About ShiftTrained
Built by a 30-Year Restaurant Operator
Terry Psaltakis, Founder & CEO
I'm Terry. I've spent 30 years in restaurants. I've opened more than 20 concepts across multiple markets, from neighborhood spots to fine dining. I built ShiftTrained because I lived the same training problem in every one of them, and the tools available didn't fix it.
Get in touch: terry@shifttrained.com · LinkedIn
Why I Built ShiftTrained
In every restaurant I've ever run, the same pattern repeated. New hire shows up Monday. Hands them a binder. Tells them to read the menu. They don't. By Friday, they're on the floor guessing. Comps go up. Tips go down. Within 90 days, they quit. Repeat.
We tried everything. Pre-shift lectures. Laminated cheat sheets. Stack of training videos that nobody watched. Expensive LMS platforms with course builders nobody had time to fill in. None of it worked at restaurant scale because restaurant scale means “the GM is also doing payroll and inventory and three schedules.”
The actual fix turned out to be simple, just not obvious until AI got cheap. Upload a menu. AI reads it. AI writes a full set of quiz questions in 10 minutes. Staff takes them on their phone in 3-minute bursts. Manager sees scores on a dashboard. By day 5, the new hire knows the menu cold. That's ShiftTrained.
What We Build
ShiftTrained is the AI-native restaurant training platform. Not an LMS with an AI add-on. Not a generic training tool that works for restaurants if you squint. Purpose-built for the restaurant's actual problem, getting staff to know what's on the menu, and fast.
- AI menu parsing, PDF or phone photo of a printed menu
- a full set of quiz questions per menu, generated in 10 minutes
- Mobile-first quiz delivery, no app to install, runs in any phone browser
- Allergen safety review, manager-approved before any question ships
- Per-employee scoring + leaderboards, see who knows the menu and who's faking it
- POS integration, Toast first (launching this month), Square + Clover + Lightspeed to follow
The Company
ShiftTrained, Inc. is a Delaware C-corporation founded in 2025 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. We're a small team with deep restaurant DNA and engineering DNA. Our customers range from single-location independents (Fat Tommy's Grill in Crestwood, Black Barrel Tavern in Chicago's West Loop) to multi-unit chains. We work with operators directly, no enterprise sales theater, no consultant rollouts.
The platform launched April 29, 2026 via wire distribution picked up by AP News, the USA Today network, the National Law Review, and 514+ other outlets total. See the full pickup list on the press page.
Our Proof
Two customer case studies tell the real story:
- Fat Tommy's Grill ran ShiftTrained for one menu cycle. Average check totals went up 11% with zero menu changes, zero price changes, and zero staff additions.
- Black Barrel Tavern ran the same play on their wine list. Wine sales (bottle and by-the-glass combined) went up 34% in the first month. No changes to wine list, pricing, or promotions.
Both stories are linked above with the actual numbers, the named operators, and what they did differently. Our research report documents the methodology and cites Cornell + NRA on the underlying turnover-cost economics.
Contact & Information
ShiftTrained, Inc.
980 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1090 PMB 848340
Chicago, IL 60611
USA
Sales + general: hello@shifttrained.com
Founder direct: terry@shifttrained.com
Follow us across the social platforms via the links in the site footer. For press inquiries or media kit access, see the press page.
“Since we started using ShiftTrained, wine sales for both bottle and by-the-glass are up 34%. The staff is not scared to talk about the wine anymore.”
George G. · Black Barrel · Chicago
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