Food & drink
Booking software for Restaurants
A table of six that does not turn up on a Saturday night takes the whole service down with it. Two services a day, a floor plan for each, and not a penny of commission per cover.
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The challenges facing restaurants
The no-show table of six on a Saturday night
Six covers, the best table, the most wanted hour. Nobody comes, and by 8.30pm there is no one left to give it to. It is a straight loss, and it comes round every week.
Lunch and dinner are two restaurants
A set menu at lunch, the carte in the evening; forty covers one way, seventy the other. The same floor plan does not serve both services, and neither do the same slots.
Platforms charge per cover
A pound or two per diner, every night, all year. On sixty covers a service, the commission ends up costing a part-time wage. And the customer who came through the platform stays the platform's customer.
The phone rings at the peak
7.45pm, the room is full, and that is when the phone chooses to ring. You answer quickly, write it in a book, and Thursday's table ends up written down twice.
Allergies and groups get prepared in the kitchen
One gluten free, one vegetarian, a birthday with a cake. Announced on arrival, they are three problems mid-service. Announced at booking, they are three extra dishes.
The 8pm table frees up at 10pm
Two sittings on the same table is the difference between a good evening and a full one. The second slot just has to be set on the real end of the first, reset included.
How Kagenda helps
The problem
The no-show table of six on a Saturday night
With Kagenda
Take a deposit at booking time and get paid online before the session.
Deposits and payments
The problem
Lunch and dinner are two restaurants
With Kagenda
Each service gets its own slots: some in the morning, others late in the day.
Hours per service
The problem
Platforms charge per cover
With Kagenda
Clients book from your page, even while you are with someone else or closed.
24/7 online booking
The problem
The phone rings at the peak
With Kagenda
Every session in one place, by day, week or month.
One central calendar
The problem
Allergies and groups get prepared in the kitchen
With Kagenda
Ask your questions at booking time: reason, history, expectations.
Custom fields
The problem
The 8pm table frees up at 10pm
With Kagenda
A gap held automatically, to breathe and write up your notes.
Buffer time between sessions
The features that matter to you
24/7 online booking
Clients book from your page, even while you are with someone else or closed.
One central calendar
Every session in one place, by day, week or month.
Deposits and payments
Take a deposit at booking time and get paid online before the session.
Custom fields
Ask your questions at booking time: reason, history, expectations.
Automatic reminders
Texts and emails go out before every appointment, with nothing to remember.
Email notifications
Confirmed, moved or cancelled — both you and the client are told.
Hours per service
Each service gets its own slots: some in the morning, others late in the day.
Fewer no-shows
Reminders, required confirmation and a deposit: three brakes on last-minute drop-offs.
Practical guide: Restaurants
- Each table is a resource, with its number of covers. A table for two never gets offered to a group of six.
- Two separate services, lunch and dinner, with their hours and their capacities. They are two configurations, not two moments of the same day.
- A deposit on groups from six people and on high-demand evenings. That is where an absence costs most.
- A cancellation policy shown at booking, with its notice period. It annoys nobody as long as it is written beforehand.
- An "allergies and occasion" field: the kitchen and the floor know what to prepare before the guest sits down.
- A reminder on the morning of an evening service. It is the single thing that cuts absences most, ahead even of a deposit.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a booking platform cost a restaurant in the UK?
Platforms typically charge £1 to £3 per covered diner, sometimes with a monthly fee on top. At fifty covers a week that is several thousand pounds a year. Kagenda charges no commission per cover at all: you pay the subscription and nothing else.
Can a UK restaurant charge a deposit or a no-show fee?
Yes, and it is now common — but the terms decide whether it holds. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a term must be fair and transparent: the amount, the notice period and when it is refundable have to be given clearly before the diner confirms, in plain language, not buried in a link. A charge that substantially exceeds your actual loss risks being an unenforceable penalty, so keep it proportionate to the covers held. Where you take card details rather than money, the same disclosure applies. Kagenda shows the conditions before confirmation and records the acceptance.
Can I manage my floor plan?
Yes, by declaring each table as a resource with its covers.
Can I run two sittings on the same table?
Yes, by setting the real length of a meal and the evening's sittings.
How do I collect allergies at booking?
With a custom field. Note that allergen information for the fourteen named allergens is a legal requirement and must be provided in the dining room too, with prepacked for direct sale items labelled in full under Natasha's Law.
Is there a commission per cover?
No. Deposits go straight to your own Stripe account, and Kagenda keeps nothing.
Ready to simplify your bookings?
Create your account in minutes and let your clients book online starting today.
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