Answer Menu and Sold-Out Questions on WhatsApp with Toast

This recipe answers “do you have…”, “how much is…” and “is it sold out?” from your Toast menu and today’s stock. It only reads from Toast. Part of the Toast integration.

What happens today

A guest asks on Instagram whether the brisket is on tonight. The answer depends on what the kitchen 86’d an hour ago. Whoever replies either guesses, goes to ask the kitchen, or sends a menu photo from last month with old prices.

The flow that works

The guest asks about a dish, a price or an option.
AeroChat reads the menu and stock from Toast for that location.
It answers with the item, the price and whether it is available today.
If the item is out, it suggests something similar that is available.

The recipe

Copy this into AeroChat

When a guest asks about our menu, a dish, a price or whether something is available, follow these steps.

If we have more than one location, ask which one, unless they have already said.

Read the menu and stock for that location from Toast.

If the item is on the menu and not out of stock, confirm it, give the price from Toast and mention its options, such as sizes or add-ons.

If it is out of stock, say it has sold out for today and suggest one or two similar items that are available.

If it is not on the menu, say so and suggest the closest items we do have.

For allergens and dietary questions, answer only from our allergen notes in the knowledge base, and for severe allergies, tell them to speak to our staff when ordering. Never quote a price that is not in Toast. Do not take orders in the chat. If they want to order, send our online ordering link. Reply in the guest’s language.

What to connect

Toast. Create standard API credentials (a client ID and secret) in Toast Web for the locations you want covered. Enter them in the AeroChat dashboard when asked. Access is read-only.
Your allergen notes and ordering link. Upload allergen and dietary notes to the AeroChat knowledge base and add your online ordering link.

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 you still decide

What you say about allergens, and when a guest is sent to staff.
Which similar items to suggest when something sells out.
Where guests go to order.

The result to expect

Guests get an answer that matches the kitchen today, without anyone leaving the floor to check. Menu changes made in Toast show up in the chat with no extra step. Read a sample of menu chats in the first week and adjust the suggestions.

Next: order status. See also: menu and dietary questions for restaurants.