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AI receptionist for restaurants: cost per call, setup and a sample script

What an AI phone agent built on HighLevel Voice AI costs a restaurant, what it should and should not handle, and how a call sounds.

By Zaib Khan Prices checked against official pages Updated

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  • Answers, books and texts 24/7
  • Pay per use or $97 flat per business
  • Hands off to staff by transfer or task
  • Agency Pro rebills AI usage with markup
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The short answer

An AI receptionist for restaurants built on HighLevel Voice AI costs about $0.10 per answered call, or $125 a month for 1200 calls averaging 2 minutes, phone line included. Roughly 240 of those calls (20%) would come outside office hours, which is where an AI answering service earns its keep. Emergencies, complaints and anything needing judgment should go to a person.

What the AI should handle

Take reservations

Books the table on a HighLevel calendar or, if reservations live in OpenTable or Resy, texts the booking link, and notes occasions and high chair needs.

Take a takeout order

Reads back each item and modifier, captures the name and pickup time, and sends the order to the kitchen by text or email for staff to enter. Payment happens at pickup or by text-to-pay link.

Answer menu and hours questions

Reads hours, holiday closures, parking and menu details from the knowledge base, including which dishes the menu marks as vegetarian or gluten-free.

Capture catering leads

Collects the event date, headcount, location, service style and budget, creates an opportunity in the catering pipeline and alerts the catering manager.

What to send to a person

  • Serious allergy questions about cross-contact in the kitchen
  • Complaints about a meal or a staff member
  • Large party and buyout negotiations
  • Refunds and billing disputes

HighLevel's voice agents can transfer a live call, create a task, or trigger a workflow that texts the owner. Set the handoff rules before the agent goes live.

Cost per call and per month

Assumptions for a typical restaurant: 1200 calls a month answered by the AI, averaging 2 minutes. Phone minutes are billed per call and rounded up, so each call bills 2 phone minutes at $0.01165.

Setup AI cost Phone line Per month Per call
Pay per use, Standard voice, GPT-4.1 Mini $163.20 $27.96 $191 $0.16
Pay per use, ElevenLabs voice, GPT-4.1 Mini $211.20 $27.96 $239 $0.20
Pay per use, speech-to-speech (OpenAI) $480.00 $27.96 $508 $0.42
AI Employee Unlimited, $97 flat $97.00 $27.96 $125 $0.10
Our estimate from HighLevel's published rates, checked 2026-09-29. Token use is estimated. Highlighted row is the cheapest at this volume.

The breakdown of every Voice AI charge is in our Voice AI pricing guide. Agencies can price this as a monthly service with the calculator's Price a client tab, preloaded for a restaurant.

Compared with staff time

Those 1200 calls take about 40 hours of talk time a month. At the US median receptionist wage of $18.27 an hour (May 2025, Bureau of Labor Statistics), that talk time alone is worth about $731, before hold time, breaks, benefits and the calls that come in after hours. An AI receptionist does not replace a good front desk; it catches the overflow and the evenings, and frees staff for the people in front of them.

Sample call

Example AI receptionist call for a restaurantIllustration

AI AGENTGood evening, Marlow's Kitchen. I'm the restaurant's AI assistant. Are you calling about a reservation or an order?

CALLERA reservation. Do you have a table for six tonight around 7:30?

AI AGENTI have 7:15 or 8:00 for six. Which would you prefer?

CALLER8:00. One of us has a peanut allergy, is that okay?

AI AGENTI'll note the peanut allergy on the booking so your server and the kitchen see it. For questions about how specific dishes are prepared, a manager can call you back before you arrive. Would you like that?

CALLERYes, please.

AI AGENTOf course. What name should the table be under?

CALLERJordan Ellis.

AI AGENTThanks, Jordan. You're booked for six at 8:00. I'm texting your confirmation now, and a manager will call about the allergy within the hour.

Prompt tips

  1. Tip 1Tell the agent to read back every takeout order item by item, including modifiers, before confirming a pickup time.
  2. Tip 2Forbid the agent from asking for card numbers in one plain line: payment is at pickup or by text link.
  3. Tip 3Give the agent a strict allergy script: note the allergy, read only what the menu lists, and offer a manager callback for anything more.

Rules to watch

No card numbers by voice. PCI Security Standards Council guidance says card security codes must not be stored after authorization, and codes held in searchable call recordings must not be kept. Voice AI keeps transcripts, so the AI should never ask for a card number. Use a text-to-pay link or take payment at pickup.

Allergy answers. The FDA lists nine major food allergens, with sesame added on January 1, 2023. Federal allergen labeling does not cover food wrapped to order in a restaurant, so guests rely on what staff tell them. The AI should read listed allergens only and pass cross-contact questions to a manager.

General information, not legal advice.

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Questions

Can an AI receptionist take takeout orders for a restaurant?
It can collect the order during the call, save it to the contact and send it to the kitchen by text or email through a workflow. Getting the order into your POS is a separate step, so plan on staff keying it in unless you build an integration. Start with a short menu and test it on quiet nights.
How much does the AI cost at restaurant call volumes?
At our assumption of 1,200 calls a month averaging two minutes, pay per use comes to about $144 for the voice engine and a standard voice, plus about $28 of inbound phone minutes, before AI model tokens. At that volume the $97 AI Employee Unlimited plan, with phone minutes still billed, is likely cheaper.
Should the AI take credit card payments over the phone?
No. A card number read aloud ends up in call recordings and transcripts, and PCI guidance says card security codes must not be stored after authorization. Have the AI text a payment link for prepaid orders or deposits, or tell the guest they will pay at pickup.
Can the AI answer allergy questions?
Only narrowly. It can note an allergy on a reservation and read the allergens your menu lists. It should not promise that a dish is safe, because cross-contact depends on the kitchen that day. Route those calls to a manager who can speak to how the food is actually prepared.

Sources

  1. HighLevel pricing
  2. HighLevel AI product pricing
  3. HighLevel AI voice agents overview
  4. HighLevel Documents & Contracts
  5. PCI SSC: Protecting telephone-based payment card data
  6. FDA: Food allergies
  7. HighLevel AI product pricing (help center)
  8. AI Voice Agents overview
  9. HighLevel Phone System pricing and billing guide
  10. BLS Occupational Outlook: Receptionists (May 2025 pay)

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