How The Mudpuppy Used AI Menu Engineering to Grow Restaurant Sales

Amir Harpaz, owner of The Mudpuppy at Cherokee Outdoor Resort, joins Hospitality Hangout live from SpotOn Studios at the National Restaurant Association Show to share how a seasonal lakeside restaurant in Tennessee became a real-world case study in restaurant AI, menu engineering, and operational efficiency. The Mudpuppy is a dockside restaurant on Tellico Lake known for hot food, cold drinks, live music, boat-friendly dining, seafood, burgers, cocktails, and a laid-back lakefront experience. But behind the fun is a highly data-driven operator using technology to improve the business. Amir explains how he and his team built Menu Mind, an AI-powered menu optimization tool trained on menu psychology research. Instead of raising prices, The Mudpuppy used AI to rethink menu layout, item placement, descriptions, visual presentation, and ordering behavior. According to Amir, the result was a major year-over-year sales lift with similar guest counts, proving that better menu design can have a real impact on restaurant performance. Episode Credits:Produced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: Three Cheers Creativewww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.