How do restaurant owners curate a menu that is filled with Instagramable bites and savory dishes that will keep people coming in and grabbing a seat?
Ultimately, it takes a lot of data, says entrepreneur Sunny Khamkar.
And Khamkar, the co-founder and CEO behind the startup MenuData, is ready to give restaurants that data. As its name suggests, MenuData provides restaurant operators and food distributors insights into upcoming menu trends and innovations that could impact their business. The platform can be described as a “ChatGPT for Food and Beverage.” It uses generative AI features to help users monitor cutting-edge foods, ingredients, and concepts from across social media, menus, and the wider restaurant world, helping them understand trends tied to geographic and demographic data. This helps brands discover fresh new opportunities for their menus.
Khamkar likened food and menu movements — be it the rise of the mocktail or Nashville-style hot chicken — to what we see across the music of fashion industries.
“Trends really start at the fringes,” he told Hypepotamus. New concepts might emerge anywhere, from Michelin chefs to food trucks to pop-up restaurants. Trends ultimately end up in fine dining restaurants and fast casual chains, but those operators need to keep ahead of trends if they want to bring in more customers.”
MenuData tracks thousands of menu items, flavors, and ingredients to identify emerging trends on the “menu adoption curve,” Khamkar told Hypepotamus.
These “rich, more interesting insights” can give important data to international brands, supermarkets, fast food chains, as well as sales and marketing departments…all of which are looking for insights into what items to stock up on, added Khamkar. Currently, MenuData has attracted some of the largest food and beverage brands in the US as customers.
Skim The Menu
Getting menu items right is essential for the restaurant world. Given the historic lack of data available in the industry, the reality is that upwards of 80% of CPG (consumer packaged goods) product launches fail to gain lasting traction.
While working in the Bay Area, Khamkar discovered this data problem firsthand. After graduating with his master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, Khamkar joined a San Francisco-based machine learning startup called CrowdFlower (now Figure Eight). While living in the Bay Area, he met many chefs and fell in love with the artistry around the culinary world. But he also realized how little data is available to chefs, restaurant operators, and others across the food scene, which helped launch the early concepts behind MenuData.
MenuData’s team today includes five full-time employees.
RestaurantTech In The Southeast
While the startup launched and grew initially in San Francisco, the team has strategically moved to the Southeast to grow.
The MenuData team was introduced to Brickyard, the Chattanooga-based VC and “insulator,” after going through Techstars. In January of 2025, Khamkar moved to Gig City in order to join Brickyard’s program.
MenuData joins a strong list of Southeast-based tech companies building tools to improve how restaurant, bars, and other hospitality spots do business. Others to note include: Popmenu (Atlanta), Ekos (Charlotte), Coursini (Atlanta), Croux (Birmingham), sunday (Atlanta), TabX (Birmingham), Tabbi (Greenville), WineView (Birmingham), Pye (Birmingham), and FrontHouz (Atlanta).