A reservation system for a small restaurant: tables and events on one link

A small room needs less

Most reservation software is built for a big dining room: a floor plan, table assignment, a host stand and a link to the till. A place with ten tables and one person on the floor needs much less. Guests need a way to book without calling or writing, and the team needs to see who is coming. In practice that is a short list:

• one link guests book from
• a limit on how many guests you seat at once
• opening hours and closed days
• only the guest details you use
• a live list of today's bookings for the whole team
• a confirmation and a reminder for the guest
• your events on the same page as your tables

One link

Guests find you on Instagram, Google Maps, your website and in messages. Give all of them the same link. The guest who wants a table and the guest who wants a seat at Thursday's tasting land on the same page, so you keep one page up to date and check one list. Open the link on your phone before you share it, because that is where most guests book. If the form asks them to create an account first, many give up and message you instead.

A seat cap instead of a floor plan

A floor plan earns its keep when a host gives table 12 to a party of four at 19:30 and the software has to know table 12 is free. In a small room the person on the floor does that in their head. The software needs one simpler number, the seat cap: how many guests you seat at once from reservations. With 40 chairs and room kept for walk-ins, set it to 28. When the cap is reached for a time, that time stops taking bookings, and you still decide where people sit.

Pair the cap with a stay, how long a party holds its seats. With a two-hour stay, a party of four booked for 18:00 gives its seats back at 20:00. Too short overbooks the late evening. Too long makes the room look full when it is not.

Opening hours and closed days

Set the hours in which a booking may start, per weekday. If the kitchen closes at 22:00, the last booking might be 20:30. Add closed days ahead: public holidays, a private party, a week off in August. A guest should never be able to book a day you are shut.

Only the guest details you use

Every extra field is one more reason to give up. Ask for a name and the party size, then add email if you send confirmations and reminders, phone if you really call guests when something changes, and allergies and notes if the kitchen acts on them. Ask for the same things when you take a booking over the phone, so every booking on the list looks the same.

A live list for the team

The reservation book belongs on every phone in the team: today's bookings in time order, party sizes and notes, and who has arrived. A new booking appears on its own, without the owner forwarding screenshots.

A confirmation and a reminder

A confirmation tells the guest the booking went through. A reminder on the morning catches the ones who forgot. Put a link to change or cancel in both, so a guest gives the table back instead of not turning up.

Events beside tables

Many small places also run a tasting, a chef's table or a wine evening a few times a month, sold through a story and DMs with names copied into a spreadsheet. Put them on the same page as your tables, each with a date, a number of seats and a price if you charge one. Keep event seats apart from the seat cap: a tasting for 12 in the back room should not block 12 seats in the dining room.

Before you choose

Ask these of any tool you look at:

1. Can a guest book on a phone without an account?
2. Can you limit guests per time without drawing a floor plan?
3. Can you set opening hours and closed days?
4. Can you choose which guest details are required?
5. Does every staff member see new bookings as they come in?
6. Does the guest get a confirmation and a reminder with a cancel link?
7. Can events sit on the same page as tables?

Where STOL fits, and where it does not

STOL works this way. A reservation is a time, a party size and the guest's details, counted against the seat cap. Opening hours, closed days and the stay are set per venue, and you choose which of phone, email and dietary note are asked for.

The list is the Board: a booking shows there as soon as it is made, staff mark guests as they arrive, and everyone sees the same list. Invite each person with their own email, so nobody shares the owner's login.

Guests get a confirmation and a morning reminder with a link to change or cancel. Events run beside reservations with their own seats and do not use the seat cap. Guests pay at the venue, or on Plus by card when they book.

STOL has no floor plan and does not assign tables, does not connect to a till, and takes no deposit on a table. If a host seats a large room by table number, STOL is the wrong tool.

STOL against this list: Basic is €12 a month without VAT for one venue, with tables, free events and payment at the venue. Plus is €22 and adds tickets paid online. No plan takes a cut of ticket sales. The first 7 days are free, no card. Create your page, set it up from ChatGPT or Claude, or ask support first.