How Restaurants Are Embracing AI to Drive Efficiency in 2025

Across the country, operators are using AI to solve real problems, from boosting efficiency to improving the guest experience. Here are a few real headlines from 2025 showing how AI is impacting restaurants:

• How AI location intelligence is quietly becoming the secret sauce for restaurant expansion (Source) 

• NYC’s most anticipated bar opening has been delayed and turned into a DIY project — with the help of AI (Source)

• Tired of Eating Out? I Tried This Recipe-Generating AI Tool to Create a Restaurant Meal at Home (Source)

• When AI Saved Brunch: How Restaurants Are Solving Their Biggest Problems in Real Time (Source) 

Artificial intelligence is trending in every space, and the restaurant industry is clearly no exception. AI has evolved from a futuristic concept into a strategic advantage for operators. The question isn’t if restaurants are using AI, but how and why they’re weaving it into their operations.

The latest Toast Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey offers a clear view into how operators are embracing AI. From automation to benchmarking, AI has quickly become the industry’s newest must-have technology.

To better understand how restaurants are looking to use AI, between April 18 and May 13, 2025, Toast surveyed 712 restaurant decision-makers nationwide. The survey included a balanced mix of quick-service (QSR) and full-service (FSR) operators¹.

Restaurants are ready to embrace AI

Operators are looking for an edge, a way to give their teams human-boosting tech that helps them work smarter, not harder. And turns out, they’re comfortable with allowing AI to help them out. 86% of operators report they strongly or somewhat agree they are comfortable using AI.

Another 81% of operators plan to increase their use of AI in the future. This forward-looking attitude suggests that AI is no longer viewed as an experimental technology, but instead as a key component of everyday operations. 

The same proportion, 81%, believe AI will make them more efficient at work. Operators see AI as a tool worth adopting and trust it to deliver real benefits. Furthermore, 78% view AI tools as offering great value for the money, which reinforces the idea that the technology provides a strong return on investment. This data highlights the trend that operators are embracing AI as both a strategic advantage and a practical solution for improving efficiency.

How restaurants are using AI today

Restaurants are already harnessing the power of AI to tackle their biggest challenges, from automating marketing (28%) and gaining real-time insights (27%) to optimizing menus (26%). It’s all about giving teams the superpowers they need to make smarter decisions, streamline operations, and focus on what matters most: creating great guest experiences.

With Toast IQ, operators are taking efficiency to the next level.

“A complete menu rework that used to take me weeks, I did in just three hours with Toast IQ*. It even suggested how to word menu items and descriptions, making a daunting process fast, easy, and smarter.” - Justin Trainor, Owner of Hardwood Cafe. 

AI isn’t replacing the human touch; it’s amplifying it. By automating routine work and surfacing actionable insights, restaurant teams can spend less time managing tasks and more time delighting guests.

Where operators see the most potential

Forecasting and demand planning

41% of operators say they’re extremely likely to adopt these tools, and 24% already use them today.

Imagine knowing your busiest nights before they happen, or how much inventory you’ll need weeks in advance. AI-powered forecasting helps restaurants:

• Optimize labor schedules based on predicted traffic.

• Reduce waste by improving inventory accuracy.

• Maximize profit through smarter staffing and purchasing decisions.

AI for Benchmarking

Having a firm grip on what is going on in the industry is essential to restaurant success. It’s vital to stay up to date with the current state of restaurant sales. Benchmarking is the process of comparing your business to industry averages. 42% of restaurants indicate they are "extremely likely" to implement AI benchmarking tools in the future, up four percentage points from 2024². Benchmarking with AI can make it easier to:

• Improving costs - Compare food and labor costs to similar establishments. 

• Service quality - Analyze customer satisfaction and table turnover rates. 

• Operational efficiency - Assess kitchen workflows and peak performance times.

Data is only powerful if it's personal. Toast Benchmarking shows your performance compared to similar concepts in your area- so you can spot trends, keep an eye on the local competition, and get ahead. 

By leveraging AI for both automation and benchmarking, restaurants can make more informed decisions and optimize their operations.

Meet Toast IQ: The AI Assistant that takes action

AI is helping teams make smarter decisions, optimize menus, and deliver exceptional guest experiences. Now, Toast IQ brings those capabilities directly to operators, empowering them to take action faster than ever before.

While many AI tools stop at answers, Toast IQ goes further, proactively surfacing insights and executing tasks directly within Toast, empowering operators to run their businesses faster and smarter. Toast IQ offers a personalized “For you” feed with timely recommendations, enabling users to ask complex questions about their business in plain language and receive proactive, tailored advice and insights. 

Users can take action, such as updating menus or editing shifts, across the Toast platform, all within a single conversational interface. For example, Toast IQ can flag top-selling items by daypart, add a menu item with a single prompt, automatically update menus across every service channel, and quickly answer questions like, “Who’s working Friday night?”

“With Toast IQ, there’s no learning curve. I can just ask for sales, top items, or trends and have answers instantly — it feels like it’s ready to go on day one.” — Chris Bohn, Owner, The Operators Club

Toast IQ doesn’t just understand what’s happening in your business — it anticipates what’s next in your local market and helps you act on it instantly. It’s the assistant that empowers your team to work smarter, serve better, and grow faster. Request a demo today and join forward-thinking operators like Chris on the path to effortless efficiency.

Methodology 

2025 Restaurant Operator Survey Methodology

¹To help better understand the restaurant industry, Toast conducted a blind survey of 712 restaurant decision-makers in the United States from April 18, 2025, to May 13, 2025. Respondents include a mix of both full-service and quick-service restaurants. For the sake of this report, Toast focused on the 358 FSR operators. Respondents were not made aware that Toast was fielding the study. Panel providers granted incentives to restaurant respondents for participation. Using a standard margin of error calculation, at a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error on average is +/- 3%. 

2024 Restaurant Operator Survey Methodology

²To help better understand the restaurant industry, Toast conducted a blind survey of 755 restaurant decision-makers operating  16 or fewer locations in the United States, including both Toast and non-Toast customers from May 17, 2024, to June 2, 2024. Respondents include a mix of both full-service and quick-service restaurants. Respondents were not made aware that Toast was fielding the study. Panel providers granted incentives to restaurant respondents for participation. Using a standard margin of error calculation, at a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error on average is +/- 4%.