Few topics polarize the restaurant operators and consumers like dynamic pricing, the practice of using technology like artificial intelligence to adjust menu item costs based on analysis of real-time data.
At its best, dynamic pricing could automatically pass operational savings directly to guests. In less positively viewed cases, it can be used as a tool to maximize restaurant profits, for example, by steadily increasing ice cream prices to match demand as temperatures rise.
While consumers have grown accustomed to dynamic pricing as the norm for ridesharing apps and plane tickets, research has long indicated that they are less willing to see the tactic on restaurant menus.
According to a 2024 HungerRush survey, more than 80 percent of consumers reported they would rather change mealtimes or skip dining out altogether than pay surge or dynamic price increases. Meanwhile, 2026 restaurant owner and operator data from Popmenu found that 44 percent of respondents had adopted AI at their restaurants, 25 percent planned to adopt AI in 2026 and 42 percent planned to automate more functions.
As AI becomes more prevalent in restaurants, dynamic pricing grows increasingly accessible and, oftentimes, tempting for operators. Still, brands have faced significant backlash from consumers after implementing such price-altering tactics, like Wendy’s in 2024.
With the rapid advancement and accessibility of AI colliding with consumer trends demanding price transparency and menu fairness, Food On Demand staff asked restaurant industry experts for their perspectives on dynamic pricing at the 2026 National Restaurant Association Show, May 16, in Chicago.
Question: What role do you predict dynamic pricing will play in the restaurant industry?
Chad Moutray
Chad Moutray is the chief economist at the National Restaurant Association, which reportedly boasts 40,000 members representing nearly 500,000 foodservice establishments.
Answer: “It’s always important to lean into consumers in terms of where they are. Dynamic pricing is something that has happened for a while, but it’s not something that is inevitable. There is certainly a lot of controversy to it. At the end of the day, I think restaurants need to be able to deliver value, and value means going where the customer is. That’s a conversation about price, and sometimes it’s a conversation about the overall experience. When you go out to eat, you’re looking for more than just price; you’re looking for great food, great service and a friendly restaurant — all of those things that play into the overall price. Yet, we still also have a consumer who is very stressed. So, I think what you’re seeing with that dynamism is more (about): How can I make sure I’m delivering a good price and the customer is still walking away feeling that they get a great value? You’re seeing a lot of real tension there about how (restaurants) can deliver on that value conversation.… Most restaurants have printed menus, so it’s hard to do dynamic pricing that you can change the price during the day. … Right now. I think we’re in a world where you just don’t have that dynamism in that way, but you can offer it in other ways. I think where you’re seeing dynamic pricing is (with) technology, (like) loyalty apps. If I know you haven’t come into my restaurant in a certain period of time. I’ll say, ‘Hey, where are you?’ A little personalized promotion.”
David Henkes
David Henkes has 30 years of experience as an advisory group senior principal at Technomic Inc., a research firm focused on the foodservice and food and beverage industries.
Answer: “I think dynamic pricing has a bad reputation among consumers because they feel that it’s a way to be gouged, and a menu price should be a menu price. But you’re already seeing, as more things become digital and more things shift to third-party delivery apps and even first-party apps, it gives operators more of an opportunity to adjust the price in probably subtle ways. Pricing is a huge issue right now for consumers because, as I’ve mentioned, we’ve got an affordability crisis in restaurants. So, anything that is even perceived to impact the price or raise the price is going to be an automatic turn-off for customers or guests. I think you have to tread lightly when you do it. Restaurants are looking at every tool available to them to try to enhance their margins and stay afloat with whatever they can. Pricing is the first lever they always pull, but I think you just have to be very careful about it, because consumers will find out. There’s already a lot of dynamic pricing in just about everything consumers buy, from airline tickets to hotels. … If restaurants do it, they’ve just got to tread lightly and know that there’s a possibility for backlash, either from consumers finding out or just from higher prices, because dynamic pricing always goes up, right? It’s not like dynamic pricing generally goes down, although I guess happy hour is in some ways a type of dynamic pricing, too.”
Kevin Bryla
Kevin Bryla is the chief marketing officer and head of customer experience at software and payment company SpotOn Transact Inc.
Answer: “I can’t think of one consumer who has a positive feeling about dynamic pricing. … Generally, there’s that bias. I think people who buy airplane tickets feel the same way. It erodes a bit of the trust you have with the provider if you feel like they’re exploiting you at your time of need. That’s not to say that it’s not something that will be accepted over time, but generally speaking, when you talk about an independent operator in a restaurant — where we operate in that 20 (location) or less space — their relationship with their customer is so personal and so sensitive that dynamic pricing like that is very hard, even increasing prices for them is hard emotionally. … When you’re really struggling to get that discretionary restaurant dollar and (consumers) have options in (their) town, and you’re the one that introduces dynamic pricing, would you remain as the top option? … If you look at any successful restaurant, the repeat diner makes or breaks the restaurant; it’s not the person who goes once a quarter. (It’s) the person who has the weekly or the monthly routine and goes, the regulars that make it. Imagine if you’re running a family restaurant and you rely on your regulars, and now they don’t know what they’re going to pay.”
