Toast: AI-Powered Menu Upsell Tool Boosts Restaurant’s Average Order Volume 6%

Artificial intelligence-powered tools for restaurants are showing promising early results, Toast said Thursday (May 8) during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

Toast, which provides a digital technology platform for restaurants and is expanding into other verticals, is piloting an AI agent and assistant called Sous Chef and an intelligence engine called ToastIQ.

In prepared remarks delivered during the call, Toast CEO and co-founder Aman Narang said a restaurant participating in the pilot program found that a menu upsell tool increased its average order volume by 6%, a tool that pulls guest data into the point-of-sale (POS) system and handhelds helped create a personalized experience for in-store guests, and an advertising tool helped deliver a greater than 10 times return on ad spend for another restaurant.

“As you know, restaurant operators are strapped for time, and AI presents a unique opportunity to make our platform both easier to use and more powerful across a range of use cases,” Narang said in the remarks. “We are really early in this journey and will continue to invest here to both differentiate our platform and bring increasing value to our customers.”

Toast also continues to expand into new verticals, including international, retail and enterprise. During the first quarter, the company added eatertainment business Topgolf and now provides point-of-sale and management tools that handle both the restaurant and bar and the golf entertainment experience. Toast also began providing its enterprise solutions to Applebee’s, which is now its largest customer in terms of number of locations.

Narang said the Topgolf partnership demonstrates the versatility of the Toast platform.

“Guests want to be able to order and add to their check quickly without disrupting their golf game,” Narang said in the prepared remarks. “Our handhelds help them take orders and payments at the golf bay, our [Kitchen Display System (KDS)] streamlines kitchen operations, and our above store multi-location management tools help them track and manage all aspects of their operation centrally.”

Citing the momentum Toast had in the first quarter, Toast President and Chief Financial Officer Elena Gomez said in the prepared remarks that the company raised its 2025 full-year outlook. Gomez added that consumer trends have remained stable into May.

Toast now expects to see 25% to 27% year-over-year growth in non-GAAP subscription services and financial technology solutions, up from its earlier guidance of 23% to 25%, and adjusted EBITDA of $540 million to $560 million, up from $510 million to $530 million, per a Thursday press release.

“Our guidance factors in stable consumer trends as well as slightly higher tariff expenses related to our hardware,” Gomez said in the prepared remarks. “Overall, we are on track for another year of both strong top-line growth and expanding profitability, while continuing to invest in our highest priority long-term growth initiatives.”

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