Which table booking software should a restaurant use?
A restaurant needs a booking module tied to its floor plan, not a plain calendar. A calendar says 25 guests arrive at 8pm; a floor plan says whether a table for six is open at that hour.
Short answer
- Look for a booking module with a floor plan that links each booking to a specific table, not only to a number of seats.
- Bookings should live in one list that you can see from the same application.
- Guest confirmations and messages should go out by SMS or WhatsApp through 4notify.
- It should sync with Google Calendar, so bookings also appear in your own diary.
- Contact details in a booking are personal data, to be used only for that booking.
What the software must do
- Show the floor plan with free and booked tables for each time slot.
- Let you choose a table that fits the party, so a table for six is not blocked by two guests.
- Show bookings by day and by time slot, so you can plan the service.
- Send the guest the confirmation and messages by SMS or WhatsApp.
- State the cancellation policy clearly before confirmation, if you have one.
- Live in the same application as the menu and orders, otherwise reception works in two places.
Rules to check where you operate
- Names, phone numbers and emails in a booking are personal data; check how local data protection rules apply and keep them only as long as you need them.
- A reminder for an existing booking is not marketing, but promotional messages may need separate consent, so confirm the local requirements.
- Show cancellation terms before the booking is confirmed, and have any fee wording checked by an adviser.
A practical example
Illustrative example: on a Friday evening a 60-seat restaurant has 25 bookings and some guests do not show up. Each empty table is seats you can no longer sell. Estimate the loss with your own figures: empty tables multiplied by average spend per table.
A calendar or a notebook cannot show which tables are free before the rush. A floor plan shows the available tables at a glance.
Common mistakes
- Using a generic calendar that knows nothing about tables or their sizes.
- Keeping phone bookings in a notebook and online ones elsewhere, so the two never line up.
- Not announcing the cancellation policy before confirmation, which can become a legal risk.
- Not recording bookings that were not honoured, so the same mistake repeats with the same guests.
How 4restaurants.net helps
- The floor plan and bookings sit in the same application as the evening's orders.
- Confirmations and guest messages go out through 4notify, by SMS or WhatsApp.
- Bookings can sync with Google Calendar, so you also see them in your own diary.