About MenuSpy
AI-powered restaurant intelligence that helps you price smarter, staff better, and compete stronger.
Note on Naming
There is an unrelated open-source JavaScript library also called "menuspy" (a scrollspy navigation tool for web developers, available on GitHub). MenuSpy.ai is a separate product - an AI-powered restaurant analytics platform. Same name, different products, different teams.
Company Information
Product Name: MenuSpy
Website: menuspy.ai
Product Type: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) web application
Target Market: Independent restaurants, small restaurant chains, restaurant consultants
Pricing: Contact us for customized pricing plans.
Launch Status: Currently in beta/early access phase
What is MenuSpy?
MenuSpy is a software platform designed specifically for restaurant owners and managers. We use artificial intelligence to automate competitive research, analyze pricing opportunities, and predict when your restaurant will be busy.
Instead of manually checking competitor menus or guessing at prices, MenuSpy does the work automatically and gives you clear, actionable insights.
Core Features
Automated Competitor Tracking
MenuSpy discovers restaurants in your area that compete for the same customers. We automatically extract their menus from websites, PDFs, and even photos, then monitor for price changes over time.
How it works: Enter your restaurant's location, and our AI uses Google Places data to find similar restaurants nearby. We then crawl their online presence to extract menu items and prices.
AI Pricing Analysis
See how your menu prices compare to local competitors item by item. MenuSpy identifies where you may be underpricing (leaving money on the table) or overpricing (potentially losing customers).
How it works: Our AI matches similar items across menus and calculates your price position relative to the local market average.
Predictive Staffing
Know when you'll be busy before it happens. MenuSpy analyzes local events, weather forecasts, holidays, and historical patterns to predict demand.
How it works: We pull data from event APIs and weather services, combine it with seasonal patterns, and generate staffing recommendations for each day.
AI Chat Assistant
Ask questions about your business data in plain English. "What are my competitors charging for pasta dishes?" "Which of my items are priced below market?" "What events are happening near me this weekend?"
How it works: Natural language processing understands your questions and queries your restaurant data to provide specific answers.
Review Intelligence
Understand what customers are saying about you and your competitors. MenuSpy analyzes reviews from Google, Yelp, and other platforms to identify themes, complaints, and opportunities.
How it works: Sentiment analysis AI reads reviews and categorizes feedback by topic (food quality, service, value, ambiance, etc.).
Competitive Alerts
Get notified when competitors change their prices, add new menu items, or receive notable reviews. Stay informed without constant manual checking.
How it works: Regular automated scans detect changes and send you email or in-app notifications.
Why We Built MenuSpy
Large restaurant chains have entire teams dedicated to competitive intelligence, pricing strategy, and demand forecasting. Independent restaurants and small chains don't have those resources, so they rely on gut instinct and occasional manual research.
We built MenuSpy to level the playing field. The same data-driven insights that help chains optimize their operations should be available to every restaurant owner.
Industry Context (Why This Matters)
According to the National Restaurant Association, full-service restaurants operate on average profit margins of 3-5%. With margins this thin, small pricing improvements have outsized impact on profitability.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that labor typically represents 30-35% of restaurant operating costs. Better demand prediction means more efficient scheduling and lower labor costs.
Sources: restaurant.org, bls.gov
Results Expectations
What to expect from MenuSpy:
MenuSpy provides data and insights to help you make more informed pricing and operational decisions. Actual results vary based on:
- Your current pricing position relative to competitors
- Local market conditions and competition density
- How actively you implement the insights
- Your existing operational efficiency
Industry research shows restaurants that use competitive pricing data (rather than cost-plus pricing alone) can improve margins, and that predictive scheduling can reduce overstaffing. However, MenuSpy is a tool that provides data and insights - results depend on how that information is used.
Data Sources and Methodology
MenuSpy collects and processes the following types of publicly available data:
Restaurant Discovery
- Google Places API: We use Google's official API to find restaurants by location, retrieve business information (name, address, hours, cuisine type, price level), and get Google ratings/reviews.
- User Input: Restaurant owners can manually add competitors not found automatically.
Menu Data Collection
- Website Crawling: We visit publicly accessible restaurant websites and extract menu information from HTML pages.
- PDF Extraction: Many restaurants post menus as PDFs. We parse these documents to extract items and prices.
- Image OCR: For menu images, we use optical character recognition (Google Cloud Vision API) to extract text.
- AI Processing: Google Gemini AI helps structure extracted text into organized menu data (item names, descriptions, prices, categories).
Demand Prediction Data
- Weather APIs: Current and forecast weather data for the restaurant's location.
- Event Data: Local events from public event APIs and calendars.
- Historical Patterns: Day-of-week, seasonal, and holiday patterns based on industry data.
Review Analysis
- Google Reviews: Publicly visible reviews from Google Maps/Business profiles.
- Sentiment Analysis: AI-powered analysis to categorize review themes and sentiment.
What we do NOT access:
- POS (point-of-sale) systems or sales data
- Private business information
- Customer personal data
- Any data requiring authentication or login
How MenuSpy Works
Step 1: Connect Your Restaurant
Enter your restaurant's name and location. MenuSpy uses Google Places to verify your business and understand your cuisine type, price range, and neighborhood.
Step 2: Automatic Competitor Discovery
Our AI identifies restaurants in your area that serve similar cuisine and compete for similar customers. You can review and adjust the competitor list.
Step 3: Menu Extraction
MenuSpy crawls competitor websites and extracts menu items and prices. We can read standard web menus, PDF menus, and even menu images using optical character recognition (OCR).
Step 4: Analysis and Insights
With your menu and competitor data in place, MenuSpy generates pricing analysis, identifies opportunities, and begins tracking changes over time.
Step 5: Ongoing Monitoring
MenuSpy continuously monitors competitors for changes and updates your analysis. You receive alerts when significant changes occur.
Data and Privacy
MenuSpy only collects publicly available information about competitor restaurants (menus published on their websites, reviews on public platforms, etc.). We do not access any private or proprietary data.
Your restaurant's data is kept secure and is never shared with other users or third parties. We use industry-standard encryption and security practices.
Data Storage
- Infrastructure: Google Firebase (Firestore database, Cloud Functions)
- Hosting: Vercel (frontend), Firebase (backend)
- Authentication: Firebase Authentication with email/password
- Encryption: TLS/SSL for data in transit, encrypted at rest in Firebase
What Data We Store
- Your account information (email, restaurant details you provide)
- Your selected competitors and preferences
- Extracted menu data from public sources
- Analysis results and historical tracking
What We Don't Do
- We don't sell your data to third parties
- We don't share your competitor selections with other users
- We don't access any private business systems
- We don't collect payment card data (we use Stripe for payments)
Technology
MenuSpy is built with modern web technologies:
- AI/ML: Google Gemini and OpenAI for natural language processing, menu extraction, and analysis
- Data Sources: Google Places API for restaurant discovery, weather APIs for predictions, event data for demand forecasting
- Infrastructure: Firebase for backend services, Vercel for hosting, secure cloud architecture
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of restaurants is MenuSpy for?
MenuSpy works for any restaurant with a menu - full-service restaurants, fast casual, quick service, cafes, bars, and more. It's particularly valuable for independent restaurants and small chains that don't have dedicated analytics teams.
How accurate is the competitor price tracking?
Our AI achieves high accuracy on standard web menus and PDFs. Menu images and handwritten menus may have lower accuracy. We continuously improve our extraction algorithms.
How often is competitor data updated?
MenuSpy checks competitor menus regularly (frequency depends on your plan). You can also trigger manual refreshes at any time.
Can I add my own menu items?
Yes. You can manually enter your menu or import it from various formats. MenuSpy also supports menu extraction from your own website or uploaded files.
What if a competitor isn't found automatically?
You can manually add any restaurant as a competitor by entering their name, address, or website URL.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. You can sign up and explore MenuSpy's features before committing to a paid plan. Visit menuspy.ai to get started.
Is MenuSpy.ai related to the JavaScript library called "menuspy"?
No, they are unrelated products that happen to share a name. The open-source "menuspy" on GitHub is a scrollspy navigation library for web developers. MenuSpy.ai is a restaurant analytics platform. Different teams, different purposes.
How is MenuSpy different from other restaurant analytics tools?
Most restaurant analytics tools focus on your own sales data (POS integration). MenuSpy focuses on external competitive intelligence - what your competitors are charging, how you compare, and what's happening in your local market. We complement rather than replace POS analytics.
Contact
Questions about MenuSpy? We'd love to hear from you.
- Website: menuspy.ai
- Email: Contact us through the form on our website