Managing Table Reservations
Reservations let you record and track table bookings for your restaurant, café, or venue — by date, time, party size, and table. You take the reservation (by phone, WhatsApp, or in person) and add it to the system so nothing slips through the cracks.
1. Reservations vs online bookings
The Reservations feature is for manually logging table bookings that come in via phone or WhatsApp. You're the one entering the details — it's your internal record-keeping tool. The Online Bookings system (a separate feature) is for customers who self-schedule by visiting your booking page and picking a slot themselves. Both can be active at the same time: you use reservations for phone-in customers and the booking page for online ones.
2. Set up your tables first
Before adding reservations, define your tables in the Tables section. Give each table a name or number that matches your floor plan (e.g. "Table 1", "Terrace A", "Private Room"). This makes it easy to assign an incoming reservation to a specific spot and see at a glance which tables are booked on a given night.
3. Adding a reservation
Go to Reservations and click New Reservation. Fill in:
- Date and time — when the guests are arriving
- Party size — number of people, so you know the table requirement
- Client — link the reservation to a client in your Clients list, or just enter a name and phone number if they're new
- Table — optionally assign a table from your layout so it's marked as reserved
- Notes — any special requests (e.g. birthday setup, dietary requirements, high chair needed)
4. Viewing your reservations
The Reservations page gives you a list and calendar view of all upcoming bookings. You can see everything for a given day at a glance — who's coming, how many people, which table is assigned, and what time. Before service, scroll through the list to prep your floor: confirm which tables need to be set, when the first guests arrive, and what special notes apply.
5. Managing and cancelling
If a customer cancels or doesn't show, find the reservation and cancel it so the table frees up. You can edit any reservation to update the time, party size, or table assignment if plans change. Reservations that are past their date stay in the history so you can see your booking pattern over time.
6. Linking to clients
When you link a reservation to a client record, you build up a history of visits for that customer. This is useful for regulars — you can see how often they've dined, their usual party size, and any past notes. It also makes follow-ups easy if you want to reach out after their visit.