Understand Buy & Sell Restaurant – Advice on Buy Sell Restaurant

A Restaurant Brokers Guide to Using AI to Run Leaner, Smarter, and Sell for More

Written by Robin Gagnon | Jul 8, 2025 4:30:00 PM

 

Part 2 of a 3-part series on AI and the restaurant industry written by We Sell Restaurants.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just reshaping the future—it’s redefining how restaurants operate right now. Whether you’re trying to improve margins, simplify operations, or position your business for a profitable sale, AI can help you get there faster.

 

 

In Part 1, we explored how AI tools elevate your online reputation and brand visibility before a sale. In this segment, we shift to something even more foundational: your financial performance.

From tightening labor schedules to optimizing food costs and forecasting sales, this article offers real-world AI applications that restaurant owners can use today to improve profitability and create a more attractive business for buyers.

See Article 1: How Restaurant Owners Can Use AI to Improve Reviews, Branding, and Sales Before Selling

1. Automate the Mundane: Use AI to Streamline Daily Tasks

Smart Scheduling

One of the largest elements of your prime costs is the cost of labor. While it can be one of the most expensive costs weighing on your P&L, it’s also one of the easiest to exercise control over. With the use of AI tools, nailing the labor schedule has never been easier. If you’re trying to hit a specific labor rate to sales, count on AI tools to help you achieve the results you are looking for.

There are multiple platforms available to assist with AI scheduling including 7shifts and, HotSchedules and Homebase. These use historical data, weather patterns, and even local event calendars to recommend ideal staffing levels. You don’t have to invest beyond the $20 per month for a ChatGPT professional subscription however. You can upload a document with sales, labor hours, and then enter a simple prompt in ChatGPT like this:

“Based on my last 12 weeks of sales, weather trends, and known local events, suggest an optimal weekly staffing schedule.”

The first result may not be perfect so continue to feed your knowledge and input to the model including, how many servers you need for x number of covers or how many kitchen staff is the minimum. Over time, it will become more reliable and provide better results, removing guesswork and keeping labor costs aligned with sales.

Inventory & Waste Reduction

Food waste eats away at margins. AI tools like xtraCHEF, MarketMan, and Toast’s integrations can identify anomalies, optimize ordering, and even alert you when you’re over-ordering or pricing inconsistently.

If you want to go the route of asking ChatGPT to help out, simply use this prompt:

Prompt idea: > “Review my menu, order levels, and waste. Offer recommendations on how I can prevent waste through smarter inventory controls?”

Vendor & Supply Chain Optimization

Other ways to improve your operations is to use AI to compare suppliers. Prompt tools like ChatGPT (paid version), Perplexity or Grok to find better vendor rates or track price fluctuations on core ingredients. Here’s an example:

“Show me average U.S. wholesale prices for boneless chicken thighs in the past 12 months and recommended local vendors.”

2. Improve Profit Margins with Data-Backed Menu Engineering

There are multiple ways to use AI to help re-engineer your menu and improve profitability. Tasks that a few short years ago may have costs hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in consulting fees are now accomplished quickly at next to no cost. Here are just a few recommendations from this Restaurant Broker.

Use AI to Analyze Menu Profitability

As AI to rank your dishes by profit margin based on food costs. Use tools or prompts to: - Rank dishes by profit margin - Flag low-performing items - Recommend pricing adjustments

Prompt: > “Analyze this menu and recommend three pricing adjustments to improve overall profit margins by 10%.”

Rewrite Descriptions for Perceived Value

High margin dishes may be overlooked if the language or photography doesn’t sell them. Ask AI to rewrite your menu copy for higher perceived value. Also, remember that AI can see so upload your menu photos and ask for feedback as well.

“Rewrite the description of our $18 lemon-rosemary chicken to sound more premium and craveable. Review the photo of the dish and provide any recommendations.”

Ask AI to Do the Specials Based on What’s in the Walk In Cooler

Too much inventory on hand? Ask AI to recommend daily specials based on slow-moving items in the walk in cooler by using a prompt like this:

“Suggest three specials using excess mushrooms, spinach, and goat cheese with high perceived value.”

Did deeper and prompt like this:

“Recommend not only the dish name but also suggestive selling for the servers to use when presenting this special. Calculate the food cost and margin, and recommend a selling price to achieve a profit contribution of $x.”  

There is literally nothing AI can not do to assist you in improving margins at your restaurant if you are open to experimenting with the tools at your disposal.

3. Forecasting Made Easy: Let AI See Around Corners

The prior recommendations were based on improving margins. These prompts allow AI to assist you in forecasting the future.

Sales Forecasting

Use AI to predict: - Busy vs. slow weeks - Impact of seasonal shifts - Effect of holidays or events

Prompt: > “Based on last year’s sales, weather, and events, forecast my sales for the first week of October.”

Match the reality against the forecast and figure out any ways to improve the model based on the outcome. Keep experimenting until the forecast is perfect.

Labor Forecasting

Match labor to sales projections:

“Estimate my hourly labor needs for next Saturday based on forecasted traffic.”

It may take some time to allow the model to learn how many people are needed in each part of the house (front of house versus back of house) and the complexity of the food prep but over time, it will get this right.

Prep Forecasting

Here’s a common issue. Many restaurant owners prep more food than they actually need. This results in waste and higher food coasts. You can use AI to avoid over-prepping. Let AI calculate volume:

“Based on 30 expected covers for lunch and my menu mix, what prep volume should I target for each station?”

Again, allow time for the model to adjust to get this perfect but remember that AI is, above all, a learning model. Given enough inputs and enough time, it will adjust its methods. Give it feedback. Last week’s prep volume was over by 10% on protein but perfect for other items. Adjust based on this input for this week and 40 covers for lunch.

4. Elevating the Guest Experience Without Adding Labor

There are countless tools to assist with the guest experience and at the same time, increase the average ticket price. AI will never forget to “upsell” dessert and your specials.

Chatbots and Guest Messaging

Here are just a few of the things AI tools can do:

  • Answer FAQs
  • Confirm reservations
  • Upsell in online orders
  • Send event reminders

Example: An OpenTable or Toast chatbot could be trained to ask, “Celebrating anything special tonight?” to personalize service.

Personalized Offers

Use AI-driven marketing platforms to send: - Birthday or anniversary specials - Follow-up discounts based on past orders - Targeted promos based on visit frequency. Ask the AI to help you develop the promotions with prompts like this:

Prompt: > “What kind of loyalty incentives work best for a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant with an average check of $14?”

5. Broker’s Perspective: Why This Matters at Exit

As a Restaurant Broker, I can tell you: restaurants with clean systems, predictable margins, and well-documented processes sell for more. Buyers are willing to pay a premium for systems that demonstrate better labor and cost controls. Today’s buyer is especially interested in menu profitability analytics and a tech stack that supports ongoing improvement. The days of checking out the oven are over and the time to analyze your technical expertise are upon us.

A seller with well-documented AI-backed systems appears more professional, reduces buyer risk, and attracts lenders more easily.

6. Where to Start: An AI-Powered Action Plan

Feeling overwhelmed? Start with a 30-60-90 plan:

First 30 Days - Use ChatGPT to review your menu descriptions - Analyze labor costs and start basic scheduling automation

Next 30 Days - Conduct a menu engineering review - Update website and online listings based on AI feedback

Final 30 Days - Implement personalized marketing with AI tools - Optimize prep and ordering practices

7. Ready to Raise Your Restaurant’s Value?

AI isn’t just about fancy tech. It’s about real, practical improvements that save you time, increase your margins, and raise your business value.

Restaurant owners who adopt these tools early are setting themselves up for better operations today—and a more profitable exit tomorrow.

Coming Up in Part 3: AI for Restaurant Dealmaking

We’ll explore how AI is being used in valuation, lending, and deal negotiation—and how you can stay one step ahead in the next stage of your restaurant journey.

Are you ready to make AI your newest team member?