Oct 18, 2026 · 5 min read
Most Indian restaurants still take bookings on the phone and write them in a register. It works until Saturday night, when the register says table 6 is free, the floor says it is not, and a family of eight is waiting at the door with no idea how long it will be.
Give guests a booking link of your own
An online booking page that belongs to your restaurant — not a marketplace — lets guests book at midnight without calling. Share it on Instagram, Google and WhatsApp, or print it as a QR at the entrance. Guests choose a date, a time slot from your service hours and the party size, and confirm with a one-time code on their phone so you know the number is real.
If you run more than one dining space, guests should be able to choose where they would like to sit.
One timeline at the host stand
Phone bookings and walk-ins go into the same system. A day timeline shows every booking against your real tables, so you can see gaps, move a party, or seat two tables together for a big group. Bookings due soon should show as badges on the table screen, so stewards don’t seat a walk-in on a held table.
A waitlist that does the calling
- ✓Add walk-ins with a quoted wait — or let guests join the waitlist from your link
- ✓Message the guest when the table is ready instead of shouting names
- ✓Mark no-shows and cancellations so you learn which slots to overbook
- ✓When the party sits, the order on that table links to their booking
Why WhatsApp, and why your own number
Guests read WhatsApp far more reliably than email or SMS. The messages that matter — booking confirmed, a reminder before the visit, your table is ready — should come from your restaurant’s own WhatsApp Business number so guests see your name and can reply to you, and only to guests who agreed to receive them.
How BistroBot does it
BistroBot Reservations & Waitlist includes the online booking page, the day timeline, table badges, the waitlist and booking reports. Connect your WhatsApp Business account and confirmations, reminders and table-ready messages go out automatically; without it, staff send the same message in one tap. Bookings keep working on the offline hub. It is part of the Gourmet plan, for restaurants, fine dining, cafés, bars and hotel restaurants.