Project Overview
TechZilla Global partnered with a leading food-tech entrepreneur to develop an Intelligent Menu Planning (IMP) software solution — a digital culinary assistant designed to optimize menu performance, boost operational efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction for restaurants.
In today’s competitive food industry, the ability to adapt menus based on data-driven insights is crucial. This project aimed to provide chefs and restaurateurs with a powerful tool to make smart, profitable, and customer-centric menu decisions.
The Challenge
Restaurants often face challenges such as:
- Poorly performing dishes increasing food waste
- Inconsistent pricing strategies impacting margins
- Menus lacking alignment with seasonal trends or customer preferences
- Manual menu updates causing inefficiencies
- Difficulty in analyzing sales vs. cost across multiple items or branches
Our client envisioned a smart system that could analyze sales, ingredient costs, customer feedback, and seasonal patterns — all in one platform — to recommend actionable insights for menu optimization.
Objectives
The goal was to build a scalable, AI-driven SaaS platform that enables:
- Real-time menu performance tracking
- Profit margin optimization
- Ingredient cost analysis
- Customer preference mapping
- Automated recommendations for menu changes
- Seamless integration with POS and inventory systems
Our Approach
TechZilla Global employed a phased and agile approach to deliver the solution with speed and flexibility.
1. Discovery & Research
We began with stakeholder interviews (chefs, restaurant managers, F&B consultants) to understand workflows and challenges. Competitor analysis and a review of market gaps helped sharpen the product vision.
2. Technology Stack
- Frontend: Vue.js + Tailwind CSS for a sleek, responsive UI
- Backend: Python (FastAPI) for REST APIs and data processing
- Database: PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB extension for time-series data
- AI/ML: Scikit-learn and TensorFlow for trend analysis and prediction models
- Integration: API connectors for Square, Toast POS, and Shopify for F&B
- Cloud Infrastructure: Deployed on AWS with Docker, ECS, and RDS
User Feedback
“This tool has become my silent sous-chef. I can now see which items to keep, change, or cut — without spreadsheets or guesswork.”
– Head Chef, Pilot Restaurant Group
“For the first time, we’re designing menus that align with both our kitchen capacity and customer expectations.”
– COO, Regional Restaurant Chain
Lessons Learned
- Data storytelling matters: Presenting complex insights in a simple, visual format increased adoption dramatically.
- Chef collaboration is key: Early involvement of chefs helped tailor features to their real needs.
Integration = Adoption: Plug-and-play compatibility with existing POS systems made it easy for restaurants to switch.
