Since we started using Resos, we have found the flexibility of the product and customer support incredible. It's very user friendly and easy to manage in-house which is a huge plus!
Waitlist
Restaurant waitlist system
Guests can join the waitlist from your booking page or widget when a time is full, and your team can add walk-ins manually. Every entry appears next to your bookings. When a table opens, you choose which party gets it and convert the entry into a booking.
How it works
One waitlist for online guests and walk-ins
Two ways to join
Guests join online or staff add them
When an opening time is full, guests can join through your booking page or widget. Your team can also add a walk-in manually with their name, party size, contact details, and any useful notes.
One screen
Walk-ins and reservations side by side
The waitlist sits next to your bookings in the same overview. Your floor manager sees the 7:45 four-top that has not arrived, the walk-in couple hoping for 20 minutes, and the 8pm reservation in one glance. Gaps stop being missed because the whole evening is visible from one screen.
Manual fit
You pick the right party for the freed table
When a table opens up, you decide who fills it. The system does not auto-assign the next party in line. Match the party to the slot by size, timing, and fit, then convert the entry with one click. Resos carries the details into the booking and sends the guest a booking confirmation.
Caps and order
Rules you set, control you keep
Decide the cap per service so the queue does not grow longer than you can actually seat. Choose first come first served on a slow night or the best-fit party on a busy one. The rules are yours to set and yours to break in the moment, because real service rarely follows a strict algorithm.
How to get started
Start taking online bookings today
Step 1
Sign up for free
Create your account in seconds. No credit card required.
Step 2
Set up your restaurant
Add your opening hours, areas, and floor plan using our easy drag-and-drop editor.
Step 3
Take your first booking
Add your booking link to your website and social media. No coding required.
A crowded entrance feels busy, but it quietly costs you tables. Guests who will not queue in the rain leave. Guests who do queue block the hosts, slow the pass, and stress the whole room. A restaurant waitlist system gives online guests and walk-ins one place to wait, so the door stays calmer and your team keeps control.
Resos is a restaurant waitlist system built for the floor, not an automation that takes decisions out of your hands. Guests can join from your booking page or widget when a time is full, staff can add them manually, and your team decides who gets an open table.
What is a restaurant waitlist system?
A restaurant waitlist system replaces a paper list with one shared view. Guests can add themselves when a booking time is full, while staff can add walk-ins manually. Each entry includes the party details your team needs to choose who fits an open table and convert that entry into a booking.
In Resos, the waitlist and your bookings live in one overview. Anyone on the team, on any device, sees the same live picture of the evening.
How the waitlist runs in Resos
Guests can join through the booking page or widget when a time is full. Staff can also add someone manually with a name, party size, contact details, and notes. The waitlist lives next to your bookings, so your floor manager sees reservations and waitlist entries in the same overview.
You decide the rules up front:
- A cap per service or per evening so the queue doesn’t outrun your ability to seat it.
- The order you call people in: first come first served on a slow night, the right-sized party on a busy one. Your call, every time.
- Notes stay on each waitlist entry so the next host picks up the context if you’re handing over mid-shift.
You pick who fits the freed table
Late cancellations are where a waitlist earns its keep. In the Resos No-Show Index, 56% of the 566,049 cancellations in the dataset arrived within 24 hours of the booking or after it had already started, and 7% landed after the guest was due at the table. Those are the slots that are hardest to resell from a cold start and easiest to fill from a list of people who already said they want a table tonight.
When a cancellation lands or a table turns faster than expected, the slot is yours to fill. Open the waitlist, pick the party that matches the slot, and convert the entry with one click. The party size and notes carry into the booking, and Resos sends the guest a booking confirmation. A party of two on a four-top might not be the right call on a Saturday at 8pm, so the system does not choose for you.
One screen for walk-ins and reservations
The waitlist isn’t a separate app, it sits next to your bookings in the same overview. Your floor manager sees the 7:45 four-top that hasn’t arrived, the walk-in couple hoping for 20 minutes, and the 8pm reservation all in one glance. Gaps between bookings get filled with the right waitlist parties because a human picks each one. Empty minutes turn into paying covers without the system making the call for you.
Why restaurants choose Resos for their waitlist
A waitlist system earns its place when it makes a busy night calmer and a quiet table rarer. With Resos you get:
- More covers from the same room, because freed tables get filled from the list instead of sitting empty.
- A calmer door, since walk-ins are signed in and tracked instead of crowding the host stand.
- One source of truth, with the waitlist and reservations on the same screen for everyone on shift.
- Control where it matters, because you decide who to seat and when, rather than an algorithm.
- A 30-day free trial of the add-on, available after you choose a paid Resos plan.
Keep the vibe at the door intact
Nobody opens a restaurant to manage queues. A restaurant waitlist system takes the frantic part out of walk-in management so your hosts can do what they’re good at: greet people, read the room, and send them in with a smile.
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We have been using Resos as the booking platform for our cheese & wine bar in Helsinki, Finland, for over six months, and we are really impressed by it!
Once set up properly, Resos will run the whole booking seamlessly. Been trying many softwares and none has reached the level of customization and speed as Resos. And great support too!
The floor view is working very nicely, you can see everything at the same time. Also, it was a very huge upgrade for us, that the guests can easily cancel their booking – it saved us from a lot of no-shows.
Easy integration into our website and Google page.
Resos makes reservations so much easier. It's straightforward, flexible, and perfect for small businesses like ours. We're so happy with it!
What sets Resos.com apart is not just its ease of use, but also the proactive approach of the Resos team. They continuously work hard to introduce new features and add value to their product.
Simplicity when booking for the customer and easily accessible through our website, Facebook and Google.
When we started our search for a booking system, Resos was the obvious choice. Not only is it affordable for us as a small business, but also offers so many features that make our jobs easier.
Being able to make a reservation without too much hassle goes a long way! Resos keeps the process intuitive and simple.
Frequently asked questions
What restaurants ask about Resos
What is a restaurant waitlist system?
A restaurant waitlist system keeps guests who want a fully booked time in one shared list. Guests can join through the Resos booking page or widget, and staff can add walk-ins manually. Your team then chooses which party gets an opening and converts that entry into a booking.
Is the Resos waitlist a paid add-on?
Yes. The waitlist is a paid add-on available with a paid Resos plan. You can try the add-on free for 30 days before its monthly charge begins. The waitlist cannot be added to the Free plan.
Does Resos automatically choose and notify the next guest?
No. Your team chooses which waitlisted guest gets the open table and converts that entry into a booking. Resos then automatically sends the guest a booking confirmation by the notification channels you have enabled.
Can a waiting party become a real booking?
Yes. When you select a waiting party, you convert their waitlist entry into a booking with one tap. Their party size and notes carry over, and Resos sends the booking confirmation automatically.
How is a waitlist system different from a paper list at the door?
A paper list lives at the host stand, only one person can see it, and it disappears at the end of the night. A restaurant waitlist system sits next to your reservations on every device, keeps party sizes and notes, caps the queue, and turns a waiting guest into a booking without re-entering anything.
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