The Kitchen vs. The Boardroom:
Why Your Restaurant AI
Needs a Single
Source of Truth
The Danger of Assuming You Are Right
In the era of Artificial Intelligence, assuming the answers to your data queries are accurate is dangerous. The biggest barrier to adopting AI isn't the technology; it's the data trust gap.
Restaurant groups are often a "Tower of Babel." Operations might define "Gross Sales" differently than Finance. Marketing measures "Customer Churn" based on loyalty, while managers use reservations.
"When you feed conflicting definitions into generative AI models, you don't get intelligence. You accelerate bad decisions—like mispricing a menu or understaffing a shift—and scale that chaos across your entire chain."
The Solution
What is the Metrics Governance Engine?
Think of the MGE as the "Central Bank" for your restaurant group's business logic. It sits between your raw data (POS, Labor, Inventory) and the tools you use to consume it.
Demystifying "Certified Data" & 0-100 Score
When MGE certifies a metric like RevPASH, it doesn't just check the math. It validates precisely which transaction tables the raw data originates from, the exact calculation logic, and accountability paths.
Governance Score Meaning:
A Confidence Rating For Decision-Makers.
Why Does This Matter?
In a tight-margin industry, operating on opinions rather than facts is costly. Without governance, AI might advise you to cut labor hours during a peak time because it's using a flawed definition of "peak."
Technical Pipeline Lifecycle
STAGE 01
Truth Capture
Immutable ingestion of raw transactional data.
STAGE 02
Semantic Alignment
Normalizing temporal drift and mapping vendor fields.
STAGE 03
Detection Engine
Running pattern audits to identify leakage.
STAGE 04
Action Gating
Trust-based firewall for automated workflows.
STAGE 05
Certification
Audit-grade ledgers for financial booking.
How much revenue can my restaurant actually recover from hidden overcharges?
Most operators underestimate leakage. Over 70% of restaurants do not dispute delivery chargebacks, processors rarely optimize rates proactively, and platforms may deduct 3% to 13% in automatic marketing fees. For 3-5 location groups, typical annual recovery often lands around $100,000 to $250,000.
The two largest recovery pools are merchant processing overcharges and delivery platform fee variance. Both require deterministic audit evidence to recover consistently.
Merchant Fee Recovery
Typical recovery: 0.2% to 0.8% of annual card volume from MCC errors, rate optimization, and hidden fee correction.
Delivery Fee Recovery
Typical recovery: 3% to 10% of delivery sales from chargeback disputes, fee audits, and commission variance controls.
Restaurant Profile Comparison
| Metric | Fast Casual | Casual Dining |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Sales | $2,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
| Delivery Mix | 50% ($1,000,000) | 20% ($800,000) |
| Card Processing Volume | $2,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
| Locations | 1 location | 1 location |
Combined Annual Recovery
| Restaurant Type | Merchant Fee | Delivery Fee | Total Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fast Casual ($2M sales, 50% delivery) | $4,000 - $16,000 | $30,000 - $100,000 | $34,000 - $116,000 | $2,800 - $9,700 |
| Casual Dining ($4M sales, 20% delivery) | $8,000 - $32,000 | $24,000 - $80,000 | $32,000 - $112,000 | $2,700 - $9,300 |
Multi-Location Scaling
| Locations | Fast Casual Profile | Casual Dining Profile |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Location | $34,000 - $116,000/year | $32,000 - $112,000/year |
| 3 Locations | $102,000 - $348,000/year | $96,000 - $336,000/year |
| 5 Locations | $170,000 - $580,000/year | $160,000 - $560,000/year |
| 10 Locations | $340,000 - $1,160,000/year | $320,000 - $1,120,000/year |
High-Recovery Playbook
- Review processor statements monthly instead of quarterly.
- Dispute at least 80% of eligible chargebacks.
- Audit delivery platform fee exports weekly.
- Automate reconciliation and evidence generation.
Key Citations
- [1] Orders.co / Business Wire (2024): delivery chargeback dispute rates and recovery benchmarks.
- [2] Popmenu (2026) and CTV News (2025): hidden delivery fee and commission visibility.
- [3] Host Merchant Services (2025) and Payments Dive: card-fee burden and optimization ranges.
Methodology updated February 2026 and aligned with Tier 3 FAQ assumptions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my data secure?
Yes. This MVP does not store actual customer data. All inputs are session-only and cleared on refresh.
What is a Trust Score?
A numerical value (0-100) indicating the integrity and reliability of your operational data streams.
How do I get the full MGE Suite?
Once you complete a MVP run, you can schedule a demo with a FohBoh strategist.