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This page covers AI in restaurants: drive-thru voice ordering, assistants for store staff, kitchen automation and equipment monitoring.
The AI drive-thru is the most visible use, and chains are split on it. Taco Bell's voice AI ran at more than 500 U.S. drive-thrus, The Verge reported, citing the Wall Street Journal. [1] Taco Bell told the BBC it had processed two million orders successfully, a company claim. A clip of the AI asking a customer who had already ordered a drink what he'd like to drink drew more than 21.5 million views. [2]
Bojangles' AI ordering system, Bo-Linda, runs at 450 of its 880 restaurants, Axios Charlotte reported. [4] White Castle has its system, Julia, at about 40 locations, CBC News reported. [5] Chick-fil-A went the other way: it "will not pursue AI voice ordering in its drive-thru lanes," CNBC reported after interviewing CEO Andrew Cathy. [6]
AI also works behind the counter. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said its Green Dot Assist tool for baristas was fully scaled across North American coffeehouses in November 2025. [3]
Each case below covers what was deployed, what it cost where disclosed, and what went wrong.
© 2026 Real World Wire. Written October 28, 2026.
CEO Andrew Cathy told CNBC the chain wants hospitality "to be human to human." An industry mystery-shop study found voice AI was faster but less accurate than people.
Bojangles' "Bo-Linda" is in 450 of about 880 restaurants, and White Castle's "Julia" is in about 40. Both chains say accuracy is high and no jobs were cut. Some customers say the experience feels cold.
Green Dot Assist went from a 35-store pilot to full North American deployment in about five months. U.S. transactions grew for the first time in two years, but Starbucks credits a bundle of changes, and profits fell.
A year after promising hundreds of stores, Taco Bell's tech chief says the chain is rethinking where the AI should take orders, and when people should step back in.
The chain told the Wall Street Journal it is putting sensors on kitchen equipment so AI can flag breakdowns in machines such as fryers and McFlurry makers. It would not say how many restaurants have the system.
The salad chain ended 2024 with 12 automated "Infinite Kitchens" and plans to roughly triple that in 2025. Its own filing warns that Chinese-made parts and new tariffs could make more units too costly.
The system is already taking orders in more than 100 Taco Bells in 13 states. The parent company lists the benefits it expects but hasn't published results.