Recommendations - The Basics

Overview

Recommendations are made up of two main components that work together to shape what guests see and how those suggestions are generated:

• Recommendation Settings (Org level settings) – The component that manages the guest-facing experience. These settings control where recommendations appear (pane, menu, cart, checkout), how upsells are presented (combos, modifiers, add-ons), and how often prompts are shown.
• Bite Lift (Site level setting) – The component that drives the behind-the-scenes intelligence. It uses rules (conditions and effects) to decide when recommendations should trigger and what items are included or excluded. Rules can be grouped into variations to build strategies and test different approaches.

Together, these components give operators both the front-end control to shape the guest journey and the back-end logic to ensure recommendations are relevant, effective, and aligned with brand goals.

Recommendations Settings

Guest recommendation in menu visibility

Thsi applies to when a guest is viewing a menu item .

 

Number of upsell items to show at checkout

Defines how many upsell suggestions are shown on the checkout screen (numeric value).

Show in-cart upsell

When enabled, upsell suggestions will also display inside the cart view (before checkout).

Show at-checkout upsell

When enabled, the system will present upsell suggestions to the guest after tapping the Checkout button.

Use previously ordered item mods as recommendations for recommended items

If enabled, the system remembers previously chosen modifiers (like extra cheese, sauces, toppings) and suggests those again automatically for similar recommended items.

Upsell modifiers

If checked, the system can upsell item modifiers (e.g., suggest premium toppings/add-ons as upsells).

Combo Upsell

Enables upsell prompts to encourage guests to upgrade their order into a combo (e.g., “Make it a meal with fries + drink”).

<aside>

Show price difference

If enabled, the system shows the extra cost when upselling (e.g., “+ $2.50 to upgrade to a combo”).

Prompt upsell for combo builder

When enabled, guests are prompted with upsell options while building a combo (e.g., add dessert or premium drink).

Max prompt count

Sets the maximum number of times the system will show upsell prompts to a guest during their order.

• 0 usually means unlimited (will always prompt).
• Any other number limits the number of prompts accordingly. </aside>

Bite Lift

Recommendation Rules

Rules are specific recommendation setups made of a condition (the “if”) and an effect (the “then”). Together, they define exactly when and how certain items are recommended to guests.

Recommendation Variations

Variations are collections of rules. They combine custom rules with the standard recommendation rules to create different recommendation strategies that can be tested or applied as needed.

Conditions

Conditions are the requirements that must be met before a rule is triggered. They define the “when” — such as guest behavior, order type, or other parameters. In the screenshot above, after a selection has been made for the Condition, items must be specified. This is not always the case and is determined by the selected Condition. Other selections are as follows:

Condition	What it Means
Custom	A manually defined condition (rarely used).
Dietary restrictions applied	Only applies if the guest has set dietary filters (e.g., vegetarian, gluten-free).
Is cart view	Triggers when the guest is viewing their cart.
Is pre-checkout popup	Triggers when the pre-checkout upsell popup is shown.
Menu section is recommendation pane	Triggers when the dedicated recommendation pane is being viewed.
None	No condition — rule always applies.
One of menu items are in cart	If any of the specified items are in the cart, the effect triggers.
One of menu items are selected item or in cart	If the guest selects or already has any of the specified items in the cart, the effect triggers.
One of menu items is selected item	If the guest selects one of the specified items, the effect triggers.
One of menu sections are in cart	If the cart contains an item from one of the specified sections (e.g., Drinks, Desserts).
One of menu sections are selected item or in cart	If the guest selects or has an item in their cart from a specified section.
One of menu sections is selected item	If the guest selects an item from one of the specified sections.
Condition	What it Means
Custom	A manually defined condition (rarely used).
Dietary restrictions applied	Only applies if the guest has set dietary filters (e.g., vegetarian, gluten-free).
Is cart view	Triggers when the guest is viewing their cart.
Is pre-checkout popup	Triggers when the pre-checkout upsell popup is shown.
Menu section is recommendation pane	Triggers when the dedicated recommendation pane is being viewed.
None	No condition — rule always applies.
One of menu items are in cart	If any of the specified items are in the cart, the effect triggers.
One of menu items are selected item or in cart	If the guest selects or already has any of the specified items in the cart, the effect triggers.
One of menu items is selected item	If the guest selects one of the specified items, the effect triggers.
One of menu sections are in cart	If the cart contains an item from one of the specified sections (e.g., Drinks, Desserts).
One of menu sections are selected item or in cart	If the guest selects or has an item in their cart from a specified section.
One of menu sections is selected item	If the guest selects an item from one of the specified sections.

Effects

Effects are the results of rules being met. They define the “what happens” — like which items get recommended, which items are hidden, or how suggestions are prioritized.

Effect	What it Means
Do not recommend alcoholic or other menu category items	Excludes alcohol or other specified categories.
Do not recommend items	Excludes specific items you choose.
Do not recommend items in cart	Prevents recommending items already in the cart.
Do not recommend items in same section as selected item	Blocks items from the same section as the one just chosen.
Do not recommend items in same section in cart	Excludes items from the same section as items already in the cart.
Do not recommend items in section	Excludes items from specified sections.
Do not recommend items with $0 price	Prevents free items from being recommended.
Do not recommend items with dietary restriction	Blocks items that don’t match guest’s dietary preferences.
Do not recommend selected item	Stops the just-selected item from being recommended again.
Heuristics v2	Uses smarter system logic for generating recommendations.
Menu Item Affinity	Suggests items often ordered together.
Recommend guest favorite items	Promotes the guest’s favorites.
Recommend guest predictions on previously ordered items	Predicts items the guest may want based on past orders.
Recommend guest previously ordered items	Suggests items the guest has ordered before.
Recommend items	General recommendations, no restrictions.
Recommend items from preferred category	Suggests items from categories the guest likes.
Recommend items in section	Suggests items from a specified section (e.g., Drinks, Desserts).
Recommend modifiers	Suggests add-ons or upgrades (e.g., toppings, sauces).
Recommend only items with dietary preference	Limits suggestions to items matching dietary filters.
Sort items in section	Displays recommended items in a set order.
Sort items in sections randomly	Shuffles recommended items randomly within sections.
Effect	What it Means
Do not recommend alcoholic or other menu category items	Excludes alcohol or other specified categories.
Do not recommend items	Excludes specific items you choose.
Do not recommend items in cart	Prevents recommending items already in the cart.
Do not recommend items in same section as selected item	Blocks items from the same section as the one just chosen.
Do not recommend items in same section in cart	Excludes items from the same section as items already in the cart.
Do not recommend items in section	Excludes items from specified sections.
Do not recommend items with $0 price	Prevents free items from being recommended.
Do not recommend items with dietary restriction	Blocks items that don’t match guest’s dietary preferences.
Do not recommend selected item	Stops the just-selected item from being recommended again.
Heuristics v2	Uses smarter system logic for generating recommendations.
Menu Item Affinity	Suggests items often ordered together.
Recommend guest favorite items	Promotes the guest’s favorites.
Recommend guest predictions on previously ordered items	Predicts items the guest may want based on past orders.
Recommend guest previously ordered items	Suggests items the guest has ordered before.
Recommend items	General recommendations, no restrictions.
Recommend items from preferred category	Suggests items from categories the guest likes.
Recommend items in section	Suggests items from a specified section (e.g., Drinks, Desserts).
Recommend modifiers	Suggests add-ons or upgrades (e.g., toppings, sauces).
Recommend only items with dietary preference	Limits suggestions to items matching dietary filters.
Sort items in section	Displays recommended items in a set order.
Sort items in sections randomly	Shuffles recommended items randomly within sections.

This configuration controls how many items are displayed for the specific recommendation rule that’s being configured.

Post Menu Item Add To Cart Upsell

This feature allows the system to upsell a menu item's modifier that was not previously selected before attempting to add the menu item to the cart.  As shown in the example above, the "Add Crab Cake" modifier has been selected to display once the guest adds the "Sonoran Bowl" to their cart, provided the guest did not previously select the "Add Crab Cake" modifier when customizing the menu item. Once the guest taps the "Add" button, a modal is displayed with the configured modifier as an upsell option: