Palona AI
Palona is a set of AI agents for restaurants. An ordering agent answers calls, texts, email and chat and sends orders to the POS, a catering agent qualifies large inquiries and alerts a manager, and two analytics products report on missed demand and on what security cameras show. It is sold to multi-location restaurant brands on a quote basis.
Last reviewed
- Best for
- Restaurant brands losing calls to voicemail, Restaurants that take catering orders
- Pricing
- Quote only
Who it is for
Restaurant brands losing calls to voicemail
The ordering agent answers phone, text, email and chat around the clock and puts orders into the POS.
Restaurants that take catering orders
The catering agent runs a dedicated catering line, builds an order to the party size and budget, and texts the manager.
Multi-location groups
Revenue Intelligence compares demand and conversion across locations; the vendor's examples cover groups of 12 or more sites.
Toast users
The vendor says most Toast operators go live within a few days and calls itself an official Toast partner.
What it does
AI phone, text, email and chat ordering
Takes orders including items, modifiers and pickup time on several channels, at any hour.
Orders sent to the POS
Orders are sent to the restaurant's existing POS so staff do not re-enter them, with no new hardware.
Payment link by text
Texts the guest a payment link so the order is paid before pickup.
Brand voice cloning
Matches the restaurant's voice on calls and its tone in written replies.
Human handoff
Passes the guest to staff with the conversation context when a person is needed.
Multilingual answering
Operates in English, Spanish and Mandarin, with more languages on request.
Spam and robocall screening
Filters junk calls so staff are not interrupted.
Reservation and menu questions
Answers questions about menu, hours and reservations and books reservations.
Catering agent
Handles catering inquiries by phone, text, web form and email, builds an order to the head count and budget, and texts the finished brief to the catering manager.
Revenue Intelligence
Reports demand, conversion and high-value inquiries by location, daypart and channel from conversations, and answers plain-language questions.
Operations Intelligence
Reads existing security cameras in chosen areas such as the prep line or dining room and sends alerts on line length, table resets and food handling to the manager on shift.
Pricing
- Pricing model
- Quote only
No prices are published. The FAQ says pricing depends on the number of locations, call volume, product scope and integrations, and that per-seat plans are not published. The pricing page is a demo booking page.
How it compares
Compared with the 12 products in Voice AI & Phone Ordering that have a profile on this site. These figures describe the category. They are not a recommendation.
- Names 8 integrations. The median in this category is 7.
- The category's 10 most-named integration partners are Olo, OpenTable, Square, Toast, Clover, Resy, SevenRooms, NCR Aloha, Checkmate, Deliverect. Of these, this product's listing names Olo, OpenTable, Square, Toast, Resy.
Works with
- Other
- Olo
The FAQ says Toast (official partner), Adora and Yelp Reservations are active, and Olo and Square are in progress; it does not say which of OpenTable, Resy and MiniTable are live. Voice AI works with any phone system through a Palona number that forwards or replaces the existing line.
Where and how it runs
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Mandarin
- Hardware
- No new hardware for ordering. Operations Intelligence uses the security cameras already installed.
The vendor does not state where it sells.
The company
- Company
- Proactive AI Lab, Inc.
- Founders
- Maria Zhang, Tim Howes, Steve Liu
- Funding
- Funding round (not named on the page), $20 million, August 2026
- Customers named by the vendor
- Pizza Guys, Pepper Lunch, Friedman's Hospitality, Cali BBQ, Handcraft Burgers
Security and support
- Security and compliance
- Encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access, DPA available (no certification named)
- Support
- The vendor says it handles configuration, voice training and menu setup during onboarding.
Listing details
- Vendor
- Palona
- Headquarters
- United States
- Built for
- Restaurants, Cafés, Bars
- Focus
- Food-specific
- Status
- Active
- Website
- palona.ai
Alternatives to Palona AI
See all 14 in Voice AI & Phone OrderingHostie
Hostie is an AI virtual concierge that answers a restaurant's phone calls, texts and emails.
Names 11 integrations, against 8 for Palona AI.
VOICEplug
VOICEplug sells voice AI to restaurants.
Names 12 integrations, against 8 for Palona AI.
Virnika
Virnika sells AI phone agents to restaurants.
Listed as best for: Restaurants that miss phone orders at peak; Pizza and takeout restaurants with heavy phone trade.
Certus AI
Certus AI is a voice AI phone agent for restaurants that answers calls, takes orders item by item, handles reservations and sends orders into the restaurant's POS.
Names 6 integrations, against 8 for Palona AI.
Compare Palona AI
What we could not confirm
These points were not confirmed when this page was written.
- Prices and contract terms
- Headquarters, founding year and headcount
- Countries where it is sold
- Funding investors and round name
- Which reservation integrations are live
Sources
Facts on this page come from the pages below, checked on 29 September 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm with the vendor before you buy.
- Homepage: products, integrations, customershttps://www.palona.ai/
- Ordering agent features and languageshttps://www.palona.ai/ordering-agent
- Catering agenthttps://www.palona.ai/catering-agent
- Revenue Intelligencehttps://www.palona.ai/revenue-intelligence
- Operations Intelligencehttps://www.palona.ai/operations-intelligence
- Pricing, integrations, security, onboardinghttps://www.palona.ai/faq
- Founders and teamhttps://www.palona.ai/about
- Funding headlinehttps://www.palona.ai/media
- Demo booking page, no priceshttps://www.palona.ai/pricing