AI waiter
An AI waiter for restaurants that chats, takes orders and books tables
AirQR's AI waiter is a chat assistant on your menu, online ordering and booking pages. Guests type in English, Hindi or Hinglish, get dish recommendations, ask about allergens, build an order, see the bill and book a table. It lives on the guest's own phone and is not a robot. You choose its name, add your own answers and see everything guests ask.
- English, Hindi and Hinglish chat
- Guest confirms every order
- 1 AI credit for each guest message
What an AI waiter for restaurants does for guests
The AI waiter is a chat that opens from a button on your guest pages. A guest taps Ask followed by the name you chose, such as Ask Saffron, on your QR menu, your online ordering page or your booking page, and starts typing. It works on the guest's own phone. There is no robot rolling between tables and no app to download, so if you searched for an AI waiter robot, this is the software kind.
Guests can write in English, Hindi or Hinglish. They can ask what is veg or Jain, how spicy a curry is, whether a dish has nuts, when you close or whether there is parking. The AI waiter answers from your live menu and from the answers you gave it, shows dish cards with an Add button and puts what they pick into the same cart as the menu.
Think of it as a chatbot for your restaurant menu that can also do things. It sits on top of QR ordering and online ordering, so the guest who is unsure what to order gets help instead of scrolling a long menu or waving at a busy captain.
What guests ask and what the AI waiter does
These are illustrative examples of the kind of chat it handles. The exact words guests type will vary.
- Kuch spicy veg starter batao
- The AI waiter doesShows a few veg starters as dish cards with prices and an Add button. This is the AI menu recommendations part.
- Does the paneer tikka have nuts?
- The AI waiter doesChecks the allergen tags on that dish and answers. For a serious allergy it tells the guest to check with staff.
- Do you have Jain food?
- The AI waiter doesUses the answer you wrote for this question, or the diet tags on your dishes.
- Add two butter naan and a sweet lassi
- The AI waiter doesBuilds an order card with live prices, taxes and charges. It asks for any size or option still missing, then waits for the guest to tap Place order.
- Can I pay now?
- The AI waiter doesShows the amount due with your UPI link and QR. The guest pays and taps I've paid, and your staff verify it.
- Table for 4 on Saturday night
- The AI waiter doesFinds the free times and shows a booking card. The guest adds a name and phone number and confirms.
- Is there parking?
- The AI waiter doesGives the answer you added. If it has none, it says so and offers to call a waiter or points to your phone number.
- Please send a waiter
- The AI waiter doesAt a table, sends a call for a waiter, the bill or water to your staff.
Dish cards, prices and sold-out labels are read live from your menu, so it does not offer a dish you marked sold out.
What guests can do in the chat
Everything below happens inside one conversation, and each action needs the guest to tap a button.
Get recommendations
Guests ask for something light, spicy, veg or good for kids. The AI waiter shows dish cards with an Add button, so they pick without scrolling the whole menu.
Ask about allergens and diet
It answers from the allergen and diet tags on your menu. For severe allergies it always tells guests to check with staff.
Build an order
Guests say what they want. The order card is priced by AirQR with taxes, offers and charges, exactly like the cart, and the guest checks it before tapping Place order.
See the bill and how to pay
For their own orders, the chat shows the bill and a pay card with your UPI link and QR. When staff verify the payment, the chat says Payment confirmed by itself.
Book a table
It finds free times and shows a booking card. The guest adds a name and phone and confirms, and the booking reaches your table reservations page.
Call a waiter
Guests at a table can ask for a waiter, the bill or water without waving at anyone.
AI food ordering where the guest stays in charge
The AI waiter suggests and the guest decides. It never orders, pays or books on its own. Every order, booking and payment claim appears as a card with a button, and nothing happens until the guest taps it. AirQR checks prices and taxes again when the order is placed, so a guest cannot change a price on the phone either.
For dine-in, the guest scans the table's QR or picks their table first, so the order lands on the right table and reaches the kitchen like any QR order. On your online ordering page the AI waiter follows the guest's Pickup or Delivery choice. For pickup it asks who is collecting and at what time. For delivery it takes the address, checks your delivery areas, fee and minimum order, and offers Pay on delivery or Pay now by UPI inside the chat.
AirQR does not collect the money. A UPI payment goes straight to your own account, the guest taps I've paid, and your staff confirm it on the Payments screen before the order counts as paid. Card and wallet payments are not part of it yet.
How to set up your AI waiter
Most owners finish this in one sitting, then spend a few minutes testing.
- 01
Switch the module on
In Settings, open Modules and turn on AI waiter. Your plan needs to include it, and the 28-day free trial does. The pricing page shows how it comes with each plan.
- 02
Name it and set its voice
Give it a name, which appears on the button, such as Ask Saffron. Pick a tone of Warm, Formal or Playful and write a greeting if you like. Choose how it suggests extras, from Off to Gentle, which is at most one pairing an order, to Active.
- 03
Choose what it may do
Switch off anything you would rather your staff handle, such as taking orders, booking tables, showing the bill and payment or calling a waiter.
- 04
Teach it your answers
On the Knowledge tab, add the questions guests really ask, such as parking, Jain food or kids' seating, and answer them the way you would at the table. Menu, outlet details and offers are read automatically after every change.
- 05
Try it, then go live
Open Try it and chat as a guest would. Order and booking cards look the same, but nothing is ordered or booked. Once you are happy, the Ask button shows on your menu, takeaway and booking pages.
What you control as the owner
The AI waiter is yours to shape, watch and switch off. Setup is per outlet.
Its name and voice
The name, tone and greeting guests see, so it sounds like your place and not a generic bot.
Your own answers
Add, edit, pause and reorder answers. With more than one outlet, choose whether an answer is for all outlets or just one.
Questions it could not answer
A list of guest questions from the last 30 days that it could not answer or that got a thumbs down, each with an Add answer button.
Conversations
Read every chat for 90 days, search the messages or filter the flagged ones, and open one to see its orders and bookings.
Insights
See chats, orders and revenue through the AI waiter, how many chats ended in an order, bookings, waiter calls, what guests ask most and which dishes it recommended, over 7, 30 or 90 days.
A monthly credit cap
Set a cap for each outlet so guest chat cannot use every AI credit you keep for other jobs.
Remember me, for guests who come back
A guest can ask the AI waiter to remember them. They type a name and mobile number or email and tick a consent box. It is separate from marketing and never signs anyone up for messages. On the same phone next time, the chat says Welcome back and offers Your usual, which is their usual order priced again today, Something new, Book again or Continue our last chat.
A typed number is not proof that it belongs to the guest, so on a new phone the AI waiter does not show past orders, points or bookings. If the guest profile has an email, a 6-digit code confirms it. Allergies and diet a guest saved still quietly shape suggestions. It saves a preference such as Jain or no onion only when the guest taps Yes to Shall I remember this.
Guests can tap Not you to sign out of that phone, or Forget me to delete what the AI waiter learnt. Orders, bills and points stay as your records. In the Guests section you can see what it knows about a guest, remove any item, and sign out all their devices. You can turn Remember me off for an outlet.
AI credits, limits and safeguards
The AI waiter runs on AirQR's AI credits, so here is how that works and where it stops.
- Each guest message uses 1 AI credit, however many dishes or steps it takes to answer. Chats in the Try it tab use credits too
- Credits are shared with menu import, dish photos, translations and Write with AI. Your plan includes a monthly allowance, and you can buy packs or turn on pay as you go. See AI credits for how they work
- When credits or your cap run out, the button stays, the chat tells guests the waiter is taking a break and offers to browse the menu or call a waiter. Ordering from the menu keeps working
- It talks about your food, drinks, outlet and the guest's own order or booking, and politely declines other topics
- It can make mistakes, and guests see a note under the chat box saying so. Chats are kept for 90 days
- It never places an order, books a table or confirms a payment on its own, and staff still verify UPI payments
- If it cannot answer, it says so and offers a waiter or your phone number, and the question goes on your list to answer
- Turn the AI waiter module off and the button disappears from your pages. Your setup and answers are kept for when you turn it back on
Is your outlet ready for an AI waiter
The AI waiter is only as good as the menu and answers behind it. A short check before you switch it on helps.
- Dishes have clear names, prices and descriptions, and allergen and diet tags are filled in where guests would care
- Table QR ordering is on if you want dine-in orders, and online ordering is on for pickup or delivery orders
- Reservations are on and not paused if you want it to book tables
- A UPI ID is added in Settings under Payments, so the pay card has something to show
- Someone on your team watches the Payments screen during service to verify UPI payments
- You have written answers for your usual questions, such as parking, Jain food, kids' seating and home delivery
- You have tried it in the Try it tab, in Hindi and Hinglish too, before guests do
Questions
Is an AI waiter a robot?
Not in AirQR. It is a chat assistant on the guest's own phone, opened from a button on your menu, online ordering or booking page. There is no robot and no app to download.
Which languages does the AI waiter understand?
English, Hindi and Hinglish. It replies in the language the guest writes, and dish names stay as they are on your menu.
Can the AI waiter take payment from a guest?
No. It shows the amount due with your UPI link and QR, but AirQR does not collect the money. The payment goes to your own account and your staff verify it before it counts.
Does the AI waiter cost extra?
Each guest message uses 1 AI credit, and those credits are shared with AirQR's other AI tools. The pricing page shows whether your plan includes the AI waiter or needs an add-on, and how many credits you get each month.
Can it get an allergy answer wrong?
It answers from the allergen tags on your menu and can make mistakes. For severe allergies it always tells guests to check with staff, so keep your tags accurate.
What happens when my AI credits run out?
The Ask button stays, but the chat tells guests the waiter is taking a break and offers the menu or a waiter. Ordering from the menu keeps working, and you can top up credits any time.
How does it learn about my dishes, parking or Jain food?
It reads your menu, outlet details and offers automatically after every change. For everything else, such as parking, add your own answers on the Knowledge tab.
Can I turn the AI waiter off for one outlet?
Yes. The AI waiter module can be turned off for the whole business or at a single outlet in Settings under Modules. The button disappears and your setup is kept.
Keep reading
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