Reservations live in a third-party app that charges per cover and keeps the guest's email — so you can't text them about a slow Tuesday or a new tasting menu.
Booking Systems · Berkeley
Booking Systems for restaurants in Berkeley
A booking system is the host stand running while nobody's at it. Most restaurants either bounce reservations to a third-party app that skims a cover fee and owns the guest data, or take them by phone and lose the 9pm caller for good. We wire reservations and waitlist straight into the floor — table inventory, party size, turn times — so the book fills itself, the kitchen sees covers coming, and a text goes out before service to kill the no-show. You own the guest list, not Resy. Berkeley's small-business map runs from the Gourmet Ghetto around Shattuck and Chez Panisse to the design showrooms on Fourth Street, the student crush of Telegraph by campus, and the indie storefronts of Elmwood on College Avenue and Solano. It's a town of owner-run shops, makers in West Berkeley, and practices that win on reputation, not ad budgets.
The problem
Where restaurants leak leads
The phone rings during the dinner rush and a host writes the 7:30 four-top on a sticky note that gets lost between the door and the POS.
No-shows and ghost two-tops eat into a fully booked Friday because nobody confirmed the reservation that morning.
Large parties and private events get booked over email threads with no deposit, no hold on the room, and no record when the planner cancels day-of.
What we build
Booking Systems, built for restaurants
A reservation widget on your own site that respects real table inventory and turn times — no more double-seating the 6-top or holding a 2-top for a party of five.
A digital waitlist with SMS pages, so walk-ins text-in their wait and get a 'your table's ready' instead of crowding the host stand.
Confirmation and reminder texts the morning and afternoon of the booking, with one-tap confirm or cancel — and a deposit or card hold on large parties so day-of cancels cost them, not you.
A clean two-way sync to your floor and POS (Toast, Square, SevenRooms, OpenTable) so reservations, covers, and guest history land where your staff already work — and the guest list stays yours.
What changes
What you can expect
Fewer empty tables on a booked night, because reminders and a cancel link free up holds in time to re-seat them.
A host stand that runs calmer during the rush — walk-ins on a digital waitlist, reservations confirmed in advance, no sticky notes.
A guest list you actually own — emails and visit history you can use to fill slow shifts instead of paying a platform for the privilege.
We're two founders working on-site and remote across the East Bay, so we also build for businesses in neighboring Oakland, Albany, Emeryville, El Cerrito, and Kensington.
FAQ
Common questions
Do we have to drop OpenTable or Resy?
Not unless you want to. We can run direct bookings on your own site alongside them, or sync both ways so your floor sees every cover in one place. The difference is the reservations that come through your site cost you nothing per head and the guest's contact info stays with you.
Will this work with our POS and floor plan?
Yes — we build around what you already run. Toast, Square, SevenRooms, and most reservation tools connect cleanly, so table inventory, party size, and turn times stay accurate and the kitchen sees covers coming. If something doesn't have a clean integration, we'll tell you straight before we start.
How do you keep no-shows from emptying a booked night?
Two things. Automated confirm-or-cancel texts the day of the booking, so a guest who can't make it tells you while you can still re-seat the table. And a card hold or deposit on large parties and prime slots, so a day-of ghost costs them instead of you. We set the rules to match how your room runs.
Do you work with small Berkeley businesses, not just big companies?
Yes — that's who we build for. Most of our work is owner-run shops, practices, and studios from the Gourmet Ghetto to Fourth Street to Telegraph. We can meet on-site here in Berkeley or work remotely, whichever is easier for you.
Keep exploring
More booking systems
See what we'd build for you
Start with a free scan — we'll show you the smallest fix that moves the needle for restaurants in Berkeley. Built by Mohammed & Ravi, the two people who'll do the work.