Reservation Management Checklist

Scan Resy/OpenTable/SevenRooms guest notes for VIP, regular, birthday, anniversary, and dietary tags. Print or pin the VIP list to the host stand so servers and the chef see it before the pre-shift lineup.

Pull every reservation with an allergen, gluten-free, or dietary-restriction note. Walk these to the sous chef before doors so the kitchen has a substitution plan ready and the allergen-aware manager is briefed.

Parties of 7+ usually require a combined table, prix fixe acknowledgment, or a credit-card hold per house policy. Confirm the BEO or large-party form is on file before service.

Pull the deposit confirmation or card-hold authorization for each 7+ party. If missing, call the guest before doors to capture it — chasing a deposit at the table is a service-failure pattern.

Assign each reservation to a specific table in Resy/OpenTable/SevenRooms. Balance covers across server sections so no station gets triple-sat at 7:30. Check banquette vs. high-top preferences in guest notes.

Verify dining-duration limits are configured per party size — typically 90 minutes for a deuce, 120 for a four-top, 150 for a six-top. Loosen on slow weeknights, tighten Friday/Saturday prime time.

Hold the bar and 1-2 deuces for walk-ins so the host isn't forced to quote a 90-minute wait when 30% of the room is empty waiting on reservations. Block these in the platform so they don't get auto-assigned.

Test that Toast/Square/Aloha is talking to the reservation platform — covers should push to the POS table map. A broken integration means servers don't see guest notes when they greet the table.

Most platforms automate this — verify the template was sent and check the response queue for cancellations, party-size changes, or reply-needed flags. Reply-needed messages older than 4 hours are a service miss.

Large-party no-shows cost more than deuce no-shows. Voice-confirm any 6+ that hasn't responded to the text. If you can't reach them by 2pm day-of, surface to the GM.

Update the platform when a guest changes party size, time, or cancels. Release the table back to the book so the slot becomes available to walk-ins or waitlist guests.

10-minute lineup covers: total covers, VIPs by name and table, allergy tickets, 86s from the kitchen, large parties, and pacing notes. Allergen-aware manager confirms substitution paths for tonight's flagged tickets.

Use the platform's waitlist (Resy Waitlist, OpenTable Waitlist, SevenRooms) so guests get text updates instead of standing at the host stand. Quote conservative wait times — under-promising and seating early reads better than the reverse.

Host or manager greets every VIP, regular, and special-occasion guest at the door. Walk them to the table; signal the server that the BNB note (birthday, anniversary, allergy) is live.

If the kitchen ticket time exceeds 18 minutes or the expo pass is backing up, slow seating by 10-15 minutes. Better to make a guest wait at the bar than to seat them and have them wait 25 minutes for a first course.

Tag every unseated reservation as no-show, late-cancel, or arrived-and-walked. Accurate tagging is what drives the no-show fee, the guest's reliability score, and the deposit-charge decision.

Apply the no-show or late-cancel fee to the card on file when policy applies — typically $25-50 per cover for prime-time bookings. Send the guest a courtesy email explaining the charge with the cancellation policy quoted.

Capture booked covers, walked covers, no-shows, walk-ins seated, and average turn time. The GM uses the weekly trend to adjust pacing rules, staffing, and deposit policy for the following week.

Pull post-meal survey responses from Resy/OpenTable/SevenRooms and Yelp/Google reviews tied to tonight's date. Flag any 1-3 star feedback to the GM by the next morning's open.