Restaurants
Business texting for restaurants
Confirm the booking, remind them the day before and let them reply if they're running late. Then, for the guests who've said yes, a text when the new menu starts.
How do restaurants use business texting?
Restaurants text guests to confirm bookings, remind them the day before, handle changes and late arrivals by reply, tell walk-ins their table is ready, and let regulars know about new menus and events. Booking texts are service messages. Menu and event texts are marketing, so they need the guest's consent and an opt-out line.
Bookings, reminders and empty tables
A no-show on a Saturday is a table you could have filled. A reminder the day before, with a simple 'reply if your plans have changed', gives people an easy way to tell you, and gives you time to offer the table to someone on the waiting list.
Send booking texts from a UK mobile number so guests can reply. 'Running 15 minutes late' or 'Can we add a highchair?' lands in the inbox, where front of house can pick it up.
Don't ask guests to reply CANCEL to cancel. CANCEL is one of the opt-out words, so the reply would put them on your opt-out list. 'Reply if you can't make it' does the same job.
Walk-ins and waiting lists
If you run a waiting list at the door, take a mobile number and text when the table's ready. Guests can wait at the bar or wander off for twenty minutes and come back when the text arrives. Leave the sender name blank so it goes from a UK mobile number and they can reply if they've changed their mind.
Marketing to past guests
The ICO's guidance uses a restaurant to show how consent should work. A customer rings to book, the restaurant asks whether they'd also like texts about offers and events, the customer says yes, and the restaurant records who agreed, when and how. A few days later it texts them about a special food event. The version the ICO counts as bad practice is the same restaurant texting a promotion to a number it only took for the booking.
So ask at booking time, on your online form and on the phone, and keep a note of the answer. Keep the booking list and the marketing list separate in CaptiFi Connect, so a campaign only reaches people who said yes. Every campaign carries an opt-out line unless you turn it off, and STOP replies are handled automatically.
Sector notes
Allergy and dietary details belong in your booking system. If a guest texts you about an allergy, record it there so the kitchen sees it, and don't treat the inbox as the record.
Guests visiting from abroad often book with an overseas mobile. CaptiFi Connect texts UK mobiles only, so those numbers are refused with a reason and not charged. Keep email as their confirmation.
Drinks offers come under licensing rules as well as PECR; our page for pubs and bars covers the main points.
Features restaurants use
The parts of CaptiFi Connect that suit a restaurant:
- Booking confirmations and reminders, sent now or scheduled.
- A UK mobile number guests can reply to, with an inbox threaded by number.
- Separate lists for bookings and marketing, with CSV import.
- Campaigns with merge fields and an automatic opt-out line.
- An approved sender name for menu and event news.
- The REST API, if your booking system can call it.
Sample texts
Merge fields in braces are filled from each contact. The part count is worked out the way the platform bills it.
Booking confirmation(service)
Hi {first_name}, your table for 2 at Olive & Thyme is confirmed for Fri 23 Oct at 8pm. Running late or plans changed? Just reply.
129 characters, 1 part
Day-before reminder(service)
See you tomorrow at 8pm, {first_name}. If you can't make it, reply and we'll offer the table to someone else. Olive & Thyme
123 characters, 1 part
Table ready(service)
Your table at Olive & Thyme is ready. Come back to the front desk in the next 10 minutes and we'll seat you.
108 characters, 1 part
New menu(marketing)
Hi {first_name}, Olive & Thyme's autumn menu starts Tuesday, with slow-cooked lamb and a new veggie tasting plate. Call 01632 960258 to book. Reply STOP to opt out
163 characters, 2 parts
Tasting dinner(marketing)
Hi {first_name}, we're hosting a five-course tasting dinner on Thu 12 Nov at 7pm, 24 seats only. Call 01632 960258 to grab yours. Reply STOP to opt out
151 characters, 1 part
Getting set up
- 1
Create your account
Sign up with your restaurant's details. Every new account is checked before it can send, and test keys work in the meantime.
- 2
Split your contacts
Import booking contacts and marketing contacts as separate lists, so campaigns only reach people who agreed.
- 3
Save your templates
Write the confirmation, the reminder and the table-ready text once, with {first_name}.
- 4
Send booking texts from a number
Leave the sender name blank for booking texts, so they go from a UK mobile number and guests can reply.
- 5
Schedule reminders
Schedule each reminder for the day before when you take the booking, and cancel it if the booking is cancelled.
Common texts for restaurants
| Message | When it goes | Service or marketing | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking confirmation | When the booking is made | Service | Table for 2 confirmed, Fri 23 Oct at 8pm |
| Booking reminder | The day before | Service | See you tomorrow, reply if plans have changed |
| Reply to a late guest | When a guest texts | Service | No problem, we'll hold the table until 8:30 |
| Table ready | When a walk-in table frees up | Service | Your table is ready, come back to the front desk |
| Group menu choices | A week before a large booking | Service | Reply with your party's menu choices by Friday |
| New menu | When it launches | Marketing | Our autumn menu starts this week |
| Special event | A week or two before | Marketing | Tasting dinner on Thu 12 Nov |
Questions people ask
Do we need consent to send booking reminders?
No marketing consent is needed for a text that's only about the guest's booking, because the ICO treats that as a service message. Promote anything in it and it becomes marketing.
Can guests reply to say they're running late?
Yes, if you send from a UK mobile number by leaving the sender name blank. Replies land in the inbox, threaded by the guest's number.
Can our booking system send the texts?
If it can call an API, yes. CaptiFi Connect has a REST API with webhooks but no ready-made connections to booking platforms, so a developer or your booking system's supplier would add the calls.
Can we text guests with foreign mobile numbers?
No. CaptiFi Connect texts UK mobiles only, including Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Other numbers are refused and not charged.
What does it cost?
One credit per SMS part to a UK mobile, and a booking text usually fits in one part. Packs start at £25 for 500 credits (5p a text) and fall to 3.5p on the biggest pack, plus VAT; the pricing page has the table.
Send your first text this week
Set up your account and contacts now; we check every new account before it can send.