Been running a mid-sized restaurant group for about 8 years now and keep hearing about AI everywhere but honestly can't tell what's actually worth investing in vs what's just hype.
We're dealing with the usual stuff - staff scheduling nightmares, inconsistent guest service when we're slammed, inventory management that's still mostly spreadsheets, and our reservation system doesn't talk to anything else we use. Labor costs are killing us and we're constantly putting out fires instead of actually growing.
I've seen demos for everything from chatbots to predictive analytics but most seem like expensive solutions looking for problems. The sales pitches all sound the same and I can't get straight answers about actual implementation time or real-world results.
For those who've actually implemented AI solutions in restaurants - what's genuinely moved the needle for your operations and bottom line?