RESTAURANT AI MANAGERNEW

Restaurant Demand Forecasting: Order and Prep for the Covers You’ll Actually Do

Restaurant demand forecasting estimates how many covers each service will do, so you can order and prep to match instead of to habit. Restaurant AI Manager builds the forecast from your POS sales history, the bookings in the book, expected walk-ins and your functions, shows the drivers behind every number, then drafts the supplier orders and the prep list for a person to check and send.

Covers forecast by service, with the bookings, functions and walk-ins behind each one
Orders drafted as forecast use, less on hand and on order, rounded up to packs
Function stock timed to the function date, not bought to par
Prep lists by station, rounded to your batch sizes

Try it live as head chef See Restaurant AI Manager →

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

Restaurant AI Manager What’s coming screen for Harbour & Vine: 585 covers forecast for the next seven days with 89% already booked, forecast covers by lunch and dinner service, and Saturday dinner’s 171 covers broken down into bookings, expected no-shows, walk-ins and an 80-guest wedding

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Built for hospitality venues of every kindRestaurants Cafes Bars Pubs Quick service Catering Production kitchens Fine dining

Par levels don’t know there’s a wedding on Saturday

Ordering to par buys the same for a quiet Tuesday as a booked-out Saturday

An 80-guest function goes in the diary, not in the order

The forecast lives in the head chef’s head, and leaves on their day off

Short on a big night means 86’d dishes; over on a quiet one means Monday’s bin

Prep is set by habit, so the walk-in fills with sauce nobody needs

Nobody can say why this week’s order was what it was

From the bookings diary to a drafted order

It reads what’s coming

Sales history from your POS, the bookings in the book and your functions — added by hand, by CSV, from a calendar feed or by forwarding the booking email. Confirmed functions count in full; tentative ones count by how likely they are.

It forecasts covers and shows why

Each service gets a forecast made of bookings less expected no-shows, walk-ins and functions. Tap any day or bar and the drivers are listed with their numbers, and a confidence label says how sure it is.

It drafts the order

Forecast use, less what’s on hand and what’s already on order, rounded up to pack sizes and set against each supplier’s delivery days and cut-off. The draft goes to your purchaser to finalise; suppliers see nothing until it’s sent.

It drafts the prep

Each dish’s forecast sales become portions needed, less what’s already prepped, rounded to your batch sizes and split by station. The team ticks it off as they go.

Try it live as head chef

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

Order to the forecast, not to par

Par levels buy back to a fixed number whatever the week holds. The forecast order buys for the covers you’re expecting, and the order card puts the two side by side so you can see the difference before you send anything. In the demo group, the week’s forecast order is several times what ordering to par would have bought, because a wedding and a full Saturday are on the books. Function stock is kept separate, because it’s never a par purchase.

Forecast order and to-par order side by side
Function stock split out from everyday stock
Pars still there as the floor and for low-stock alerts

Restaurant AI Manager order card: next drops across five suppliers split into stock and function stock, compared with ordering to par, with Send all 5 orders and Add to basket buttons and a note that orders go to the purchaser and suppliers see nothing until sent

Every line shows its working

Each line on the drafted order says what it’s for: how much the forecast says you’ll use before the next delivery, what’s on hand, what’s on order, and the pack rounding. Where the stock figure looks doubtful it says so — “count it first” — with a Check label instead of guessing. Orders are grouped by delivery day and supplier with the cut-off showing, and suppliers that aren’t on Open Pantry get the order by email.

Forecast use − on hand − on order, rounded up to packs
Grouped by delivery day, with each supplier’s cut-off
Any supplier, by email if they’re not on Open Pantry

Restaurant AI Manager on a phone: an order for Thursday drafted from 68 forecast covers across five suppliers, a bakery order with an 8pm cut-off sent as an email PO, and a sourdough line marked Check with a note to count it first

Functions planned back from the date

A function isn’t just extra covers; it has a menu, a guest count and a date that everything has to land before. The function’s menu is multiplied by its guests, the ingredients are timed to arrive before the day, and the prep timeline counts back from it: final numbers due, the seafood order still to send, stocks and pastry the day before. Change the guest count and the forecast changes with it.

Function menu × guests, ordered for the function date
A prep timeline counting back from the day
Unsent orders for the function flagged on the timeline

Restaurant AI Manager Prep ahead screen for a 70-cover day, with prep grouped by station and a Thompson–Lee wedding prep timeline counting back from Saturday: final numbers due, a seafood delivery not sent yet, chicken stock and shortcrust pastry

A prep list by station, from tomorrow’s numbers

The prep list is built from each dish’s forecast sales, less what’s already prepped, and rounded to the batch sizes your kitchen actually makes. It’s split by station — larder, pastry, sauces and stocks — with a time each item is needed by. Print it for the pass or tick it off on a phone; if the bookings change, rebuild it from the forecast.

Portions needed − already prepped, rounded to batches
By station, with a needed-by time
Print it, or tick it off on a phone

Restaurant AI Manager Prep ahead on a phone for a 70-cover day: tomato sugo needed for two dishes, rounded up to one 5 kg batch, due by 10am, under the larder and cold station

What the forecast reads from

POS sales, whichever POS you useBookings and functions — by hand, CSV, calendar feed or forwarded emailStock on hand from your countsOrders already with suppliersRecipes, pack sizes and batch sizesOrders to any supplier by email

Built by the team venues already order with

Christian Abbot

“Open Pantry has created exactly what the restaurant industry needs. Something very easy to use that doesn’t require any upkeep. Their menu costing feature is fantastic and simple enough that any chef or bar manager can use it. I think restaurants that are serious about growing their profit & managing their costs need to consider Open Pantry.”

Group Executive Chef, Australian Venue Company

Chefs Love Open Pantry

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!

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.

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 just order to par?

Par is a good floor and a poor forecast. It assumes every week looks like an average week, so it under-buys for the busy ones and leaves stock sitting after the quiet ones — and it can’t see a function at all. A forecast built from your own sales history and the bookings already in the book orders for the week you’re actually going to have, and shows you why, so the chef can overrule it with one look rather than rebuild the order from scratch.

Restaurant demand forecasting — questions chefs ask

How does demand forecasting work for a single restaurant?＋

Restaurant AI Manager combines your POS sales history with the bookings in the book, expected walk-ins and your functions to forecast covers for each service. Every forecast lists the drivers behind it, and while your history is still short it says so and marks the forecast Unsure rather than pretending to be sure.

Can the forecast include weddings and functions we have booked?＋

Yes. A confirmed function counts in full — its menu multiplied by its guests — and a tentative one counts by how likely it is to go ahead. Function ingredients are ordered to arrive before the function date, and the prep timeline counts back from the day.

How do I get our bookings into the forecast without an integration?＋

Bookings and functions can be added by hand, imported by CSV, read from a calendar feed or forwarded as a booking email. You don’t need a particular booking system to start.

Does it work with our POS system?＋

Yes. It works with every POS. Whichever till you use, the day’s sales come in and are matched to your recipes, so the forecast is built on what actually sold.

Does the forecast order get sent to suppliers automatically?＋

No. The order is drafted and goes to your purchaser to finalise, and suppliers see nothing until a person presses Send. Suppliers on Open Pantry get it in the app; anyone else gets it by email.

How is ordering from a forecast different from ordering to par levels?＋

Ordering to par buys back to the same fixed level every time. A forecast order works out what the coming covers will use, takes off what’s on hand and on order, and rounds up to pack sizes — and the order card shows both figures side by side so you can compare them.

Can the head chef get prep lists by station from the forecast?＋

Yes. The prep list is built from each dish’s forecast sales, less what’s already prepped, rounded to your batch sizes and split by station with a needed-by time. It can be printed or ticked off on a phone, and rebuilt if the bookings change.

Can I see the demand forecast working before I sign up?＋

Yes. The live demo signs you in as the head chef of a demo restaurant group with a week of bookings and a wedding on Saturday, and a guide shows you around. There is no free trial; the demo is the whole product, with nothing to sign up for.