Restaurant Operations
How to Build a Better Restaurant Waitlist
A good waitlist takes only the details you need — a name, the party size and a way to reach the guest — gives an honest wait, calls guests in a fair order, and lets them wait somewhere other than your doorway. It also records what happened: who was seated, who left, who never came back. That record is what lets your wait quotes get better over time.
Ask only what you need
- A name you can call out, and the party size.
- A way to reach them, if they will wait away from the door: a phone number they agree to be called on.
- A short note for seating needs: a high chair, a step-free table, outside if possible.
- Nothing else. Each extra field is a reason to walk away.
Quote waits you can keep
Guests forgive a long wait more readily than a broken promise. Base the quote on what is actually happening — how many parties are ahead, which tables are on dessert, how long people waited earlier tonight — and round up rather than down. If the wait grows, tell people before they come to ask.
Keep the order fair, and explain exceptions
First come, first served is the default guests understand. Party size is the usual exception: an empty table for two can go to a couple who arrived after a group of six. That is fine, but say so — "your table needs to be one of the big ones" — so nobody feels skipped.
Let guests wait somewhere else
- Let guests join the list themselves, from a code at the door, so they do not have to queue to join the queue.
- Show them their place, so they can decide whether to stay or take a walk.
- When the table is nearly ready, call them — out loud if they are close, by phone if they are not.
- Give them a few minutes to come back before moving to the next party, and tell them how long.
Handle no-shows without drama
- After the agreed time, mark the party as a no-show and seat the next.
- If they turn up later, put them at the front of the list if it was a short delay — a little grace keeps goodwill.
- Look at no-shows by hour: if many guests leave at the same time of evening, your quotes at that hour are probably too optimistic.
Measure and adjust
- How many parties joined, were seated, cancelled or did not come back.
- How long seated parties actually waited, compared with what they were told.
- Which hours build a list at all — those are the hours to staff the door.
The waitlist is one of three places queues form; see how to reduce restaurant queues for the counter and the bill.
A waitlist with Thmenu
Thmenu's waitlist opens when reservations are switched on. Walk-ins join from your menu with their name, party size, an optional phone number and a note, and see their place in the queue; joining twice with the same number returns the same entry, and staff get a notification when someone joins. Staff can add walk-ins themselves and see the open list oldest first, with today's seated count and the typical wait. Each party moves from waiting to called, then to seated, no-show or cancelled. Thmenu does not send text messages: "called" records that staff called the guest, out loud or by phone.