AI Automation for Restaurants, QSR, and Franchise Operators

I own Scooter's Coffee and Hawaiian Bros locations, so I know the Sunday-night schedule scramble and the catering email that slips through the cracks. I build AI that takes that stuff off my own plate, and I can build it for yours. Not theory, not a demo. Just hours back and money that stops leaking out the back door.

Remote-first, anywhere in the US. Based in central Iowa, so Des Moines-area operators also get easy on-site time.

You do not need the perfect AI strategy figured out

Most owners are too buried in the day-to-day to even think about it, and that is fine. So here are five things that quietly eat a restaurant's week. If one of them makes you think "if I could hand that off, I'd get my Sundays back," that is a great place to start. And if your real headache is not even on this list, that is the conversation I want most.

Five things I would build for your restaurant

1. The catering inquiry that never sleeps

An AI agent answers catering and large-party inquiries the moment they land, day or night. It asks the right questions, quotes, and books the event, across your website, Instagram DMs, and Google. Why it matters: you know the catering email you saw at 11pm and meant to answer in the morning. By then it is booked somewhere else. Catering goes to whoever replies first, and these are $500 to $5,000 events. This one is live for my own Hawaiian Bros catering right now. Want this answering your catering inquiries?

2. Schedules that build themselves

AI builds your staff schedule from sales forecasts, weather, and local events, then enforces breaks and overtime on its own. Why it matters: the Sunday-night schedule is the worst hour of an operator's week. This gives it back. Owners save 5 to 10 hours a week, cut labor cost 10 to 15 percent, and lose fewer people because the shifts are fair and predictable. Want your schedule to build itself?

3. The manager who reads every review and replies in your voice

AI watches Google, Yelp, and Facebook, drafts an on-brand reply to every review for your one-click approval, and texts you the second a serious complaint lands. Why it matters: every owner means to reply to reviews and never quite gets to them, and meanwhile the catering and event bookings go to the place with the better profile. This handles every one in your voice and pings you the moment a real problem shows up. Want every review handled?

4. Know your food cost before the month ends

AI pulls your POS sales and supplier invoices, flags waste and cost variance daily, and warns you before product spoils. Why it matters: the worst surprise in this business is the month-end food cost number you cannot explain. This flags the waste and the variance the same day, while you can still do something about it. Most owners only find out when the money is already gone. Want to see your food cost leak in real time?

5. One morning text for every location

For multi-unit and franchise groups: AI rolls up sales, labor, reviews, and inventory across all your stores into one text or dashboard on your phone, before you finish your coffee. Why it matters: if you run more than one spot, you know the daily chain of chasing managers for numbers and stitching spreadsheets together. This puts the whole brand in one place every morning. I built it because I needed it for my own locations. Want your whole group in one view?

Why a founder-operator, not an agency

I am not an agency or a consultant who read about restaurants. I own and run Scooter's Coffee and Hawaiian Bros locations, and I build these systems for my own stores first. So when I scope something for you, I am scoping it for a real crew on a real Friday night, not for a slide.

Proof from live systems

Frequently asked questions

What can AI actually do for a restaurant?

Plenty, when it is scoped right. The wins that move the needle are operational: answering catering and reservation inquiries 24/7, drafting on-brand review replies, building staff schedules from real demand signals, watching food cost daily instead of monthly, and rolling up performance across multiple locations into a single morning view.

Will this work for a single location or only big chains?

Both. A single location gets the most leverage out of the catering agent, the review autopilot, and the food cost radar. Multi-unit and franchise groups add the morning rollup, cross-store labor optimization, and brand-wide guest sentiment tracking.

Do I need to rip out my POS or scheduling software?

No. The work plugs into what you already use. POS, scheduling, review platforms, accounting, and inventory systems almost all have APIs or export feeds. The AI layer sits on top, reads the data, and acts on it.

How fast can one of these go live?

Most single-purpose automations on this page can be in production within two to four weeks. A catering AI agent can be live in days.

Do you build it, or just advise?

I build. I own and run restaurants, and I write the AI systems that run them myself.

These five are just to get the wheels turning, not a menu you have to pick from. Whatever quietly eats your week can usually be automated, and I build it around your actual workflow, not a template. If your biggest headache is not even on this list, even better. That is exactly the kind of thing I love to figure out.

So, what is eating the most hours in your week?

Tell me the one that caught your eye, or the headache that is not even on this list, plus a little about your spot. I read every one of these myself and reply within 24 hours. Tell me about my restaurant.