TRENDS & AI
AI in hospitality: 5 shifts changing your restaurant
From faster guest contact to being found online by AI, discover how AI and smart restaurant software can help your team today.
Published by team FRANK • 7-minute read
In this article
It’s Saturday evening. The first guests arrive, the phone rings and someone emails to change their booking from four to six people. Your team is busy with service. Yet every new question needs attention.
These are the moments when AI can bring value to hospitality. Drafting a reply. Handling a phone booking. Making information easier to access.
At FRANK, we look at technology from the restaurant floor. Does it reduce manual work? Give your team a clearer overview? Improve the guest experience?
In this article, we explore five shifts in AI and restaurant software, with real examples and a way to assess what makes sense for your restaurant.
What does AI in hospitality mean?
AI in hospitality is software that can draft replies or help spot patterns in data. An AI phone assistant and a suggested reply to a guest’s question are practical examples.
An automatic booking confirmation works differently: it’s sent when a preset event occurs. That’s automation. A dashboard showing your occupancy provides insight.
These differences help you assess software. During a demo, ask what task it performs, what information it needs and what your team still needs to check.
01. AI helps you respond faster to guest questions
Many questions come up daily. Is there still space? Can we arrive earlier? What are the options for a larger group?
A useful reply often needs the same information, yet your team writes it from scratch each time. AI can take care of that first draft.
How it works at FRANK: AI guest contact drafts a reply. Your team checks it, makes any changes and sends it themselves.
This keeps the person responsible for the guest involved in the reply.
What should you check?
Check that the reply reflects the current situation. Is the requested table actually available? Are group arrangements still valid? For allergy questions, always have your team confirm the options with the kitchen.
Start with common, simple questions. Agree on who reviews suggested replies and when a question needs extra attention.
Measure the results: compare handling times for similar questions before and after use. Include time spent checking and correcting replies.
02. Phone bookings can come through an AI assistant
The phone often rings when your team is busy. An unanswered call can mean a missed booking. Answering it interrupts work on the restaurant floor.
An AI phone assistant can help handle booking calls. Its connection to your reservation system determines how much work it actually saves.
How it works with FRANK: the Bonnie integration syncs phone bookings with FRANK. Each booking enters the same system as your other reservations, fully automatically.
Test a complete booking
During a demo, ask to see a call from start to finish. Then check the booking in the system: date, time, party size and contact details.
Also test a request when no suitable table is available. What does the guest hear? How are special requests passed to a team member?
Set clear limits on which calls the assistant can handle.
A complaint or complex group enquiry may need personal follow-up.
03. Smart booking software helps you plan tables better
A full booking list doesn’t tell the whole story. Two arrival peaks can overload the kitchen. A poorly assigned table may be unavailable for another group later that evening.
Software helps organise availability and planning. Suitable AI tools can help analyse patterns, but a better-planned evening starts with clear settings and good information.
What FRANK offers: table management and a live overview help you fill gaps between bookings and use tables several times an evening. Confirmations and reminders keep guests informed automatically. These are planning and automation features.
Start with one bottleneck
Review your last four comparable services. When did many guests arrive at once? Which tables sat empty between bookings? Where did pressure build up?
Then adjust one element, such as arrival times. Discuss what’s feasible with the kitchen and front-of-house team.
More bookings only add value when your team can deliver good service.
04. Your next guest may find your restaurant through an AI assistant
“Where can six of us eat in Rotterdam on Friday, with good vegetarian options and a quiet terrace?”
A guest can ask an AI assistant directly. ChatGPT can look up current information and suggest restaurants that match. This creates another way for guests to discover your restaurant.
That makes your restaurant information more important. A beautiful photo sets the mood, but doesn’t explain whether you suit a business lunch, which vegetarian dishes you serve or when your terrace opens.
Our advice: look at your website through your guests’ questions
Are your current menu, opening hours and booking options easy to find? Describe what makes your restaurant special. “A quiet courtyard for lunch and dinner” says more than “a unique culinary experience”.
Put key information on your website as readable text. A menu photo alone gives search services less to work with. To appear in ChatGPT Search, your site must also allow OpenAI’s search crawler access; this doesn’t guarantee a mention.
What you can do now: ask an AI assistant a few realistic search questions. Check which restaurants it names and which sources it cites. Verify the information about your restaurant. Use this to identify and update missing or outdated details.
05. From restaurant recommendations to booking through AI
A guest asks an AI assistant to find a restaurant. The next question is obvious: “Can you book me a table there?”
This changes what your booking process needs to handle. An assistant needs live availability and clear booking terms. Is a deposit required? Can a group of eight book online? When is the booking confirmed?
For restaurant owners, this raises a practical question: will my booking system connect with the tools guests use to plan their evening?
That makes connections between systems more important. A recommendation only brings value to your restaurant if the guest can easily book a suitable table.
What you can do now
Ask your software provider how the system shares availability and handles external bookings.
Can the same group limits and payment terms apply?
Does the booking appear straight away in your central overview?
Where should you start with AI for your restaurant?
Choose a task your team performs often and whose results you can easily check. Think of answering recurring questions or handling phone bookings.
Use these five questions when comparing solutions:
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What specific task does the software take over?
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Does it use current information from our systems?
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Who checks the results and handles exceptions?
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How much work is left for the team?
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How will we know after a month if it helps?
Have several team members test the tool. The best trial shows what happens during a real service, including corrections and special requests.
