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AI restaurant research: three dinner options with Arlo
We asked Arlo to research dinner near Roma Termini for four people, with vegetarian food and a €25-per-person budget. Arlo checked official menus, compared three options and saved a shortlist with sources. The research run took 2 minutes 32 seconds; the task recorded $1.12 of allowance usage.
Dinner research can mean switching between maps, menus and opening hours, then doing the maths for everyone’s budget. We gave that job to Arlo through Messages: find three options near Roma Termini and save a shortlist we could use to choose.
Arlo completed the research and saved the file. It compared three places, found vegetarian dishes with listed prices and calculated example food budgets. This was an Arlo team product test on 3 November 2026, using public information.
The brief
Find three restaurants within about a 15-minute walk of Roma Termini for four people on Friday 6 November 2026 at 19:30 Europe/Rome. Aim for €25 per person for food, with a vegetarian main.
We asked Arlo to check the restaurants’ own websites and menus for addresses, dinner hours, dishes and prices. The output needed exact sources, a concise comparison and a saved Markdown file. This was a research task; reservations, purchases and contacting restaurants were outside the brief.
The completed shortlist
Arlo picked La Famiglia for a conventional sit-down dinner, Fresco for convenience inside the station and Sfizio for a more casual meal. Its original saved shortlist includes addresses, walking estimates, opening hours, menu links and budget calculations.
| Restaurant | Example food order | Budget per person |
|---|---|---|
| La Famiglia, Via Gaeta 66 | Tomato-and-basil spaghetti plus tomato bruschetta | €15.68, including its listed 12% service |
| Fresco Terrazza Termini, inside the station | Tomato-and-basil spaghetti plus tomato bruschetta | €18.50, before unverified extras |
| Sfizio 1948, Via Giovanni Giolitti 77 | Tomato with Rice plus Simple Salad | €14.40, before unverified extras |
These are example orders calculated from menu prices, excluding drinks. Arlo distinguished published opening hours from confirmed dinner-kitchen service and noted where seating or extra charges needed checking. Vegetarian suitability was based on listed ingredients. Table availability was outside this research task; nothing was booked.
Instead of keeping three menus and price calculations in your head, you get one saved shortlist with a recommendation, alternatives and links you can check.
Checking the result against the sources
We opened the official sources after Arlo finished and checked the menu prices, published hours and budget arithmetic.
La Famiglia: its official site lists Via Gaeta 66 and daily opening from 12:15 to 23:00. The 2026 menu lists dinner service from 18:00 to 23:00, pasta at €10, tomato bruschetta at €4 and 12% service. Arlo’s calculation matches: (€10 + €4) × 1.12 = €15.68 each, or €62.72 for four ordering the same food.
Fresco: its Termini location page lists 06:00–22:30. Its food menu lists the pasta at €10.50 and bruschetta at €8, matching Arlo’s €18.50 example. The shortlist correctly keeps Friday dinner-kitchen service as something to confirm rather than treating general opening hours as a booking guarantee.
Sfizio: its official site lists the Giolitti address and daily opening from 09:00 to 22:00. Its hot-food menu lists Tomato with Rice at €8.50 and Simple Salad at €5.90, matching the €14.40 example.
The file also contains estimated walking routes from Termini’s main entrance. Our follow-up check covered the official menus, addresses, hours and arithmetic; we did not independently reproduce the routes or check live table inventory.
The actual recorded usage
The task recorded $1.12 of allowance usage. The billing extract shows the spend rows and timestamps, including an entry recorded after the research finished.
| Research execution | Time in Europe/Rome, 3 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Started | 09:45:52 CET |
| Completed | 09:48:24 CET |
Research execution took 2 minutes 32 seconds, rounded to the nearest second. That measures the recorded research run, not message-delivery time.
Usage draws from the account’s allowance. It is separate from a restaurant bill and does not imply a separate $1.12 card transaction. This is one measured task, not a fixed price for future requests. The original research file is preserved as written; we verified billing separately afterward. See how assistant usage and purchases differ.
Give Arlo a research task
A useful brief gives Arlo a place, a date, a budget and the details you need checked. Ask for official sources and a saved comparison, then decide what to do with the result.
Give Arlo your next dinner brief: the area, date, group size, budget and dietary requirements. Ask for official menus and a saved shortlist, then choose where to book. The delegation guide has more tasks you can hand over.
Frequently asked questions
Was this a real Arlo task? Yes. We sent a fresh research request through Messages on 3 November 2026. Arlo completed the research and saved the Markdown shortlist. This was an Arlo team product test.
What did the task cost? The task ledger records $1.12 of allowance usage, including an entry recorded after research execution completed. The linked extract shows the attributed spend rows. This is one task’s recorded usage, not a fixed price or a separate restaurant charge.
What did Arlo include in the shortlist? Three dinner options with addresses, estimated walks, published hours, vegetarian menu examples, food-budget calculations and exact source links. It also marked details that needed confirmation before making a dinner plan.
Did Arlo book a restaurant? This brief asked for research and a saved shortlist. No reservation was requested or made, and live table availability was not checked.