Restaurant chatbot
Restaurant chatbot: four kinds, and which one you need
A restaurant chatbot answers your customers in writing so your staff do not have to. There are four kinds: a question box on your website, a reservation bot, an ordering bot in a messaging app, and a chatbot inside the menu at the table. tamr is the last one. This page explains all four so you can pick the right one.
Already know you want the one in the menu? See the AI waiter
A restaurant chatbot is software that replies to a customer's written question at once, at any hour, from information the restaurant gave it. What matters is where it sits and what it knows. A chatbot on your website knows your opening hours. A chatbot inside your menu knows your dishes. They are different tools for different moments.
The chatbot inside a menu is also called an AI waiter. What an AI waiter is
The four kinds are a website question box, a reservation bot, a messaging app ordering bot and a chatbot inside the menu. They differ in where the customer meets them: before the visit, when booking, at home, or at the table. Each card says what the chatbot solves, what it knows and where it stops.
Website question box
A corner of your website
- The problem it solves
- The same questions about hours, location, parking and booking, asked before a visit.
- What it knows
- The answers you typed in: opening hours, address, policies.
- Where it stops
- It rarely knows your dishes, and nobody opens your website at the table.
Reservation bot
Your booking page or a chat on your site
- The problem it solves
- Bookings taken at any hour without someone answering the phone.
- What it knows
- Your tables, your hours and what is free.
- Where it stops
- Its job ends when the table is booked. It does not talk about the food.
Messaging app ordering bot
WhatsApp or another messaging app
- The problem it solves
- Delivery and pickup orders from customers who already message you.
- What it knows
- A list of items and prices, and the customer's address.
- Where it stops
- Built for orders from home. It is not what a customer opens when they sit down.
- This is tamr
Chatbot inside the menu
The menu on the customer's phone, at the table
- The problem it solves
- Questions about the food while the customer is choosing, when no waiter is free.
- What it knows
- Your real menu: every dish, price, ingredient and allergen tag.
- Where it stops
- It is about the menu. It does not book tables or deliver.
Start from the problem you have, not from the tool. Each of these is a real reason restaurants look for a chatbot, with the kind that solves it.
The phone rings with the same questions
Hours, parking, “do you take bookings?”. A question box on your website answers these before the visit.
You miss bookings after closing
A reservation bot takes the booking at midnight and puts it in your book. Choose one that works with your booking system.
Orders arrive as loose messages
If customers already message you to order delivery, an ordering bot in that app turns the messages into clean orders.
Tables wait to ask about the food
On a full night, questions about dishes, allergies and what to pick wait for a free waiter. A chatbot in the menu answers at the table.
Customers do not read your language
A chatbot in the menu that replies in the customer's own language covers this without a translated menu for every visitor.
You have more than one of these
The kinds do not replace each other. A restaurant can run a booking bot on its site and a chatbot in its menu.
tamr is the chatbot inside the menu. Your customers scan the code on the table, read your menu on their phone and ask the AI waiter about the food. It answers only from your real menu, in the language each customer writes in. It does not take reservations and it does not run inside WhatsApp.
It opens in the browser
From the code on the table or the link in your bio. No app, no account, no phone number.
It can help the table order
Everyone adds their picks on their own phone and the table shows one list to your server.
tamr's AI waiter
- Answers questions about your menuYes
- Replies in the customer's own languageYes
- Answers allergy questions from your dish tagsYes
- Lets a table build one order to show the serverYes
- Shows you what customers askedYes
- Takes reservationsNo
- Runs inside WhatsAppNo
- Takes paymentsNo
At the table, customers ask a chatbot what they would ask a waiter: what suits their diet, which of two dishes to pick, what to drink with it, and whether you serve something. The AI waiter answers each from your dishes and prices. When a dish is not on your menu, it says so and offers the closest one.
Only your menu
It never invents a dish, a price or a special. That is a built-in rule you cannot turn off.
Your tone
Warm, Formal or Playful, with the greeting and starter questions you write.
AI waiter
Ember, Beirut
What's light, with no dairy?
The Hummus Beiruti, $7, is light and lists no dairy. Please confirm with your server before you order.
Risotto or the lamb?
The Mushroom Risotto, $13, is creamy and vegetarian. The Lamb Ouzi, $19, is richer and bigger, good if you are hungry.
What goes with the risotto?
The Orange Spritz, $6. It is fresh and cuts through the cream.
Do you have a Caesar salad?
We don't have a Caesar salad. The closest thing on our menu is the Burrata & Tomato, $12.
A customer names an allergy once and the AI waiter keeps it for the whole conversation. A reminder stays at the top of the chat, every dish that lists the allergen is left out of the suggestions, and each answer asks the customer to confirm with your staff. It never promises that a dish is safe.
Allergens on your digital menu
When the AI waiter cannot answer, it says so, does not guess, and asks the customer to check with your server. The conversation is marked “Couldn't answer”. On Pro you see each of these questions in your dashboard, and you can teach it the missing fact so the next customer gets an answer.
A wrong answer costs more than no answer
A chatbot that guesses about ingredients is a risk at the table. Ask any chatbot you try something it cannot know, and see what it does.
The menu and the AI waiter are free at every location, with no card. Pro, the owner's dashboard with every conversation and what customers asked, is $100 per location a month.
See full pricingFree
$0
at every location, no card
- Your menu and the AI waiter
- Answers in each customer's language
- Allergy answers and group ordering
Pro
$100
per location a month, or $1,000 a year
- Every conversation, searchable
- The questions it could not answer
- Logins for your whole team
What is a restaurant chatbot?
A restaurant chatbot is software that answers a restaurant's customers in writing, without a member of staff typing. There are four common kinds: a question box on the website, a reservation bot, an ordering bot inside a messaging app, and a chatbot inside the menu that customers open at the table. Each one solves a different problem.
Which kind of restaurant chatbot is tamr?
The one inside the menu. Your customers scan the code on the table, read your menu on their phone and ask the AI waiter about the food in plain language. It answers only from your real menu, in the language each customer writes in, and you see what they asked in your dashboard.
Does tamr take reservations or work on WhatsApp?
No. tamr does not take reservations, and does not run inside WhatsApp or any other messaging app. It opens in the phone's browser from your QR code or your menu link. A table can build one order together and show it to your server, who rings it up on your POS.
What do customers ask a chatbot on a menu?
The questions they would ask a waiter: what is in a dish, what they can eat with an allergy or a diet, what is light or good for sharing, which of two dishes to pick, and what to drink with it. The AI waiter answers each one from your dishes, prices and tags.
What does it do when it does not know the answer?
It says so, does not guess, and asks the customer to check with your server. The conversation is marked as one it could not answer. On Pro you see each of these in your dashboard and can teach the AI waiter the missing fact with a short note, so the next customer who asks gets an answer.
Is a menu chatbot safe for allergy questions?
It is a help, never a guarantee. tamr's AI waiter answers from the allergen tags you set on each dish, leaves out dishes that list the allergen a customer named, and always asks the customer to confirm with your staff before ordering. It never promises that a dish is safe.
Do customers need an app or an account?
No. The menu and the chat open in the phone's browser from the code on the table or the link in your bio. There is nothing to download and no account to create, so a customer can start asking as soon as the menu opens.
How much does a restaurant chatbot cost with tamr?
The menu and the AI waiter are free at every location, with no card. Pro, the owner's dashboard with every conversation and what customers asked, is $100 per location a month. Groups with more than ten locations are priced per deal.
Upload your menu as a PDF or a photo, or import it from a link. Your customers can ask the AI waiter at the table tonight. Free to start, no card.
