Website chat for restaurants and cafés
For a restaurant or café, website chat earns its place on two kinds of message: table bookings and menu questions, which anyone on shift can answer quickly from a published menu and hours, and catering or private-event enquiries, which are worth many tables and need the manager. The rule that keeps the chat safe is simple: allergy questions are always answered by a person who can check with the kitchen. Here is the full set-up, including what to collect from a catering lead before anyone calls.
A catering enquiry is a lead, not a chat
One office lunch for forty people or a family event can be worth a week of walk-ins. Treat those chats differently from the first message:
- [ ] Date and time of the event
- [ ] Number of guests
- [ ] Delivery, pick-up or at your venue
- [ ] Budget per person, if they have one
- [ ] Dietary needs (noted for the kitchen, never answered automatically)
- [ ] Name, phone and e-mail
Collect those six, assign the chat to the manager with an internal note, and the call that follows starts with a menu proposal instead of questions. Keep your group prices as published price records so every quote comes from the same list. Collecting leads without being pushy shows how to ask for the six.
The twelve questions diners ask
| Guest asks | Answer pattern you fill in | Person takes over? |
|---|---|---|
| Can I book a table for [number] at [time]? | "Let me check. Your name and phone, and any seating preference?" | Yes, to confirm |
| What time are you open? | "[Days and hours]. The kitchen closes at [time]. Ramadan hours: [when relevant]." | No |
| Can I see the menu? | "Here is our menu: [link]. Prices include VAT [or: plus VAT]." | No |
| Do you have vegetarian / vegan dishes? | "Yes: [dishes as published]." | No |
| Is this dish safe for a nut / gluten allergy? | "Thank you for asking. Our team will check with the kitchen and reply here." | Yes, always |
| Do you deliver? | "[Delivery areas and how to order, as published]." | No |
| Do you do catering or private events? | "Yes. Tell us the date, the number of guests and whether it's delivery or here." | Yes |
| Do you have parking / outdoor seating? | "[Your facilities]." | No |
| Is there a set menu for groups? | "Our group menus start from [published price per person]." | Yes, for the final quote |
| Can I bring a cake / decorations? | "[Your published policy]." | No |
| Do you have a kids' area or high chairs? | "[Yes / no, details]." | No |
| My order was wrong / I want a refund | "I'm very sorry. Our manager will reply to you here today." | Yes, always |
Never answered automatically
- Allergy and ingredient safety. Recipes change and kitchens share equipment; only a person who checked with the chef answers.
- Prices for events and large orders beyond your published set menus.
- Complaints about food, service or delivery, and every refund demand. StayReplied hands complaints and refund demands to a person.
- Health or hygiene questions that go beyond your published facts.
The answer mode is set per channel (off, drafts only, or answer), not per topic. Your team sends the published answers from the inbox. No plan includes AI today; AI drafts need your own Anthropic key.
Three welcome lines
- "Hi! Book a table, ask about the menu or plan an event with us."
- "Welcome to [Café]. Hungry? Ask about today's menu or reserve a table."
- "Planning a party or office lunch? Tell us the date and number of guests."
Starter questions: "Book a table", "See the menu", "Catering and events", "Opening hours".
After closing time
Nothing replies automatically today, so put your reply hours and menu link in the welcome line, turn on "Ask for name and email before chatting" so you can reach a late-night catering lead, and answer overnight chats before service: "Good morning, thanks for your message. Your table for [number] at [time] is [confirmed / not available, we can do (time)]."
A Friday lunch and an Eid week
The person who answers chat in a restaurant is usually also seating guests. On busy services:
| Time | Who owns chat | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Before service | Host or cashier | Clear all booking requests |
| During service | Host, bookings only | Menu and catering chats get a short "we'll reply after lunch service" and wait |
| After service | Manager | Catering leads and complaints first |
| Eid and holiday weeks | Manager plus one | Catering chats become tickets with a due time |
More on busy days in handling a chat rush and Ramadan and holiday hours.
The shared inbox shows who has a chat open and asks you to review if the guest wrote again while you were typing, so a booking is never confirmed twice.
Set-up in seven days
- Workspace; invite the manager and whoever handles bookings.
- Publish hours, menu link, delivery areas, group menus and policies.
- Publish the widget on the menu, booking and contact pages; add the site to the allowed origins.
- Write the welcome lines and the after-hours message in English and Arabic.
- Test a booking, an allergy question and a catering enquiry; check who picks each up.
- Agree the busy-service rules.
- Read every chat and publish answers for what came up twice.
When this is not for you
If all your bookings go through a reservation app with its own messages, chat may only help with catering. Most diners who order delivery use delivery apps, not your website. Web chat is the channel you connect today; WhatsApp is coming soon (see channels). Read who StayReplied is for. Starter is AED 70 a month plus 5% VAT; see pricing.
Questions and answers
Can the chat take table bookings?
It collects the request; a person confirms it in your booking diary.
Should a chat answer allergy questions?
Never automatically. A person checks with the kitchen and replies.
How do I handle catering enquiries by chat?
Collect the six details above, assign the chat to the manager, and quote from your published group menus.
Does it work in Arabic?
Yes. The widget and the inbox work in Arabic and English, right to left included.
Catch the catering enquiries your phone misses.
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