RESTAURANT AI MANAGERNEW

AI Agents for Restaurants: They Do the Drafting, You Do the Deciding

Restaurant AI Manager’s AI helpers do the repetitive drafting in a restaurant: they draft tomorrow’s orders from the forecast, draft credit claims when a delivery or invoice is wrong, and suggest which items to count. Every draft shows its reasoning and a confidence label — High, Check or Unsure — and nothing reaches a supplier or your books until a person approves it. Every AI action is logged and can be undone, and each one can be switched off per venue.

  • Orders drafted from the forecast, rounded to packs
  • Credit claims drafted from check-offs and price lists
  • High, Check or Unsure on every draft, with the reason
  • Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini with your own role

Built on Open Pantry ordering — free, and used by 5,000+ venues

Restaurant AI Manager order drafted by AI on a phone for Thursday’s deliveries: forecast use from bookings, functions and sales less on hand and on order, rounded to packs, with a Check label on a line to count first

The AI tools you have tried either do nothing or do too much

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A chatbot that answers questions but never does any of the work

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Automation that sends an order nobody looked at

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No way to see why the AI suggested what it did

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One switch for “AI on” across every venue and every job

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Your figures pasted into a public chatbot by whoever was curious

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Nobody can say afterwards what the AI changed

How the AI helpers work

1

They watch the same numbers you do

The helpers read your own orders, deliveries, invoices, counts, recipes and POS sales — the same figures the reports use, and only what the venue’s settings allow.

2

They draft the job

An order for tomorrow’s deliveries, a credit claim for a short delivery, a short list of items to count this week. Each draft says what it is based on and how sure it is: High, Check or Unsure.

3

A person approves

Drafts wait in the normal screens — the order basket, the purchaser queue, the credits list. A person edits, approves and sends. The helpers cannot send an order, pay a bill or post a count by themselves.

4

Everything is on the record

Every AI action is written to a journal, can be undone, and each helper can be switched off for one venue or the whole group. The sums behind a suggestion are done in code; the AI writes them up.

Try it live as owner

No sign-up — a demo restaurant group with a guide that shows you around

The order drafter

Once an owner switches it on, the order drafter turns the sales forecast into draft orders for each supplier’s next delivery: forecast use from sales, bookings and functions, less what is on hand and on order, rounded up to the supplier’s packs. Lines it is less sure about are marked Check — “count it first” — so the chef knows where to look. It only ever suggests or drafts; sending stays with a person, and with the purchaser where approvals are on.

  • Drafts for each supplier’s next delivery
  • Check labels where a count would help
  • Never sends — a person or the purchaser does
Restaurant AI Manager drafted orders for the next drops from five suppliers, compared with ordering to par and to forecast, with a note that they go to the purchaser to finalise and suppliers see nothing until they are sent

The claims helper

When a delivery is short, an item is substituted or an invoice price is above your price list, the claims helper drafts the credit request from the check-off and the invoice, with the evidence attached. The invoice is held with the reason before it goes to your accounting. Credits are tracked until the supplier issues them, and nothing is sent until you press Send.

  • Drafted from the check-off, the invoice and your price list
  • Evidence attached, tracked to credit
  • Sent only when a person presses Send
Restaurant AI Manager invoices screen: one invoice held because a line was substituted and not counted, credits to ask for drafted but not sent, and a note that Open Pantry drafts the credit requests and nothing is sent until you press Send

Connect your own AI

An owner can switch on Connect your AI to ask Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini about the business directly. Each person connects as themselves, with their own role, so the AI sees exactly what that person could see in Restaurant AI Manager and nothing more — a chef asking about wages gets no figures. It can read and draft; it cannot send, pay or post.

  • Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini
  • Each person’s own role and money visibility
  • Read and draft only
Image needed: Settings › Connect your AI screen from the production demo.

AI on the floor, with a person confirming

Owners can switch on more AI where it saves a job: a photo stock take that spots items on a shelf and estimates how full each open bottle is, a camera delivery check that compares a photo of the delivery with the order, and a guest feed that tells an AI phone or online ordering system which dishes to suggest today and what is 86’d — never your costs or your suppliers. Each one proposes and a person confirms.

  • Photo stock take and camera delivery check
  • Guest feed for AI phone and online ordering
  • Proposals only — a person saves them
Restaurant AI Manager Today screen for a three-venue group: the Ask box and an AI briefing written from the group’s own figures, each item with a fix button, an Ask about it button and a High confidence label

What the AI helpers read

Orders, deliveries and supplier invoicesStock counts, waste and transfersYour recipes and menu costingPOS sales, bookings and functionsClaude, ChatGPT and Gemini, when you connect themYour role and money-visibility settings

Built by the team venues already order with

Chefs Love Open Pantry

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wholesale ordering
Junior Malvern crew x

Thank you OPEN PANTRY, we used to have to use 6 apps to get access to ordering from our suppliers, the fact we can do it all in one has saved an incredible amount of time & effort! We love you!

wholesale ordering
Tom Pearson

We’ve been using Open Pantry for a few months now and it’s been an absolute lifesaver. We’re short staffed so being able to place all of our orders with all of our suppliers in the one spot is a massive help.

wholesale ordering
James Evans

So glad this service exists. Has made it so easy for my manager & chefs to order & all payments are settled in one go. The recurring orders & pantry lists are amazing time savers!!

Why not let the AI just place the orders?

Because the person who signs for the delivery is the one who has to live with it. A draft that shows its working and waits for a tap saves nearly all of the time and keeps all of the judgement: the chef still knows the walk-in is full of a delivery that never got checked off, and the owner still decides what goes to a supplier. When a helper is wrong, it costs a correction, not a cool room of salmon.

AI agents for restaurants — questions owners ask

What do the AI helpers in Restaurant AI Manager actually do?+
They draft work: orders for each supplier’s next delivery from the forecast, credit claims when a delivery or invoice is wrong, and a short list of items worth counting. Each draft shows what it is based on and a High, Check or Unsure label, and a person approves it.
Can the AI send an order or pay a supplier without me?+
No. The AI helpers can only suggest or draft. Sending an order, sending a credit request, paying a bill and posting a stock count all need a person, and where your group uses approvals the purchaser signs off first.
How do I know why the AI suggested something?+
Every suggestion shows its reasoning — the forecast, stock on hand and pack size behind an order line, or the check-off and price list behind a credit claim — and a confidence label of High, Check or Unsure. The sums are calculated in code; the AI explains them.
Can I connect ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to my restaurant’s data?+
Yes. An owner switches on Connect your AI, and each person connects as themselves. The AI then sees only what that person can see in Restaurant AI Manager, and it can read and draft but not send, pay or post anything.
Can I turn the AI off for one venue or one job?+
Yes. Each AI feature can be switched off for a single venue or the whole group, and the order drafter stays off until an owner switches it on. Every AI action is logged and can be undone.
Does the AI see staff wages or other things a chef shouldn’t?+
The AI only ever works with what the person asking is allowed to see. A role without money visibility gets no dollar figures, and the guest feed for AI phone or online ordering never includes costs, GP or supplier details.
Is the AI included in the price of Restaurant AI Manager?+
Yes. The AI helpers, the morning briefing and Ask are included in the price per venue. Connect your AI uses your own Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini account, which you pay for separately with that provider.
Can I try the AI helpers before I sign up?+
Yes. The live demo signs you in as the owner of a three-venue demo group with drafted orders, held invoices and credit claims already in it, and a guide shows you around. There is no free trial and nothing to sign up for.

See the AI helpers at work in a demo group

Sign in as the owner of Harbour & Vine and approve an order the AI drafted — no sign-up.

€65.04/month per venue billed yearly (save 20%) · or €81 month to month, no contract · plus tax

See Restaurant AI Manager · See plans & pricing