Pal-atable Idea

Imagine sitting in a restaurant where you’ve never eaten, looking at a menu you’ve never seen and perusing a wine list that has words you’ve never read, let alone said out loud. It’s intimidating, it’s nerve-wracking and, for so many people, it’s something best avoided.

Conor Dowler ’24 saw that scenario plenty growing up. His parents made careers in restaurant service, management and ownership. That environment is a second home to him. He was raised to read a dining room and understand what a customer needed before they even knew it themselves. It also led him to a passion for good food, good experiences and good wine.

That passion grew as the business major approached graduation in 2024 and what he learned at Furman University immediately went from vision to reality in the form of Palate Pal.

Conor Dowler ’24 pitches his business idea for Palate Pal during Paladin Pitch in the Watkins Room of the Trone Student Center. Photo by Nathan Gray.

A Spark at Furman

When Dowler enrolled in an entrepreneurship class at Furman, he didn’t expect to create a business that would begin changing the way people interact with wine lists at restaurants.He simply followed his interest in marketing and then followed a hunch.

As part of the course, his class visited a local wine shop in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. The owner shared his struggles with digital marketing, and Dowler started thinking about ways technology could support small, independently owned shops. One idea led to another.

“I was thinking, I wish there was a way I could just go on a website and say, ‘I’m having filet tonight, what wine should I get?’” Dowler says. “You can Google pairings, but then it’s like, OK, where do I find that bottle? And will I even like it?”

Dowler envisioned something more intuitive, more interactive and a lot more personal. The idea for Palate Pal was born.

Turning a Problem into a Platform

At its core, Palate Pal is a wine recommendation engine for restaurants that uses a short survey, Dowler’s own experience and artificial intelligence to suggest wines based on what a customer ordered and the restaurant’s wine list. After scanning a QR code at the table, diners answer a handful of tailored questions: Are they ordering lunch or dinner? A glass or a bottle? Do they prefer red or white? Are they eating seafood, steak, pasta or something else entirely?

Palate Pal then generates three personalized wine recommendations, including tasting notes, food pairings and even pronunciation help. The goal is to make wine lists more accessible and less intimidating.

“This was a personal problem I was trying to solve,” Dowler says. “Even growing up around wine, I’d go out to eat, look at a wine list and feel completely unsure. I built Palate Pal for people like me; people who want to enjoy wine but don’t always know where to start.”

Dowler made it clear early on that he wasn’t trying to replace sommeliers or override restaurant expertise. In fact, he believes Palate Pal can assist both when customers feel a little better about speaking up on their preferences.

“What I’m trying to do is give people a little confidence,” he says. “Let them feel good about ordering wine, whether they’re new to it or just looking for something different.”

Palate Pal uses the wine list and menu of partner restaurants and pairs each to the users tastes and cravings. Photo by Jeremy Fleming ’08.

Refining Through the Pitch

Dowler began to develop the business more seriously during Furman’s 2024 Paladin Pitch competition, hosted by the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. His idea earned the Crowd Choice award, and more importantly, it gave him valuable feedback and direction.

“They really helped me treat it like a real business,” he says. “You don’t just show up and pitch. You work through your idea, answer hard questions, refine your plan. It made me want to keep going.”

By the time he graduated, Dowler had built a functioning demo, assembled a database of wines and restaurant menus, and launched beta tests with local restaurants. And he did it all in between managing a coffee shop in Charleston, South Carolina, and driving back to the Upstate for client pitches.

One of the first people he pitched the idea to outside of Furman was longtime family friend and restaurateur Bill Nickas, owner and executive chef of Sullivan’s Metropolitan Grill in Anderson, South Carolina.

Testing the Vision

Nickas listened to Dowler’s pitch over coffee and was intrigued. “I really think you’re on to something,” he told him.

After a second meeting and a working demo, Nickas agreed to a three-month pilot at Sullivan’s. Nickas says the idea “was simple and smart.”

Nickas, a veteran in the restaurant industry, understood the challenge Palate Pal was designed to solve. “Wine still intimidates people,” he says. “Even though people are more relaxed about rules – like red with meat, white with fish – they still feel unsure. Some don’t want to ask the server because they don’t know how to describe what they like.”

The pilot worked. Customers began using the tool. Staff got excited. And Nickas signed on for another six-month commitment.

“We’re definitely seeing an increase in wine sales,” he says. “And our servers like it, too. It frees them up during a busy night and gives them a new way to interact with guests.”

Conor Dowler ’24 shows client and owner
of Sullivan’s Metropolitan Grill, Bill Nickas,
some options on the Palate Pal app. Photo by Jeremy Fleming ’08.

Building Toward the Future

Since the launch, Dowler has rolled out Palate Pal at a handful of restaurants and is in talks with more across the Carolinas. He’s working on improving functionality, particularly around instantaneous feedback so customers no longer need to receive suggestions by email. He also hopes to develop the app for Apple’s App Store and Google Play, add wine-tracking features and expand into beer and cocktail recommendations.

Palate Pal also provides back-end data for restaurants, showing what customers are choosing, what they’re pairing with meals and what characteristics they prefer. Dowler believes that information is something restaurants could use more of.

“There’s so much potential,” Dowler says. “It’s not just about wine anymore. It’s about creating a smart, seamless dining experience, and one that benefits both the guest and the restaurant.”