An AI chatbot for restaurants handles reservations, menu questions, and catering inquiries 24/7, even when your staff is busy with a full dining room. With 60% of restaurant bookings happening outside business hours (OpenTable, 2025), every unanswered message is a missed reservation. This guide shows you exactly how to set up an AI chatbot that books tables, answers dietary questions, and captures catering leads automatically.
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Restaurant margins are thin. Labor is expensive. And your customers expect instant answers.
Here is the reality: 75% of diners check menus online before visiting (National Restaurant Association). They have questions. What are the prices? Do you have gluten-free options? Is there parking? Can I book a table for 8 on Saturday?
If your website does not answer these questions instantly, they pick a different restaurant. It is that simple. Diners typically check 2-3 restaurants before deciding, and 78% of customers go with whoever responds first (Lead Connect). While your contact form sits unopened, the restaurant across town already confirmed a reservation.
The most common questions restaurants get over and over:
Your staff answers these questions hundreds of times per week. An AI chatbot answers them instantly, accurately, every single time. That frees your team to focus on the people actually sitting in your restaurant.
The AI Agent is what makes Boei different from a basic FAQ bot. You tell it what you need in plain English. It researches the connection, builds the integration, and tests it. No developer. No coding.
Here are the specific setups that work for restaurants.
Tell the agent: "Connect to our reservation system so visitors can check availability and book a table."
The chatbot shows open time slots and confirms bookings. A guest types "Table for 4, Friday at 7pm" and gets an instant response. If that slot is taken, the chatbot suggests alternatives. "Friday at 7pm is fully booked. We have openings at 6:30pm and 8pm. Which works better?"
No phone call. No waiting on hold. No email that sits unanswered for hours. Just a confirmed reservation in seconds.
This works with your existing booking system or a simple Google Calendar setup.
Tell the agent: "When someone asks about the menu, show our current menu with prices and dietary info. Connect to our Google Sheet with the menu."
You keep your menu in a Google Sheet. One column for the dish name, one for the price, one for dietary tags (vegan, gluten-free, contains nuts). The chatbot serves it live.
A guest asks "Do you have gluten-free pasta?" The chatbot responds: "Yes! Our Rigatoni Primavera ($18) is available gluten-free. We also have Gluten-Free Penne Bolognese ($16) and GF Margherita Pizza ($15)."
Update the Google Sheet when you change the menu. The chatbot reflects it immediately. No website edits needed.
Tell the agent: "Connect to Google Business so the chatbot knows our hours, location, and holiday closures."
This sounds simple, but it prevents the most frustrating guest experience. Someone drives 20 minutes to your restaurant only to find you are closed for a private event. Or they show up on a holiday expecting regular hours.
The chatbot pulls real-time data from your Google Business Profile. Holiday hours, temporary closures, special events. Always accurate. Always current.
Tell the agent: "When someone asks about catering, collect their event date, guest count, and budget, then send us the details via webhook."
Catering inquiries are high-value leads. But they need information before you can quote a price. The chatbot handles the qualification:
All collected in a natural conversation. The details land in your Boei inbox as a qualified lead with everything you need to send a proposal. No phone tag. No lost emails.
Here is how everything works together for a typical guest:
All automatic. The guest felt taken care of at every step. Your staff did not touch a single message. Most restaurants can't afford a full-time receptionist just to handle calls and messages. An AI employee costs $11/month and works every shift, including holidays.
Most restaurants only use their website and phone for communication. That is a mistake. WhatsApp is where your customers already are.
Here is how restaurants use WhatsApp with Boei:
WhatsApp messages have a 98% open rate (MessageBird). Compare that to email at 20% or SMS at 45%. Your messages actually get read.
And because Boei handles WhatsApp with AI, the chatbot responds to incoming messages too. A customer sends "Are you open tomorrow?" on WhatsApp at midnight. The AI responds instantly with accurate hours.
If your restaurant is in a tourist area, you serve guests who speak dozens of languages. A seafood place in Barcelona gets visitors from Germany, France, the UK, Japan, and the US. Every day.
The AI chatbot detects the guest's language and responds naturally. A Japanese tourist asks about the menu in Japanese and gets a response in Japanese with dish names, descriptions, and prices. A German couple asks about allergens in German and gets a detailed answer.
No multilingual staff needed. No awkward translation apps. 100+ languages supported automatically.
This is not just a nice feature. For tourist-area restaurants, it directly increases covers. A guest who can communicate comfortably is a guest who books a table.
| Feature | Boei | OpenTable Chat | Yelp Messaging | Toast Chatbot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI chatbot | Yes, trained on your restaurant | No AI, basic messaging | No AI, basic messaging | Limited AI |
| Reservation booking | Yes, via AI Agent | Yes, native | No | Yes, native |
| Menu display | Yes, from Google Sheet | No | No | Limited |
| Dietary/allergy info | Yes, automatic filtering | No | No | No |
| Catering lead capture | Yes, with qualification flow | No | No | No |
| WhatsApp channel | Yes, with AI replies | No | No | No |
| SMS channel | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Email channel | Yes, AI replies | No | No | No |
| Multilingual | 100+ languages | Limited | Limited | English only |
| Works on any website | Yes | OpenTable widget only | Yelp page only | Toast sites only |
| CRM included | Yes, with guest history | Reservation history only | No | Basic |
| Starting price | $11/month | Free (with commission) | Free | Included with Toast |
The key difference. OpenTable, Yelp, and Toast lock you into their platforms. OpenTable takes a commission per cover. Yelp only works on your Yelp page. Toast only works if you use their POS system.
Boei works on any website, connects to any reservation system, and gives you AI-powered responses across every channel. For $11/month, that is hard to beat.
See how other restaurants use Boei. Visit our restaurant page for examples and setup guides.
You can have this running before the dinner rush. Here is the process:
Step 1: Create your account. Start a free 7-day trial. No credit card required.
Step 2: Train the AI on your restaurant. Add your website URL. The AI learns your menu, hours, location, and policies. Upload your menu PDF or connect your Google Sheet for live menu data.
Step 3: Set up AI Agent integrations. Tell the agent to connect to your reservation system, Google Business Profile, and menu Google Sheet. Each takes a few minutes.
Step 4: Turn on your channels. Enable live chat for your website, WhatsApp for messaging, and email for inquiries. All managed from one inbox.
Step 5: Configure catering lead capture. Set up the qualification flow: event type, guest count, date, budget, dietary needs. Leads go straight to your inbox.
Step 6: Install on your website. One line of code. Works with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or any website builder. Takes 2 minutes.
Step 7: Test the full flow. Ask about the menu. Book a reservation. Submit a catering inquiry. Make sure everything works before your guests try it.
Based on industry benchmarks and Boei customer data:
For a restaurant doing $50,000/month in revenue, even a 5% increase in covers from better booking capture is $2,500/month. The chatbot costs $11-$69/month. The math works.
A chatbot captures the reservation. But the best restaurants build relationships beyond the booking. Boei includes email and SMS in the same platform.
Here is a simple retention flow:
You manage all of this from one inbox. No separate email marketing tool. No third-party SMS service. The chatbot captures the guest's info. The follow-up channels keep them engaged.
For restaurants that do catering and events, this is even more powerful. A catering inquiry that came in at midnight gets a professional follow-up email at 9am with your catering menu attached. All automatic.
1. Outdated menu information. If your chatbot shows last season's menu, you lose trust instantly. Use a Google Sheet connection so updates happen in real time.
2. No reservation integration. A chatbot that says "call us to book" defeats the purpose. Connect to your reservation system so guests can book directly.
3. Ignoring WhatsApp. Your guests use WhatsApp daily. If you only have a chatbot on your website, you miss the channel where people are most responsive.
4. Generic responses about allergies. Allergy questions are serious. Train your chatbot on your actual ingredients. A wrong answer about nuts or gluten is not just bad service. It is dangerous. Always include a disclaimer to confirm with staff for severe allergies.
5. Forgetting about private events. Private dining and catering are your highest-margin services. Make sure the chatbot can qualify these leads instead of just saying "email us."
Boei starts at $11/month on the annual Lite plan. Most single-location restaurants use Lite or Starter ($19/month). Multi-location restaurants use Growth at $49/month for 3 chatbots and CRM access. Compare that to hiring an extra host just to answer phones. See all plans.
Yes. The AI Agent connects to your reservation system (Google Calendar, Resy, custom system, or any platform with an API). Guests check availability and book directly in the chat. They get instant confirmation. You get the booking in your system.
The chatbot can flag dishes that contain common allergens based on your menu data. For serious allergies, you should train the chatbot to always add: "For severe allergies, please confirm with our staff when you arrive." This gives helpful information while keeping guests safe.
Yes. Boei works with any website. WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, or a custom-built site. You paste one line of code and the chat widget appears. No design changes needed.
Absolutely. Boei supports 100+ languages automatically. The AI detects the guest's language from their message and responds in the same language. No separate setup needed. Perfect for restaurants in tourist areas or diverse neighborhoods.
It transfers to live chat if someone from your team is available. During busy hours or after closing, the chatbot collects the guest's question and contact info so you can follow up. You set the rules for when to escalate and when to capture for later.
Your restaurant answers the same questions hundreds of times per week. Hours, menu, allergies, reservations, parking, private events. An AI chatbot handles all of it. Instantly. In any language. At 2am or 2pm.
The AI Agent lets you connect to your reservation system, live menu, and Google Business Profile without writing a single line of code. Describe what you need. The agent builds it.
Start with a free 7-day trial and set up your restaurant chatbot before tonight's dinner service. Your phone will finally stop ringing with questions the AI can answer.
Article by
Ruben is the founder of Boei, with 12+ years of experience in conversion optimization. Former IT consultant at Ernst & Young and Accenture, where he helped product teams at Shell, ING, Rabobank, Aegon, NN, and AirFrance/KLM optimize their digital experiences. Now building tools to help businesses convert more website visitors into customers.
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