πŸ“˜ Operator guideYour restaurant

Welcome to AI-R

Everything you need to run your restaurant on AI-R, in the order you'll need it.

11 sections. Read in order on Day 1, then keep this open as a reference. Tap any section to jump to it.

01Your first morning on AI-R

Login, daily digest, what to check first

02Taking orders on the POS

Tap, modify, send to kitchen, comp, void

03Smart Receipts

What customers see + how the QR drives reorders

04The 86 system

Mark an item out, what propagates, how to undo

05Daily specials + push items

Set them, push to staff, see results

06Pre-shift briefings

What every staff member sees before service

07Maestro AI β€” your three lenses

CFO / Ops / Marketing β€” ask Maestro anything

08Phone AI (Joe)

How Joe learns + what to expect during the first 2 weeks

09Smart Receipts + loyalty wallet

Members get points + last-order reorder + favorites

10End of shift + close

Comps/voids review, deposit, daily wrap-up

11When something breaks

Fast paths to fix + where to ask

01

Your first morning on AI-R

Open your iPad or laptop. Go to neil.ai-restaurant.net/home (bookmark it). You'll land on the dashboard.

What you'll see

  • CFO Brief β€” yesterday's revenue + month pace + one "what to watch" observation. This is your morning 5-second readout.
  • Inbox β€” flagged items needing your attention (reviews, refunds, supplier alerts). Number badge if anything is new.
  • Period selector β€” Today / Yesterday / This Week / Last Week / This Month / Last Month / YTD / Custom. Most operators live on Today.
  • Channel breakdown β€” dine-in vs phone vs online vs third-party delivery, by sales mix.

Your daily 5-minute routine

  1. Read the CFO Brief. Note anything off.
  2. Click into the Inbox if there's a number on it.
  3. Scroll to AI Performance to see how the AI tools moved the needle yesterday (upsells, missed call recovery, review responses).
  4. Tap into Maestro to ask any follow-up question (see section 7).
πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Don't obsess over the dashboard. The CFO Brief is the headline. If it's green, you're likely fine.
02

Taking orders on the POS

Same iPad you're reading this on can be the POS. Tap Service in the top nav.

Order flow

  1. Pick a table from the floor plan (or start a To-Go).
  2. Tap menu items. They appear on the right-side ticket.
  3. Tap an item to add modifiers, special instructions, or remove.
  4. Tap Send. Items route to the kitchen station that owns them (grill / fryer / salad / expo).
  5. To add more during the same meal: just tap items. Send again.

Voids vs comps β€” what's the difference?

  • Void = pulled before the kitchen makes it. No food was wasted. Manager PIN required.
  • Comp = food was made, customer is not paying for it (apology, manager promo, owner promo). Manager PIN required + reason code.
πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Both voids and comps surface in the next morning's report. Patterns by server are flagged automatically β€” Maestro will tell you if one server's comp rate spikes 3Γ— the team average.
03

Smart Receipts

Every receipt β€” printed, emailed, or texted β€” has a QR code on it that does two things at once.

What customers see

  1. Customer scans the QR.
  2. Lands on a phone-friendly page asking: "How was your visit?"
  3. 5 stars β†’ directs to Google Reviews / Yelp.
  4. 1–4 stars β†’ captures feedback privately + alerts the manager. Customer never reaches a public review site.
  5. Below the rating: Reorder button β€” pre-fills the cart with their last order on channara.net.
  6. Loyalty signup: phone field. One tap. They're a member.

Why this is the moat

Most independent restaurants can't pull customers off DoorDash because the customer's phone never enters their system. AI-R's Smart Receipt does both: catches negative reviews privately AND converts third-party customers to direct via the reorder QR.

πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Print receipts even if the customer doesn't ask. The bottom of the receipt is your single most leveraged piece of marketing real estate.
04

The 86 system

Run out of an ingredient or a dish? Tap the menu item, then tap 86. AI-R immediately:

  • Greys it out on the POS so servers can't enter new orders.
  • Phase 2 (next 60 days): Removes it from your website + DoorDash + Uber Eats + GrubHub menus. So nobody can order it online either.
  • Sends a notification to the kitchen so cooks know.
  • Logs the 86 event so you can see in tomorrow's report how much revenue you walked away from (estimated).

Un-86

Item back in stock? Tap it, tap Un-86. Live again everywhere.

πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Always 86 the moment you know β€” not when the next ticket comes in. Servers wasting 90 seconds explaining "sorry, we're out" is more expensive than the dish you ran out of.
05

Daily specials + push items

Two related concepts that drive different behavior:

  • Daily specials β€” items not on the regular menu. Set the price + active hours. Show up in pre-shift briefings, on the channara.net hero strip, and in the POS.
  • Push items β€” regular menu items you want servers to upsell tonight (because you over-ordered or the margin is high). Surface in the pre-shift briefing as "tonight's push."

How to set

  1. Tap Menu β†’ Daily Specials β†’ New.
  2. Pick a name + price + active window.
  3. Optional: write a server-facing note ("tell guests it's our spring squash with browned butter").
  4. Save.

For push items: Menu β†’ tap an existing item β†’ toggle Push tonight.

What happens next

  • Pre-shift briefing for tonight includes the special + push items.
  • channara.net shows them in the "Today's Specials" hero strip above the menu.
  • Tomorrow morning's report tells you the sell-through rate. The bulgogi special: did it move?
06

Pre-shift briefings

The pre-shift briefing is what every staff member sees on their phone (or printed) at the start of their shift. It shows:

  • Tonight's specials with descriptions + price
  • Push items + the reason
  • What's 86'd (so they don't get caught flat-footed)
  • Allergen alerts (kitchen-flagged)
  • Yesterday's recap (busy / slow / what worked)

How to add a custom note

Manager / chef: Menu β†’ Pre-Shift β†’ write a 2-3 sentence note. Things like "the new salmon dish takes 14 min, plate hot, finish with chive at the pass." Goes out automatically with the next shift.

πŸ’‘ Tip Β· The pre-shift briefing replaces the "chef yelling at the line before service" ritual. Servers actually read theirs. Use it.
07

Maestro AI β€” your three lenses

Maestro is your AI restaurant advisor. Three lenses, one chat interface. Tap Ask CFO on the dashboard, or click the chat bubble anywhere.

The three lenses

CFO Lens

Numbers, costs, profit

  • "How's my food cost this week?"
  • "Why did margin drop yesterday?"
  • "What's the IRS rule on tip pool reporting?"
  • "Compare my margins to CAVA."

Ops Lens

Service, kitchen, staff

  • "Where are we losing time?"
  • "Which servers have the highest comp rate?"
  • "When should I add a third line cook?"
  • "What's killing our table turn?"

Marketing Lens

Push, promote, grow

  • "What should I push tonight?"
  • "Which items are puzzles I should reposition?"
  • "Should I raise the pad thai price?"
  • "Loyalty MAU is at 18%. What now?"

How Maestro answers

Maestro pulls real data from your POS + the AI-R knowledge base of 368+ restaurant operator playbooks (industry benchmarks, segment economics, brand case studies, tax + ops rules). When it states a number, it cites the source. When it can't answer, it tells you that β€” never makes things up.

πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Talk to Maestro the way you'd talk to your accountant or chef. Plain English. "What's killing my Wednesdays?" works better than trying to formulate a database query.
08

Phone AI (Joe)

Joe is your AI phone host. He answers every incoming call. Takes orders. Books reservations. Answers menu questions. Sounds human.

The 2-week ambient learning period

Joe doesn't know your menu Day 1. He listens to your servers for the first 2 weeks of normal service to learn:

  • How customers actually pronounce your dishes
  • Which modifiers are commonly asked
  • Which items pair (so he can upsell intelligently)
  • What questions guests ask repeatedly

During this 2-week window, calls still go to your staff first. Joe listens + learns. After day 14, you can flip him on to take calls directly.

Watching Joe's progress

Service tab β†’ Phone AI β†’ Joe's Learning Status. Shows:

  • How many calls he's heard
  • How many menu items he recognizes
  • His confidence score (0-100)
  • When he'll be ready to go live
πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Don't flip Joe live early. A confused phone host costs you more than a missed call. The 2-week ramp is real and it's short.
09

Smart Receipts + the loyalty wallet

When a customer signs up via the receipt QR, they become a loyalty member. They get a personal wallet at channara.net/loyalty/<their-token>.

What members see in their wallet

  • Their points balance + tier (Bronze / Gold / VIP)
  • Their last order with a one-tap reorder button
  • Their favorite items with quick-add
  • Available rewards they can redeem

How members earn

  • 1 point per $1 spent (default; you can change in Settings)
  • 2Γ— points on their birthday
  • Bonus points for first-time signup
  • Bonus points for referring a friend

How members redeem

At checkout (in-store or on channara.net), one tap to apply points to the order. Cashier sees the discount applied.

πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Track the Monthly Active Rate (MAU) in the loyalty dashboard. Below 25% MAU and the program is losing money on discount cost. Above 35% and it's a moat. Aim for 35%+.
10

End of shift + close

At end of shift / end of day, AI-R guides you through the close ritual.

The close checklist

  1. Drawer count β€” tap Service β†’ Close β†’ enter cash on hand. Variance > $5 surfaces for review.
  2. Comps + voids review β€” the day's comps and voids. Anything unusual? Manager note required for variance > $25.
  3. Tip pool β€” calculation runs automatically. Review the breakdown before approving.
  4. Deposit β€” generate deposit slip with cash + check totals.
  5. End-of-day digest β€” emailed/SMS'd to you with the summary.
πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Run the close at the same time every night, even if the numbers look fine. The discipline catches the days where they don't.
11

When something breaks

Fastest fixes for common issues

  • POS won't print to kitchen? β€” Settings β†’ Printers β†’ re-pair the affected station. 90% of the time, it's a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi reconnect.
  • Card reader frozen? β€” Power-cycle the Square or Stripe terminal. AI-R auto-reconnects.
  • Wi-Fi out but you need to take orders? β€” POS keeps working in offline mode. Orders sync when Wi-Fi comes back. Card payments require connectivity (use a hotspot).
  • An item is showing up wrong on the menu β€” Menu β†’ tap the item β†’ fix it. Changes go live in < 30 seconds across channara.net + delivery platforms.

Where to ask for help

  • Maestro β€” first stop for any operational question. Maestro often knows the fix.
  • Text Neil β€” for anything Maestro can't answer. He'll respond fast.
  • AI-R support β€” 8 AM – 1 AM EST every day. Emailhi@ai-restaurant.net or chat in-app.
πŸ’‘ Tip Β· Save Neil's number to your phone today. Friday rush is not the right time to figure out who to call.

That's the whole guide. Bookmark it. Share it with your team.

🎯

Maestro

Ask me anything about your restaurant.

πŸ’Ό

CFO Assistant

I’m here to help you use your menu as a revenue-generating tool. Before we look at growth opportunities, let’s make sure your data is clean and accurate β€” that’s the foundation everything else is built on. What would you like to start with, or should I flag what I’m seeing?

πŸ’Ό

Molly

I’m here to help you use your menu as a revenue-generating tool. Before we look at growth opportunities, let’s make sure your data is clean and accurate β€” that’s the foundation everything else is built on. What would you like to start with, or should I flag what I’m seeing?

πŸ’Ό

Liam

I’m here to help you use your menu as a revenue-generating tool. Before we look at growth opportunities, let’s make sure your data is clean and accurate β€” that’s the foundation everything else is built on. What would you like to start with, or should I flag what I’m seeing?