AI Is Taking Over Restaurants - Here are 10 Tools to Stay Ahead!

Modern challenges demand smarter solutions. In the restaurant world, embracing AI isn’t just a trend—it’s the key to thriving. Take Wendy’s, for example. With 75-80% of their customers choosing drive-thru, they partnered with Google Cloud to launch FreshAI. This generative AI improves order accuracy, handles complex menu customizations, and supports multiple languages—making drive-thru smoother for customers and easier for employees.

If AI can revolutionize Wendy’s, imagine what it can do for your restaurant.

In this blog we’re breaking down how AI is reshaping the industry and equipping you with practical strategies and tools to keep you ahead of the curve.

What’s in it for you?

• Discover global trends in restaurant AI adoption.

• Learn how AI tools can solve specific challenges for different restaurant types.

• Get the scoop on cutting-edge AI solutions for 2025.

Ready to level up your restaurant game? Let’s dive in.

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Part 1

Challenges, Strategies & Tools for Various Restautant Types

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New-to-Market Restaurants

Starting a restaurant is like diving into a crowded pool—customers expect the best, costs are sky-high, and competition is fierce. With inflation in the Middle East hitting 5.3% in 2024, food and operational costs are also climbing, squeezing new restaurants.

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The Headaches:

• Getting Noticed: The market is packed, and standing out feels impossible. It’s like yelling into the wind—except everyone else is yelling too.

• Tight Budgets & Labor Challenges: Every Dirham, Riyal, and Dollar counts, and making smart decisions with limited cash can be stressful, especially when it comes to staff.

• Learning on the Fly: If it’s your first rodeo, juggling everything can burn you out fast – especially back-of-the-house which often goes unseen.  

What You Can Do:

• Be Memorable: Stand out with unique food, vibe, or story, and amplify it online. Even if sales take time, marketing tools can help you build your brand and master social algorithms early.

• Invest in Advanced Tech: Don’t shy away from premium tools. An AI-powered staff scheduler can save you money and headaches from day one. Advanced tech isn’t just an expense; it’s an investment.

• Automate Back-of-House: Streamline repetitive tasks like food costing, inventory, and supplier management with one integrated app. It saves time, reduces stress, and boosts efficiency.

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Recommended in 2025:

• Struggling to understand your customer base as a newbie? By combining Marketing automation and guest sentiments, Bloom Intelligence helps you build trust, reputation, attract more diners, and stand out in a crowded market.

• Excessive turnover and logistical sloppiness chomping on your hiring budgets? Start by organizing your staff schedules effectively to ensure all shifts are fair and square. 7shifts makes this task simple, even if you’re running a lean team on a small budget.  

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• Struggling with back-of-house procurement pains? Automate them with Restoke. You can simplify inventory, supplier orders and stay ahead of your margins with AI supported food costing.  

To Add More Value:

• Get Local Love: Build connections in your community. Sponsor a local event or team up with nearby businesses to get your name out there.

Local Heroes

Small restaurants are the soul of the industry, but in the Middle East’s crowded market, chains are expanding 2.3 times faster, leaving independents fighting to stay relevant.

Many of your struggles might look simple to others but often need strategic solutions to truly fix.

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The Headaches:

• Doing It All: Managing staff, food, service, and everything else with a small team, and managing all of them separately? Not easy.  

• Money Woes: Rising food and labor costs are squeezing profits like never before. Plus, the independent restaurant model is becoming riskier due to factors like fluctuating food costs and labor shortages.

• Keeping Customers Loyal: Competing with big chains that have bigger budgets means you have to work harder to keep people coming back.  

What You Can Do:

• Simplify Your Operations: Use platforms to integrate and manage tasks like payroll and ordering all in one place, so you can focus on the bigger picture.

• Flexible Staffing Models: Adapt to the gig economy by employing flexible staffing solutions to manage labor costs effectively.

• Create Trending Programs: Keep customers coming back with trendy loyalty programs.

Recommended in 2025:

• Tired of juggling aggregators, inventory, and daily admin in siloes? Streamline these tasks to save time and reduce stress. gOnline can sync it all, so you can focus on delivering great service.

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• Looking for a tool to manage your labor operations more efficiently? With 7Shift, you can smartly schedule your rosters, monitor labor costs and retain employees for the long run.  

• Want to keep your lunch regulars coming back? Create a loyalty program that doesn’t just give out offers but makes them feel valued. Tools like Comosense allow you to personalize rewards, turning one-time visitors into lifetime fans.

Virtual Kitchens

Delivery is king, and Cloud Kitchens are leading the way. In Europe, they average 500 orders daily, proving the opportunity is huge, but so is the pressure of managing multiple brands under one roof.

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The Headaches:

• Bad Reviews Left Unchecked: Nobody likes soggy fries or cold pizza. But what’s worse for a restaurant? Bad reviews piling up and going unanswered.

• Understanding Customers: Without face-to-face interactions, understanding customer preferences relies entirely on numbers.

What You Can Do:

• Invest in Marketing: Both Online and Offline Marketing are key when reaching out to Consumers. Get active on social media tools like TikTok, interact with your customers. Stay on top of trends.  

• Know What Sells: Let data tools analyze your sales data so you can offer the dishes people love—and what suits your restaurant well.

Recommended in 2025:

• Want to run successful marketing campaigns and manage the reputation of your brand with less effort? Bloom Intelligence unifies guest data to create automated campaigns and manage reviews, keeping your brand visible and relevant.

• Not all dishes sell well. Use Agora.io or gData to understand each and every point of your Data better, know what sells best and refine your menu to boost profits.  

Part 2

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All these recommendations may seem overwhelming,

And if you’re unsure where your restaurant falls into, here’s a much simpler categorization based on your service focus.  

For Full-Service and Delivery-Focused Restaurants

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Dine-In Full-Service Restaurants

Full-service restaurants thrive on memorable experiences, but customer expectations in 2025 are sky-high. In the UK, the market is worth $23.76 billion—equal to building 10,000 luxury hotels—making competition fierce. If you’ve established your presence, expect demand to keep growing.

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The Headaches:

• Peak-Time Chaos: Managing rush hours without dropping the ball on service.

• Personalizing the Experience: Making every guest feel like they’re VIP.

What You Can Do:

• Right Team at the Right Time: Smart staffing means knowing your team’s strengths and assigning the right person to the right shift. AI tools can help you organize rosters quickly, improving efficiency and guest satisfaction during peak times.  

• Wow your Guests by Remembering the little things: Personalization still matters! AI helps you deliver tailored experiences by automating upgrades, offers, and remembering special moments, making your guests feel valued with little touches.  

Tech to Lean On:

• Struggling to handle the rush during busy times? Smart scheduling tools like 7shifts ensure you have the right team on the floor when you need them most.

• Make your guests feel special by understanding their needs and rewarding their loyalty. Comosense helps you create tailored rewards that keep customers coming back for more.  

To Add More Value:

Innovate! Whether it’s revamping your menu or creating a standout brand, innovation is key. Tools like NotCo’s Guiseppe AI can help you craft plant-based dishes by analyzing recipes at a molecular level, turning creativity into success.

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Delivery-Focused Restaurants

Online food delivery is booming, especially in the UAE, with the market set to hit $4.15 billion by 2029—that’s like building four Burj Khalifas!  

Delivery-focused restaurants face challenges like maintaining food quality and standing out in a crowded digital space.  

The Headaches:

• Reducing Order Errors, Delays and Cancellations: Ensuring that the orders are not jumbled, and all customers’ dietary requests are fulfilled while maintaining a sane kitchen operation.  

• Managing Multiple Suppliers: Overlooking multiple customer segments, suppliers, different invoices and purchase timelines under one management team can be awfully stressful.  

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What you can do:

• Streamline Order Processing: Use an order-taking platform that syncs both front and back operations. This reduces errors and speeds up the process, avoiding delays caused by multiple kitchen display systems.

• Simplify Inventory and Procurement: Get an all-in-one tool that keeps you updated in real-time, helping you manage margins and reduce waste effectively.

Tech to Lean On:

• Want your restaurant to earn the reputation of serving customers fast with no order errors? Use VoicePlug AI to handle orders efficiently and reduce errors. You can integrate your tools to gOnline and get your entire operations lined up nice and tidy. VoicePlug AI comes with 3 other tools – Drive-Thru AI, Kiosk AI and Phone AI. Built for specific requirements of those modes of access.  

• Struggling to keep your inventory in order? You can automate your procurement and all back-of-the-house repeatable processes with Restoke’s App. From One-Click supplier orders to real-time Stock Management, you won’t feel overwhelmed.  

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Wrapping It Up

Running a restaurant is tough, but AI can make it easier. From smarter scheduling and menu innovation to loyalty programs that drive repeat business, AI tools help you save time, cut costs, and stand out—whether you’re just starting out or scaling up.

At Grubtech, we’re all about helping restaurants like yours succeed. Ready to see what’s possible? Check out our popular tools gOnline and gData. Visit www.grubtech.com. Let’s make 2025 your best year yet!

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