The restaurant industry has been infused with a lot of new technology in the last decade. Many restaurants now provide their menus via QR code, enabling diners to order from their phone and in different languages. You might even be shown to your table or have your food brought to you by a robot. Automation helps restaurant owners save costs, but could be at the cost of providing a warm, personal experience for the patron.
AI facial recognition technology can help personalize the dining experience, increase customer loyalty, and even help optimize restaurant efficiency. Fast-food establishments can also take advantage of facial recognition, integrating it into interactive kiosks. It can even provide safer and more secure work environments for employees by connecting access control, time and attendance, and payment systems.
Facial recognition technology is an impactful tool that allows restaurants to create personalized experiences for loyal customers, and encourage first-time guests to return. Customers can opt-into a loyalty program using facial recognition. Opted-in diners can setup profiles listing foods they dislike, foods they are allergic to, their date of birth and other personal information. As they enter the restaurant and their face is recognized by cameras, the system can alert staff of what they ate previously or how they like their steak cooked. This non-intrusive approach enables staff to know that Mr. Jameson likes his burger cooked rare, without pickles and onions, or they can notify Mrs. Heisenberg that the Chef Salad’s dressing has walnuts that she is allergic to. No membership card needs to be pulled out and scanned, and best of all, this would work for restaurants across multiple locations. Regardless of location or prior history with the staff, the customer will receive the same quality personal level of service.
The majority of fast-food chains have implemented self-service kiosks in their restaurants to reduce lines at the counter. Facial recognition technology turns these kiosks into interactive experiences by recognizing loyalty program members and presenting personalized menu options for them based on past orders.
Facial recognition also provides fast-food restaurants with real-time age demographic information. FaceMe®’s age estimation feature has been rated to within 3.282 years accurate (based on testing by NIST). Restaurants can automatically adjust digital signage advertisements in real-time, adjusting promotions based on the current in-store customers. Restaurants that sell alcohol can also use age estimation in their self-service kiosks to check customer age and ensure a smooth check-out process, without needing a staff member to come check ID.
So far we have focused primarily on customer experience, but facial recognition offers many benefits for employees and management too. Advanced technologies like FaceMe® can simplify employee clocking-in/out by instantly recording time and attendance. Cameras placed in areas where mask-wearing is mandatory, such as kitchens, can be connected to FaceMe® to ensure compliance. Additionally, FaceMe® is accurate with masked faces and can identify kitchen staff wearing masks for access control. This is critical when their hands are full and they need to enter an area with facial recognition access control, such as the meat freezer.
With facial recognition integrated into the restaurant’s time and attendance system, it can be used to simplify employee purchases. Instead of using cash, credit card, or other means of purchase, the employee can use their face to verify a purchase and have that amount deducted from their paycheck. It’s easy, effortless, and efficient. It’s also being used by Japan’s CAC Corporation inside their internal Ministop Pocket employee store.
Several facial recognition solutions are available to help restaurants meet customer and employee needs for safe, smart, and customized dining experiences.
FaceMe® SDK is a facial recognition engine that can be embedded into existing AIoT solutions such as restaurant kiosks, tablets, and POS systems to create personalized and efficient customer experiences. It can also be deployed on a variety of IoT devices including high-end workstations, PC’s, mobile devices, and access control devices.
FaceMe® Security is an easy-to-deploy software solution that adds facial recognition to existing surveillance systems and IP cameras. It can identify opted-in loyalty customers, clock-in/out employees, flag blocklisted individuals, and send real-time alerts to restaurant management. It also works with access control systems to restrict entry to verified and authorized people.
Restaurants are only one sector of the hospitality industry. The same benefits that facial recognition technology brings to restaurant loyalty programs can easily apply to lodging, entertainment, travel, and more. Personalizing experiences with facial recognition improves customer satisfaction, ensuring a more enjoyable experience and high customer retention.
Read our ultimate guide on facial recognition for a complete overview of facial recognition, how it works, and how to deploy it. For other facial recognition use cases, check out the Top 5 Face Recognition Applications in 2025.
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