"Restaurant reservation system" is one of the most searched phrases in hospitality, and nearly every result is a platform that charges per cover. This is the alternative we build for restaurants: a reservation system on the restaurant's own website, run from a panel the team opens on a phone. It is the system behind our Niom Bistro case study.
The problems with how most restaurants take bookings
- Phone bookings during service, written on paper, lost.
- A contact form that emails "please book me" and waits for a reply.
- A reservation network that charges per diner and emails your guests about other restaurants.
- No reminders, so Friday no-shows cost the best tables of the week.
- Events and specials that never make it onto the site.
What an online table reservation system should do
- Booking form on your site with date, time slot, party size, occasion and requests — only showing times you are open and have covers for.
- Capacity rules: covers per slot, large-party threshold that asks guests to call, minimum notice, closed days and holidays.
- Bookings inbox with one-tap confirm or decline, an optional table number, and a day view for service.
- Confirmation from your own email address so it arrives in the inbox, plus WhatsApp and SMS confirmation buttons.
- Reminder the day before with a cancel link — the single biggest lever against no-shows.
- Events and specials editable by the team, with event bookings counted per event.
- Guest history and CSV export for your own marketing list — which you own.
What it changes
Bookings arrive at 11pm when people plan their weekend; confirmations go out in minutes; reminders make the no-show conversation rare; and your guest list is yours. The marketplace can stay for first-time discovery if it earns its fee; repeat guests stop costing you commission.
What it costs
Our Booking Panel ($500) adds all of the above to the website you already have — booking form, inbox, confirmations, reminders, rules, calendar, export — in about a week, on your own hosting, with no monthly fee and no per-booking commission. Restaurants usually recover the cost within the first month of commission they no longer pay on repeat guests. If you later need staff calendars, deposits or a client portal, it grows into a full admin panel. Compare it with what a subscription costs you over a year in build vs subscribe, or ask for a free demo with your own branding.