Restaurants & cafés
Manage the waitlist without a clipboard
The Friday-night waitlist scrawled on a clipboard is one of the oldest problems in hospitality. A QR code at the host stand replaces it with a live list your whole front-of-house team can see and update from any device.
45 min
is the wait most guests will accept — if they can leave the doorway
A live position on their phone buys you that patience.
2×
more parties stay on the list when they can wait at the bar next door
A text brings them back the moment the table's up.
30 sec
to scan the QR code and join — no app download
Works in any mobile browser, on any phone.
Live
waitlist visible to every host-stand device at once
The problems restaurants & cafés run into
- A physical waitlist means only the host stand knows who's next.
- Parties wander off and staff have no way to reach them when a table's ready.
- No record of average table turnover to plan staffing around.
How Queue Join helps
Party size and notes captured upfront
Guests join with their party size and any notes when they check in, so hosts see everything they need at a glance.
Text them when the table's ready
WhatsApp or SMS alerts mean guests can wait at the bar next door instead of hovering by the door.
Turnover analytics
Track average wait and serve times by day and hour to plan staffing around your real peak periods.
Retire the clipboard for good
Guests scan a QR code at the host stand, enter their party size and any notes, and join a live list every front-of-house device can see. No more shouting names over the din or deciphering the last host's handwriting — one tap seats the party, marks a no-show, or bumps a booking up the list.
- Party size and notes captured at check-in
- One shared live list across every host-stand device
- One tap to seat, skip, or mark a no-show
Text guests the moment their table's ready
Parties don't have to huddle in the doorway. They get a live position and estimated wait on their own phone, wander off to the bar next door, and get a WhatsApp message — with automatic SMS fallback — the moment their table is up. Fewer bodies at the door, fewer walk-offs, fuller tables.
- Live position and estimated wait on the guest's phone
- WhatsApp first, SMS fallback, so the alert always lands
- Optional automated voice call for guests who miss messages
Plan staffing around your real rush
Every join, seat, and no-show is timestamped, so you finally get honest numbers on wait times and table turnover by day and hour. Stop staffing Friday night on gut feel — see exactly when the rush starts, how long parties really wait, and where you lose them.
Explore real-time analytics- Average wait and turnover by day and hour
- Walk-off and no-show rates you can actually measure
- Live counts across every location, if you run more than one
More features restaurants & cafés love
Real-time wait estimates
Quote an honest wait at the door, updated live as tables turn.
Branded QR codes
Print-ready codes styled with your branding, for the host stand, window, or table tents.
Party notes
High chair, wheelchair access, birthday — captured at check-in, visible to every host.
Priority seating
Move a booking or a special case up the list without losing anyone else's place.
No-show tracking
Mark no-shows in one tap and see which nights and party sizes they cluster around.
Opt-in marketing messages
Guests who opt in can hear about quiet-night offers — consent captured and versioned properly.
What restaurants & cafés are saying
“Friday night used to be me guarding a clipboard and apologising. Now guests scan the code, go for a drink next door, and walk in right as their table clears.”
Sofia Marchetti
Front-of-house manager, Neighbourhood trattoria
“The doorway is finally clear. Parties wait where they like, and the text brings them back — we've stopped losing tables to guests we couldn't find.”
James O'Connor
Owner, Gastropub
“Every host sees the same list on their own device. The 'who's next' arguments between the two door stations just stopped.”
Nadia Hussain
General manager, All-day café, 3 sites
“The turnover numbers surprised us — our real crunch is 7:15 to 8:30, not 'all evening' like we'd always staffed for.”
Ben Carter
Operations manager, Casual dining group
“Brunch queues used to snake past the window and put people off coming in. Now the pavement's clear and the list is longer than the line ever was.”
Elena Petrova
Owner, Weekend brunch spot
“Setup was one service. We printed the QR code, propped it on the host stand, and the team just got it.”
Ryan Walsh
Head host, City-centre steakhouse