Restaurant Reservation Management Checklist

Define the cancellation window (commonly 24 hours for parties under 6, 48–72 hours for larger parties) and the per-guest fee that hits the card on file for no-shows. Post the policy on Resy or OpenTable's listing page so guests acknowledge it at booking — disputed charges almost always trace to a missing or unposted policy.

Standard grace is 15 minutes for deuces and four-tops; tighter (10 minutes) for high-demand Friday/Saturday primetime seatings where the table needs to turn. Document what happens past the grace — release the table to the waitlist, charge the no-show fee, or hold with manager approval.

Most operators require a credit-card hold or prepaid deposit for parties of 8 or more, and a signed contract for buyouts and private-room bookings. Record the threshold so hosts apply it consistently — inconsistent enforcement is the most common driver of large-party no-shows.

Verify the reservation platform is passing covers, guest tags, and check totals to Toast, Square, or Aloha. A broken sync means VIP and allergy tags don't reach the server's POS handheld, and post-service spend analytics break.

Standard cadence: booking confirmation immediately, reminder 24 hours out, final text 2 hours before seating. SevenRooms and Resy both support custom cadence; OpenTable's defaults work for most concepts. Confirm two-way SMS is enabled so guests can reply to modify.

Block patio seating in winter, banquette overflow during private events, and bar-top seats during buyouts. Set turn times by daypart — typically 90 minutes for deuces, 120 for four-tops, 150 for parties of 6+. Wrong turn times either choke the kitchen or leave revenue on the table.

Export the day's book from Resy, OpenTable, or SevenRooms before the morning manager meeting. Compare today's cover count to last week's same-day and the four-week trailing average — large variance is the early signal of a promotion working, a holiday miscalled, or an integration outage.

Pull guest tags from the platform — tree-nut, shellfish, gluten, dairy, plus birthdays, anniversaries, and regulars on the GM's VIP list. Cross-check allergy tags against the menu so the kitchen knows in advance which tickets need allergen-protocol plating. Missed tags are the most common path to an avoidable comp or worse.

Lay the day's reservation grid over the floor plan and check each seating window for stacked four-tops or back-to-back six-tops with overlapping turn times. Pay special attention to 7:00–8:30pm Friday/Saturday — this is where overbooking quietly happens when two hosts take bookings on the same shift.

Most platforms send the 24-hour confirmation automatically; the human job is to scan the response queue for bounces, opt-outs, and modification replies. Unconfirmed guests with a history of no-shows are the highest-value calls to make manually.

For bounced confirmations and prior no-show guests, place a live call from the host stand. Reconfirm party size, time, and any special request. If you can't reach the guest by two hours before seating, release the table to the waitlist per policy.

Confirm exact headcount (large parties drift by 1–2 between booking and arrival), verify the deposit is on file, walk through the prix-fixe or limited menu if applicable, and confirm any pre-ordered wine. Update the cover count in the platform if headcount changed.

Match server experience to section load — your strongest server takes the section with the four-top at 7:30 and the VIP deuce at 8:00. Print the seating grid with party names, times, tags, and table numbers so the host can seat without checking the platform every ticket.

10-minute lineup: names and table numbers for VIPs, full allergen list with the sous chef present, large-party arrival times, and any flagged occasions (birthday card prepped, anniversary champagne staged). The allergen-aware manager on shift signs off on the briefing.

Pull tables together for parties of 6+ before doors open — moving tables mid-service blocks aisles and slows the floor. Confirm chair count, place settings, and clear sightlines from the host stand to each table number.

Use the platform's waitlist with SMS notifications so guests can browse the neighborhood rather than hovering at the host stand. Quote conservative wait times — under-promising is the better failure mode. Seat walk-ins into gaps from no-shows and short turns, never into a booked window.

When the book is overstacked: call the lowest-priority booking (typically the most recent and lowest-spend guest) and offer a time shift with a comp drink or appetizer, partner with a sister restaurant or trusted neighbor for the overflow, or pull bar-top seating into the rotation. Never seat over capacity and let the kitchen blow up — the comp bill on a 90-minute ticket time is worse than the comp on a time shift.

Tag each no-show in the platform's guest profile so the cancellation fee can be applied per policy and the next booking attempt flags for manager review. Three strikes typically moves a guest to a deposit-required tier.

Compare POS cover count to the platform's booked count; the gap is no-shows plus walk-ins. Note anything that drove variance — weather, a local event, a competitor closure — so next week's same-day forecast accounts for it. This is the data that drives staffing and prep par decisions.