WhatsApp for Restaurants: Table Booking, Menu & Reminders

Take table reservations on WhatsApp, sized to the right table and paced for your kitchen, with a waiting list, deposits, pre-orders and reminders that cut no-shows.

Most restaurant bookings already arrive as WhatsApp messages: "table for four, Friday at 8?" Someone at the host stand checks a diary, replies an hour later, and the guest has already booked somewhere else.

This guide shows how a restaurant can take bookings on WhatsApp automatically — on a table that really fits the party, at a time the kitchen can handle — and keep the evening's floor plan in one place.

What a WhatsApp booking bot should do

A good restaurant bot does more than collect a date. It should:

• Book a real table — one that seats the party, for as long as that party really stays.
• Protect the kitchen — not seat forty people at 8:00 sharp.
• Offer a waiting list — instead of a dead end when the night is full.
• Show the menu — filtered to what the guest can eat and what is served at that hour.
• Remind the guest — so the table isn't held for someone who forgot.

MotherBot's table booking does all of these. It is built on its appointments feature, so a reservation gets the same reminders, approval and cancellation rules as any other booking.

How a booking works

A guest messages your WhatsApp number. The bot asks party size, area (indoor, terrace, rooftop, private room), day, time and occasion, and only offers what is genuinely free on your floor.

When the guest picks a time:

• The tightest table that fits is taken. A couple gets the two-seater, not the six — your big tables stay free for the parties that need them.
• The table is blocked for the real turn time. You set how long each party size keeps a table — say 60 minutes for two, 90 for four, two hours for eight. A 90-minute booking at 7:30 blocks the table until 9:00, so an 8:00 request is correctly refused.
• The kitchen is paced. "Covers per 15 minutes" caps how many guests can be seated in any quarter hour. If the kitchen is full at 8, the guest is offered 8:15 or 8:30 instead — a different answer from "we have no tables".
• Large parties wait for you. Above a size you choose, a booking waits for your approval. A party of twelve is a conversation, not a click.

The guest gets a booking reference, and can check, move or cancel it in the same chat, within your cancellation cut-off.

The waiting list

When a date is full, the guest can join the queue and is told roughly how long the wait is. When a table frees up, the party at the front is offered it on WhatsApp.

The offered table is held for a few minutes, so two guests are never sent to the same table. If the offer isn't accepted in time, it passes to the next party automatically. Accepting is one reply — no asking for the date, size or name again.

Deposits and pre-orders

• Deposits — ask for a deposit per guest for parties above a size you choose. With "hold until paid" on, an unpaid booking waits instead of quietly taking your best table on a Saturday.
• Pre-orders — ask larger parties to choose their food in advance, up to a cut-off before they arrive. The kitchen gets a prep list instead of eight decisions at once.
• Notes that travel — occasion, seating preference, dietary needs, allergy notes and high chairs stay with the booking, wherever your staff see it.

Your menu in the chat

The menu the guest browses is your product list in MotherBot — there is no second menu to keep up to date. Each dish can carry its course, diet (pure veg, Jain, vegan, no onion or garlic, halal), spice level, allergens, how many it serves and the hours it is served. A guest who says "pure veg" only sees food they can eat, and a dish you switch off as sold out disappears from the chat at once.

Save dish photos as JPG or PNG — WhatsApp drops WebP images without telling you.

Running the evening

• Floor plan — tonight's service by area and table: who is booked, who has arrived, what is free and for how long. Seat a party in one tap, or move them.
• Walk-ins — booked and seated in one step, so the floor plan matches the room.
• Live Chat — a guest's bookings sit beside their conversation, with the occasion, dietary needs and pre-order in view.
• On your phone — the MotherBot app has a Floor screen with tonight's tables and the waiting list, for the host who is on their feet.

After the meal

Workflows can act on a seated booking. Send a thank-you and a review link two hours after a party is seated, or offer a regular their usual table on their birthday. See how to schedule WhatsApp messages for the timing options.

Getting started

1. Open Customers → Appointments → Settings, set your opening hours and turn on Table booking.
2. Add your areas and tables, with how many each seats.
3. Set your turn times and covers per 15 minutes. Turn times matter most — set them too short and you double-book, too long and tables sit empty.
4. In the chatbot builder, start from the Restaurant — Table Booking template. It already asks the right questions and offers the waiting list.

The full settings are in the table booking docs, and more ways restaurants use WhatsApp are on WhatsApp for restaurants.

What it costs

Replies to a guest who messaged you are free for the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number, then charged per reply. Reminders and thank-you messages sent later are template messages, which Meta charges for each time one is delivered. Meta bills your WhatsApp Business Account directly — see current WhatsApp rates. MotherBot charges for its plan — see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Can customers book a restaurant table on WhatsApp?

Yes. A WhatsApp chatbot can ask party size, area, day and time, offer only tables that are genuinely free, and confirm the booking with a reference — then send reminders before the visit.

What happens when the restaurant is full?

The guest can join a waiting list. When a table frees up, the next party is offered it on WhatsApp, and the table is held for a few minutes so two guests are never offered the same one.

Can guests see the menu on WhatsApp?

Yes. The bot shows your menu by course, filtered to the guest's diet and to the dishes served at that time. Sold-out dishes disappear from the chat as soon as you switch them off.

Can I take deposits for large bookings?

Yes. Set a party size above which a deposit per guest is asked for, and optionally hold the booking until it is paid.