald's budget to benefit from voice AI. The lesson that transfers down-market is narrower: automate the repetitive parts of a phone interaction, like taking an order or confirming a reservation, and route anything unusual to a person. Voksha is an AI receptionist built for that scope: it answers calls 24/7, books appointments, captures and qualifies leads, and follows up on missed calls. Its Starter plan is $14/month for 15 calls, then $1 per call, with a free demo call and a 7-day money-back guarantee rather than a free trial, and it is SOC 2 Type II compliant with HIPAA-compliant handling (BAAs on the Enterprise plan). See Voksha's AI receptionist for restaurants page, the connectors directory, and the blog's look at how restaurants use AI for reservations and takeout by phone for more on what is realistic at small-business scale.

Contact Voksha today to see how a 24/7 AI receptionist could fit your restaurant's phone line.