AI phone orders for US restaurants
Zogu answers your phone and takes pickup orders from the menu in your POS, with prices in dollars. Delivery by ZIP code isn't ready, totals leave out sales tax, and no restaurant uses Zogu yet.
What a US caller hears
The agent works from the menu in your POS and reads the order back once, with the total in dollars and cents.
- First-time callers hear your name and "this is the automated ordering assistant." Regulars are greeted by first name.
- Shorthand is said as words:
12"is "12 inch,"1/4lb"quarter pound,"3pcs"three-piece." - Required choices come one at a time: "For the Pepperoni, which crust would you like? We have Thin Crust or Stuffed Crust."
- Nothing is sent without a yes, and it never asks for a card number.
Pickup, delivery and sales tax
- Pickup works. Orders go into your POS unpaid, to be paid at pickup. The caller hears the total and a ready time, then the agent hangs up.
- Delivery doesn't. Delivery areas match UK postcodes, so a ZIP code like 10001 never matches.
- No sales tax. Every total ends "before tax," and the order goes into your POS with no tax on it.
Your own number, no transfers
Each restaurant gets its own Twilio number, and a call to it only reaches your agent. Setting one up is a manual step today, and there's one US test number.
It never transfers or promises a call-back. A caller who asks for the manager hears "I'm the automated ordering assistant, so I can't connect you to a person, but I can take your order." That's enforced in code, not just in the agent's instructions.
State recording laws and call transcripts
Zogu records no audio. It keeps a written transcript and the order, in a console only our team can sign in to.
- About a dozen states, among them California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, require everyone's consent to record. A live transcript may count as a recording (Ambriz v. Google, 2025).
- Callers are told it's an automated assistant, not that the call is transcribed. A transcript line can go in your greeting, but regulars get a different greeting and won't hear it.
- The FCC's 2024 AI-voice ruling is about calls placed to people. Zogu only answers.
Show your lawyer this before go-live. More on AI disclosure and call transcripts.
California privacy and the CCPA
The CCPA covers businesses over its thresholds, such as about $25 million in annual revenue. Where it applies, you're the business and Zogu would be your service provider under a written contract.
- Kept per call: the caller's number, name, order, transcript and any words the agent couldn't match.
- Not kept: audio or card numbers.
- Who handles it: Twilio carries the call, Cloudflare runs Zogu and stores the records, our POS integration platform passes the order to your POS.
- Retention: nothing is deleted automatically yet. Periods go in our US privacy policy before launch.
English only
A caller who orders in Spanish hears an apology in English. In English, "um" and "mhm" don't cut the agent off, "actually, make that two" changes the quantity, and after 12 seconds of silence it says "Take your time. Let me know when you're ready."
By kind of restaurant
None of these has been tried on a real menu of that kind yet.
- Pizzerias: sizes and crusts, one question at a time.
- Chinese takeout: lunch specials follow their hours; ordering by number isn't ready.
- Wing shops: piece count, flavor and dip.
- Delis and sandwich shops: bread choices, and "no onions" as a kitchen note.
- BBQ restaurants:
1/4lbsaid "quarter pound," and sell-outs hidden in your POS.
Where Zogu is today
As of November 5, 2026, no restaurant uses Zogu. Seven test pickup orders have gone from a call into our integration platform's test system, on a British test menu priced in pounds. On our own internal calls the agent replied a median 1.3 seconds after the caller stopped (the full figures).
See also the US FAQ, Zogu for US restaurants, what Zogu doesn't do and AI phone ordering in the UK.
Questions and answers
Can I keep the phone number that's printed on my menus?
That's the plan: you'd forward your line to your Zogu number. We haven't tried it on a real line, and some carriers hide the caller's number on forwarded calls, so we'd test with your phone company first.
Can callers pay by card over the phone?
No. The agent never asks for a card number. Orders are paid at pickup.
Can I change what the agent says when it picks up?
Yes: the spoken name, greeting, voice (40 English voices), tone and add-on offers. Our team makes the changes for now. Keep the part that says it's an automated assistant.
Does Zogu work with my POS?
It works with Toast, Square, Clover, Oracle MICROS RES 3700 and Foodhub, through our POS integration platform. It reads your menu and hours from your POS and sends orders back the same way.