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📹 How to live your restaurant values

Foodrunner Plate

Restaurant insights by 7shifts

May 2025

Vol 17: Restaurant AI 101

April 2025

Vol 16: The 2025 Restaurant Labor Playbook

March 2025

Vol 15: Tariffs, training, and taxes

February 2025

Vol 14: Dressing up success with Mandy’s Salads

January 2025

Vol 13: Resetting for the new year

December 2024

Vol 12: The 2024 to 2025 trends pipeline

November 2024

Vol 11: Building great restaurant teams

October 2024

Vol 10: What’s an “employer brand”

September 2024

Vol 9: Payroll secrets unlocked

August 2024

Vol 8: Rethinking how much you pay staff

July 2024

Vol 7: Tipping talk…secrets and splitting

June 2024

Vol 6: What employees actually want

May 2024

Vol 5: Supporting your team’s mental health

April 2024

Vol 4: Building great culture at work

March 2024

Vol 3: How to make + save more money

February 2024

Vol. 2: Nurturing your best team

January 2024

Vol. 1: Welcome to Food Runner

In this edition, we’re talking about everyone’s favorite buzzword: AI.

While artificial intelligence has been shaking up the tech world for years, it’s only recently started making waves in the restaurant industry. But for many folks, turning that buzz into practical, workable solutions can still feel like uncharted territory.

The good news is you don’t need to understand what GPT stands for in ChatGPT to put AI to work (it’s “Generative Pre-Trained Transformer”, by the way). What matters is uncovering how tools like that can help you save time, boost efficiency, and take tasks off your plate.

ON THE MENU 7 min read
On the menu icon 1.png How are restaurants currently using AI?
on the menu 2.png “Hey Chat, help me with my restaurant’s marketing”
on the menu 3.png To automate or not to automate (food photography)
*Me after finding out ChatGPT can handle my marketing and perfect my menu—all while acting as my personal therapist*
by the numbers - April 2025.png

THE MORE YOU KNOW

If you’re completely new to the world of AI, don’t sweat it. You’ve got a restaurant to run, and we’re here to help educate. Here are a few basic terms explained, so you don’t get lost in the jargon:
AI.png Artificial intelligence (AI): Computer systems that perform tasks that typically require human smarts—like learning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
ai-prompt.png AI prompt: A request you give to AI to tell it what you want—the clearer the prompt, the better the response. Asking ‘Hey Siri, what’s the weather today?’ is a prompt. So is typing ‘Help’ into ChatGPT.
machine learning.png Machine learning: A type of AI that gets smarter on its own by spotting patterns in data with no manual programming needed.
predictive analysis.png Predictive analysis: Using data to forecast what will likely happen next, like future sales, staffing needs, and customer demand.
automation.png Automation: A tech process that simplifies routine, repetitive tasks—like a payroll calculation that’s done for you.
natural language processing.png Natural language processing: AI that helps computers understand, interpret, and respond to human language. Think of your favorite assistants, Alexa and Siri.
large language model.png Large language model: AI that’s trained on tons of text to generate human-like responses. It’s what powers tools like ChatGPT, which can be used for writing, brainstorming, and answering questions.
computer vision.png Computer vision: AI that helps computers ‘see’ and make sense of visuals from the real world—pretty cool (and just a little creepy).
dynamic pricing.png Dynamic pricing: AI that adjusts prices automatically based on factors like customer demand and time of day.
In-the-news.png

IN THE NEWS

McFlurry machines may finally stop breaking—thanks to AI

According to The Wall Street Journal, McDonald’s is undergoing a major technological transformation across its 43,000 restaurants worldwide. The goal? Use AI to deliver better experiences for both customers and employees. This includes predicting when equipment might break down (they’re looking at you, problematic McFlurry machine), exploring mounted cameras with computer vision to ensure order accuracy before the hand-off, and tailoring promotions and offers based on customer data.

Welcome to the AI drive-thru: Nvidia partners with Yum Brands
Yum Brands, the world’s largest restaurant company (and the parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, and more), announced its partnership with tech giant Nvidia in hopes of advancing AI within the restaurant industry. The collaboration will focus on deploying AI agents for drive-thru orders and call centers, and the company aims to roll out solutions across 500 restaurants in Q2.
2501-By the Numbers.png

BY THE NUMBERS

How are restaurants currently using AI? Here’s what TouchBistro found in its 2025 State of Restaurants Report:
They also gained insights on automation.
2501-Heard.png

HEARD!

Let’s be real—you’re probably not planning to roll out robot servers anytime soon. But AI can still play a powerful role in your business, from crafting subject lines for your email newsletters to brainstorming your next holiday offer.

We sat down with Josh Kopel—Michelin-awarded restaurateur-turned-consultant (and the host of Full Comp podcast)—to discuss how AI can change your restaurant marketing game.

Why aren’t more restaurateurs using AI?
”Whether people realize it or not, they’ve been using AI for years. Alexa is AI, Siri is AI, and over the years, you’ve figured out all of the different ways that you can use Alexa and Siri in your day-to-day life to add value.

I think the problem with ChatGPT and AI language models is that they do too much. And when something does everything, you do nothing with it. And so the learning curve isn’t learning how to use it—you just talk to it—the hurdle is figuring out all of the different things that you can do with it.”

Which AI tool should I use for restaurant marketing?
“ I think ChatGPT is probably gonna be the easiest model to use. I also think from a marketer’s perspective, it’s a really good place to go. The simplest thing that you could do is, number one, download it. Number two, pay the $20 a month.”

How do I start using AI for my marketing efforts?
“Lead with curiosity…if you don’t know where to start, whether it is with AI-based language models or the marketing strategy for your business, starting from scratch and asking fundamental questions will get you there. I would tell it to ask questions about [my restaurant]. I would tell it to ask questions about my audience on a Saturday night.”

Explainer: This is because ChatGPT is a language model that uses machine learning to improve its responses as you provide more context. By answering questions about your restaurant upfront, the AI’s responses will be better tailored to your business needs.

To illustrate what we mean, the Food Runner team went meta (not the Zuckerberg kind) and asked ChatGPT for the context it needs to prime it for contextual marketing requests. Here’s what it had to say:

What are different ways to use AI for restaurant marketing?

🔎 Researching competitors – Josh explains that AI doesn’t just have access to historical data—it also has access to everything on the internet, making it a powerful tool for competitive research. He offers this as a sample prompt after feeding the model information about where you’re located:

“ I want you to do a competitive analysis in my area. I want you to figure out what everyone else is doing for Easter, and I want you to help me conceptualize a concept that will be better than my competition.”

You can also try custom tools like RestaurantGPT, which scans your restaurant’s online presence to see how it stacks up against competitors—in exchange for your email.

📈 Creating offers & optimizing for reach – AI can also help you brainstorm offers of your own. Josh believes that most people have great restaurants but terrible offers, so he suggests this as a sample prompt:

“ Based off the principles of scarcity, urgency, and incredibly high perceived value, I want you to take this special (insert special) that we’re running this weekend and create an email that would inspire people to come in. What does that offer look like without discounting or freebies?”

And while creating an appealing offer is one thing, getting people to hear about it is another. That’s where optimizing for reach comes in, with a prompt like this:

“ Give me 10 options for a subject line. Optimize for high open rate and high click-through rate. Restructure this email in a way that’s going to increase the click-through rate. Give me 8 samples of calls to action that you believe will have a high click-through rate.”

And if the results aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, you can always ask AI to refine them with additional prompts. Here are some ways to do so, according to ChatGPT itself:

🤝 Building loyalty – Josh believes that the best restaurants in the world still have lackluster loyalty programs because they’re all based on transactions—like get $5 off when you spend $100. He suggests asking AI for loyalty program ideas that are rooted in experience and status instead.

Some ideas, drawn directly from Josh’s past experiences, include:

  • Offering exclusive access to off-menu items
  • Offering previews of seasonal menu items before the official launch
  • Offering the ability to pre-purchase high-end liquor at the restaurant with liquor lockers

For more insights on using AI for restaurant marketing (and a few other meticulous tasks), listen to The Pre-Shift podcast episode or read the recap.

food for thought.png

DEBATABLE

Q: Are AI-generated restaurant food images smart or unethical?

While leveraging AI for ideas is great, it may not be the right strategy for every part of your business. We came across reports on Reddit of some restaurants (allegedly) using AI-generated images as their food photography.

The consensus from most people? It left a bad taste in their mouth.
But others argue that advertising is inherently deceptive anyway, so this isn’t much worse.
food for thought.png

SPOTTED IRL

Heading to the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago?
We’ll see you there! Join us for a night of connection, conversation, and cocktails at the 7shifts Mix & Mingle — an exclusive, and free “unofficial” conference after-party on May 16. Space is limited, so RSVP now!
See details and RSVP
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