Work out food quantities and costs for catered events with ChatGPT to cut over-production
Christie's, described by the Houston Chronicle as Houston's oldest restaurant, with general manager Maria Christie
The restaurant uses ChatGPT to calculate food quantities and costs for events.
ChatGPT Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo
Easy · or we do it from $149/mo
ChatGPT
The problem
Estimating how much food to make for events led to overproduction and food waste.
What happened
General manager Maria Christie says it helps reduce overproduction and food waste. No figures are given.
Quoted in the source: Maria Christie, general manager, Christie's. Source: Houston Chronicle: How Houston restaurants are using AI to save time and money (Sonia Garcia) (2025-09-15) · Added 2026-10-17.
How to set it up yourself
- What Christie's does: it uses ChatGPT to calculate food quantities and costs for events. The article doesn't describe the exact setup; the steps below are a DIY version.
- Write down your own portion sizes and current ingredient costs for your catering menu (for example ounces of protein per guest, sides per guest, cost per pound). In ChatGPT, select New project in the sidebar and upload that sheet.
- For each event, paste the guest count, menu and service style into a new chat in the project with the prompt below and ask for a quantities and cost table.
- Compare its numbers with what you actually used at the last few events and adjust your portion sheet, so the estimates get closer each time. A chef still signs off on the final order.
Copy-paste prompt
Using my portion and cost sheet, plan food for an event at {RESTAURANT NAME}: {GUEST COUNT} guests, {SERVICE STYLE, e.g. buffet or plated}, menu: {MENU ITEMS}, event length {HOURS}. Give a table with each item, portion per guest, total quantity to prep, raw ingredients to order, and cost. Add the total food cost and cost per guest. Show the math, and note where you assumed something not in my sheet.One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Tools used
ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
From Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (checked 2026-10-17)
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Checked prices: ChatGPT: from Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (verified 2026-10-17)
Rather not do it yourself?
We'll set this up in your tools, in your voice, tested. $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. Terms. We reply within 1 business day.
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