Restaurant and Catering Workflows to Automate, Ranked
These are the six workflows a restaurant, caterer or restaurant with a catering arm should automate first, ranked by how much time or revenue each one recovers. The ranking assumes one to three outlets or a central kitchen, most enquiries on WhatsApp and Instagram, table bookings in a reservation system, orders in a POS or online ordering system, and catering dates in a Google Calendar. Each one links to a recipe page with a description you can paste into AeroChat, what to connect and what you still decide.
For the market context and plan sizing, see the restaurants and caterers overview.
The ranking at a glance
| Rank | Workflow | What it recovers | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catering quote requests | Large orders from customers comparing several caterers | The highest-value enquiry, and the first caterer to send a correct quote usually wins it |
| 2 | Event deposit payment | Revenue lost to dates held on a verbal yes | A paid deposit is a booking you can plan staff and stock around |
| 3 | Table reservations | Covers from messages that arrive during service | The most frequent message, and staff are busiest exactly when it arrives |
| 4 | Large group handover | Big tables and private functions | Low volume, high value, and they need a manager’s judgment |
| 5 | Order status and delivery | Staff time at lunch and on event mornings | “Where is my food” arrives when the kitchen is busiest |
| 6 | Menu and dietary questions | Staff time on simple answers, and safety on allergens | Every setup needs its allergen rule before going live |
The six workflows
1. Quote catering requests by headcount
“Lunch buffet for 40 people on the 8th, how much?” AeroChat checks the date, asks only for what is missing, quotes the right price tier with delivery and shows the total. This ranks first because a catering order is worth many tables, and customers send the same message to three caterers at once.
Catering quote requests recipe
2. Take the deposit that holds an event date
The customer says “ok, confirm”. AeroChat sends a deposit link, marks the date as held once it is paid, and later sends the balance link when the customer confirms final numbers. A date with a deposit is one you can buy stock and roster staff for.
3. Take table reservations in chat
“Table for 4 tonight at 7.30?” arrives at 7pm, when nobody can look at a phone. AeroChat checks availability in your reservation system, offers the nearest slot, takes the name and number, creates the booking and confirms.
4. Hand large groups to a manager
A birthday dinner for 25, a company lunch for 40, or a request to book out the restaurant. AeroChat collects the date, time, headcount and budget, sends your group set menus, and hands it to a manager with everything written down.
5. Answer order status and delivery questions
“Has the driver left yet?” AeroChat reads the order’s status from your POS or online ordering system and replies. Late or missing orders go to a person straight away.
Order status and delivery recipe
6. Answer menu questions and hand allergens to the kitchen
Opening hours, parking, vegetarian options and halal status are answered from your published information. Any question about an allergy goes to the kitchen. AeroChat never says a dish is safe. It ranks last because the time saved is small. Set it up before any other workflow goes live.
Menu and dietary questions recipe
What they connect to
- Your reservation system for table availability and bookings, used by workflows 3 and 4. Eat App and ResDiary connect through their APIs.
- Your POS or online ordering system for order status and menu items, used by workflow 5. Square, Toast and Lightspeed Restaurant connect through their APIs.
- Google Calendar for catering and function dates, used by workflows 1, 2 and 4. Many caterers keep their event dates there.
- Google Sheets as a simple log of catering quotes, catering orders and group enquiries that your team reads, used by workflows 1, 2 and 4.
- Airwallex, built in, for deposit and balance payment links. HitPay and Stripe connect through their APIs if you already use them.
- Your knowledge base for menus, price tiers, set menus, halal certification, published ingredients and policies.
- AeroChat’s own handover, tags and team notifications for workflows 4 and 6 and every exception.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What stays with your team
- Every allergen question, and any question about whether a dish is safe for someone.
- Complaints about food, service or a late delivery.
- Refunds, and changes to a deposit or cancellation policy.
- Private functions, buyouts and orders above the headcount you set.
- Any price or discount that is not on your menu or price list.
Each recipe hands these over with the details collected, so your team picks up the conversation without asking the customer to repeat themselves.
How they fit together
The catering quote is the base for the catering side. The deposit workflow follows it, and order status picks up on the day. On the restaurant side, reservations handle small tables and pass anything above your group size to the large group handover. The allergen rule in menu and dietary questions runs alongside all of them. When a customer mentions a nut allergy in the middle of a catering quote, the quote continues and the allergy question goes to the kitchen.
You can paste the recipes one at a time. When you paste the second, AeroChat sees what you already have and adds to it rather than building a duplicate.
Back to restaurants and caterers
Build your first one
Start with the catering quote and the menu and dietary rule together. Upload your price tiers and menu, paste both recipes, and ask your own number for 40 guests on a date you know is free.
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