Buying software for your restaurant is a different exercise than buying it for most businesses. A bad menu integration or a missed order at 7pm on a Saturday shows up immediately, in front of a customer, and it's hard to walk back. That makes the buying questions worth taking seriously before you sign anything, not after.
This is a genuinely vendor-neutral checklist. Use it on us or on anyone else you're evaluating.
Questions about accuracy and your specific menu
- Can I test it on my actual menu before I commit, not a generic demo menu? If a vendor won't let you do this, that's worth noting.
- How does it handle modifiers and substitutions specific to how your customers actually order — half-and-half items, common allergen swaps, "the usual" for regulars?
- What happens when it doesn't understand something? Ask for the specific escalation logic, not a vague "it's very accurate" answer.
- Who updates the menu when it changes, and how fast? If a price changes or an item's 86'd mid-shift, can you make that edit yourself in minutes, or does it require a support ticket?
Questions about integration and reliability
- Is my specific POS a live, current integration, not "compatible with most systems" or a roadmap item? Ask them to name the exact integration and confirm it's already working for another customer on your POS.
- What happens if the system goes down? Does the call fail silently, get an error tone, or fall back to ringing your existing phone? Get a specific answer, not a general assurance.
- What happens if your POS or internet goes down on your end? Does the order queue, get lost, or route somewhere else?
- Can I see real call transcripts or recordings after go-live, so I can audit what's actually being said to my customers?
Questions about cost and contract terms
- What's the actual all-in monthly cost, including any per-call, per-minute, or overage charges, not just the advertised base price?
- Is there a trial period on real call volume, not just a sandbox demo, and is it long enough to cover a full weekly cycle including your busiest shift?
- What's the contract length, and what does cancellation actually look like? Get this in writing, not verbally.
- Are there setup or menu-import fees beyond the subscription price?
Questions about what happens to your data and your customers
- Where do call recordings and transcripts live, and who has access to them?
- Does the system disclose to callers that they're speaking with AI, and is that a policy you can control?
- What happens to customer data if you cancel? Do you keep your order history and customer records, or does it stay locked in the vendor's system?
Questions to ask yourself, not the vendor
- What's my actual missed-call problem, specifically? (See our framework for estimating this yourself if you haven't measured it yet; walking in with your own numbers changes the conversation.)
- Is this solving a coverage gap, or am I trying to cut staff hours? Both are legitimate reasons, but they lead to different configurations and different expectations for what "success" looks like.
- Who on my team will actually own this: reviewing transcripts, updating the menu, handling escalations? Software without an owner tends to drift out of date.
A reasonable evaluation process
- Shortlist two or three vendors based on POS compatibility first; this alone eliminates options fast.
- Get a live demo on your actual menu, not a template.
- Run a real trial covering your busiest shift, and personally call in with a normal order and a slightly odd one.
- Pull transcripts from the trial and read them — don't just trust a dashboard summary.
- Get contract terms and cancellation policy in writing before signing.
None of this is exotic. It's the same diligence you'd apply to any vendor that's going to be the first voice a customer hears when they call your restaurant. The vendors worth working with will welcome the scrutiny; the ones that get defensive about it are telling you something too.