Spotlight: Nation’s Restaurant News – Tech Tracker

AI That Makes Travel Policies Actionable

Studio Perspective - Why This Matters

Nation’s Restaurant News doesn’t spotlight experiments — it highlights shifts that redefine the operating model of restaurants. By featuring Brown Bacon AI’s SomAI in its Tech Tracker, NRN placed server-assist AI in the same league as delivery platforms and payment systems: not a novelty, but core infrastructure.

For operators, the implications run deeper than convenience:

·       Staff empowerment: SomAI compresses years of training into real-time guidance, allowing new hires to perform with the confidence of seasoned staff. That changes the economics of turnover, training time, and labor cost.

·       Guest trust: Diners don’t just get answers — they get personalized, multilingual, allergy-aware recommendations that make them feel safer and more cared for. In a climate where trust drives repeat visits, this is a differentiator, not an extra.

·       Operational consistency: Every server, across every shift, can deliver the same high-quality knowledge and experience. That stabilizes service standards in a way human-only models can’t.

·       Competitive edge: Early adopters aren’t just adding a tool; they’re setting the new baseline for hospitality. The laggards will find themselves compared not just to the restaurant across town, but to the AI-enabled operators redefining what “good service” means.

The deeper takeaway: SomAI is bridging one of the most fragile gaps in hospitality — the space between rising guest expectations and staff readiness. That’s why NRN coverage matters: it signals the moment when AI stops being a pilot project and starts being the industry standard.

Nation’s Restaurant News (November 18, 2024)

Brown Bacon AI launches generative AI tool for servers

Brown Bacon AI is a hospitality-focused generative AI startup that uses its own proprietary technology to offer an AI chatbot to help servers who are being trained, or those who are stumped by customer queries.

The husband-and-wife-owned company just launched this month, with the goal of helping casual- and fine-dining restaurants provide better customer service by equipping servers with its proprietary AI chatbot, SomAI. The technology is named that because one of the many things it can do is provide wine pairing recommendations based on a restaurant’s specific menu, as well as customer preferences.

Brown Bacon AI offers a customer-side solution, as well as a front-of-house and back-of-house solution. It doesn’t require downloading any app or software: a QR code will just prompt customers to enter their email address and be directed to a website where they can interact with a restaurant’s personalized AI chatbot. Customers have options then to see a personalized menu based on their dietary needs or allergies. On the server side, it can also offer recommendations for a full-course meal, along with drink pairings.

“Let’s say you normally would drink a Manhattan but want to try something new to drink—you can ask it to give you recommendations, or say you have $150 to spend, you can ask for a customized order of an appetizer, entrée, drink, and dessert,” Aimee Arnold, cofounder of Brown Bacon AI said. “Then, if you say you don’t like fish, the recommendations will change based on your input. It’s also multilingual, so you can have someone speaking typing a different language into their phone, and it will give them the answers back in that language.”

One of Brown Bacon AI’s first restaurant partners is Cibo Vino in Omaha, Neb., which is currently using it as a back-of-house tool, and to address food allergies and dietary needs in the front of the house.