The catering inquiry came in Friday night. You saw it Tuesday.
Restaurants lose more to slow replies and paperwork than anyone likes to admit. Private event requests sit in an inbox, the phone rings mid-rush with "are you open Sunday," and invoices stack up by the office printer. I manage AI agents that handle that computer work so you and your managers can run the floor.
Flat rate, starting at $499 a month. The hospitality stays yours.
Where the hours go in a restaurant or catering business
The kitchen has a system. The office usually doesn't. Here's what fills the gaps between services:
- Private event and catering inquiries: date, headcount, budget, dietary needs, three rounds of questions, then a quote.
- Phone calls during the rush about hours, parking, reservations and "can you do a birthday for fourteen?"
- Review replies on Google and the review sites, good and bad, usually at midnight.
- Menu, price and hours changes pushed by hand to the website, the Google listing and every delivery app.
- Schedule posts, shift-swap requests and the group text that reaches half the staff.
- Vendor invoices and delivery slips typed in by hand, plus inventory counts on a clipboard turned into an order.
- Social posts for specials, events and the new seasonal menu.
What my AI agents take off your plate
Event and catering inquiries
Every inquiry gets a reply within minutes with your packages, room capacities and minimums, plus the questions you'd ask. Serious leads get a walkthrough or tasting on your calendar.
AI lead follow-up →Phones during service
An AI phone agent handles hours, directions, reservation questions and large-party requests, so nobody leaves the pass to answer "are you open?"
AI phone agent →Reviews and social posts
Replies to reviews drafted in your voice for you to approve, with rough ones flagged first. Specials and event posts drafted from your photos.
AI content production →Menu and listing updates
Tell the agent once that brunch moves to 10 or the short rib is now $34. It updates your website and Google listing and checks the delivery apps.
Business process automation →Staff schedule messages
The schedule goes out the same way every week, shift reminders go out the day before, and swap requests land in one list for the manager to approve.
Business process automation →Invoices and reorder reports
Photos of vendor invoices become a clean log by vendor and item, with price jumps flagged. Counts turn into a reorder sheet on Monday.
AI reporting and dashboards →Who does what
Agents handle the typing and the first reply. Everything a guest feels is still done by people.
| Task | What the agent does | What stays with your team |
|---|---|---|
| Event inquiries | Replies fast, asks qualifying questions, books the walkthrough | Final quote, custom menus, the tasting |
| Phone questions | Answers routine questions, logs large-party requests | Fitting in a regular, handling a complaint |
| Reviews | Drafts replies for approval | Personally answering a serious complaint |
| Menu updates | Pushes your changes to the website and listings | Prices, allergens and what's on the menu |
| Staff messages | Sends schedules and reminders, collects swap requests | Approving swaps and every staffing decision |
| Invoices | Logs them, flags price changes, preps the reorder sheet | Paying vendors, placing orders, negotiating |
Replace the software you've outgrown
Restaurants stack subscriptions fast: POS, reservation platform, online ordering, delivery tablets, a scheduling app, an inventory app, a catering platform, a review tool. Your POS and reservation system usually earn their keep. The extras are where the savings hide.
For a place booking a handful of events a week, an inquiry form and event tracker you own can do the job of a monthly catering platform. A simple invoice log can replace an inventory add-on nobody updates. That's custom tools and SaaS replacement: built for how your house works, owned by you, no per-seat fees. If your guest and event lists live in four places, CRM cleanup pulls them into one. Start with the SaaS cut sheet.
A neighborhood spot with a private room upstairs
Example (sample business, invented scenario): Picture a family-owned restaurant in South City with a 40-seat private room and an off-site catering side. The owner answers event inquiries from the bar after close. Some wait days. Invoices go in a folder, and nobody notices when the produce bill creeps up.
The list would start with event inquiries. The website form and the events inbox feed one agent. It replies with room details, minimums and package menus the owner wrote once, asks for date, headcount, budget and dietary needs, and offers a walkthrough on the owner's calendar. The owner gets a short summary of each lead instead of a thread to untangle.
Next, invoices. The kitchen manager snaps a photo of each one at delivery. The agent logs vendor, items and totals, and Monday's report shows anything that costs more than last time. Then review replies, drafted overnight and approved with coffee.
Nothing here is a promised result. It's the order the work would go in.
The guest experience stays human
- Hospitality is people. The greeting, the table touch, the apology when the kitchen is slow: none of that goes to an agent.
- Allergies always go to a person. An agent never tells a guest a dish is safe for an allergy or a dietary restriction. Those questions route to a manager or the chef, every time.
- A bad night deserves a real answer. Agents draft review replies. You post them, and the serious ones you write yourself.
- Money stays with you. Agents prep invoices and reorder sheets. Paying vendors and placing orders is your call.
- Regulars may want a voice they know. If your phone is part of the hospitality, run the agent only when lines are busy or you're closed.
- Food safety and licensing are outside the list. Inspections, liquor rules and payroll decisions stay with you and your advisors.
Questions from restaurant and catering owners
Can an AI agent answer calls for my restaurant?
Yes. It answers hours, directions, menu and reservation questions, takes large-party and event requests, and texts or emails you a summary. Most restaurants start with overflow during service and after close. Call (314) 970-4001 to hear one.
Will it work with my POS and reservation system?
I work alongside them rather than replacing them. Some reservation and POS systems allow connections and some don't. When they don't, the agent works from exports and your inbox, and your staff makes the actual booking.
Is guest data safe?
Agents get only the access a task needs, and card numbers never pass through them; payments stay with your processor. Guest lists stay in accounts you own. See how I handle access and data.
What does it cost?
Starting at $499 a month, flat and month to month, with no task cap. Inquiries, phones, reviews, menu updates and paperwork are all included. Your software subscriptions, ad spend and the phone agent's call minutes (a usage cost we'll go over on our first call) are separate.
Answer the event inquiry while it's still warm.
Book 30 minutes and bring what piles up between services: inquiries, reviews, invoices, schedule texts. I'll tell you which ones my agents should take first, and which belong with your people.