Restaurants
Chatbot for restaurants
A chatbot for restaurants, on the venue’s website: menu, hours and, if you turn bookings on, a table at a time the calendar has free. It does not live in someone else’s till. You see the inbox.
Menu, hours, and what is not written down
The diner asks whether there is a terrace, what time the kitchen closes, whether a dish contains gluten, or what the set menu costs. Hostly answers from the profile and the catalogue the restaurant has approved. If the terrace, the allergen or the price is not written down, she does not assume it. She says she does not know and offers the phone number or a person.
You can upload the menu as a PDF, or a photo. The file is not dropped into the chat. What goes in is what the restaurant reviews and approves. That way a dish you no longer serve does not stay on offer because the model read it in an old document.
Table bookings, with no invented opening
Bookings start switched off. If you turn them on, the chat asks for a day and a time and checks the engine. It only offers times from that check. If the service has a capacity, the booking can include the number of guests. If bookings are off, it informs the guest and does not create the table.
The deposit also starts switched off. Off, the booking can be confirmed without taking payment. On, you choose what percentage of the service the diner pays before confirming. Hostly keeps 1 % of that charge as a platform fee. The rest goes to the business’s account. Stripe’s fee is separate. The diner does not pay the Hostly subscription.
No account is needed to book. To change or cancel later, you need the same chat or a code sent to the email on that booking. A name does not open someone else’s table. The calendar is Hostly’s. Beauty Calendar can be connected if the venue uses it. Google Calendar and Outlook cannot.
Service, not a loose answering machine
During service the inbox stays in the dashboard. You take a thread if the question goes beyond the menu. If you reply, the AI stays quiet in that thread until you hand it back. You can leave the AI on, off or in hybrid mode for the whole venue. Closed, and in hybrid mode, she sticks to hours, prices, the address and bookings.
A complaint marked in the chat hands the thread to a person and emails the address in Settings, up to five alerts an hour. It does not replace official complaint forms. The WhatsApp button, if you turn it on, opens the restaurant’s WhatsApp. The AI does not reply inside it.
Installation and price
The snippet comes from the dashboard: a script tag on the restaurant’s website, before the closing body tag. The Counter plan costs 29,90 € a month, VAT not included, with 600 conversations and 1,800 AI replies, and one person on the dashboard. Reception (49,90 €), Hall (99,90 €) and Headquarters (200 €) raise the usage and the team. Pay-as-you-go is 10 €, VAT included, for 500 replies. A monthly plan starts when you pay. The demo tries the chat on your website for 24 hours, once a day, in a separate database, and then deletes it. If the month hits the cap, the person writing sees that a person will review the message.
Frequently asked questions
Does the restaurant chatbot invent tables?
No. If you turn bookings on, it only offers times the calendar returns. If you leave them off, it informs the guest and does not create a booking. It does not promise a terrace, a set menu or a dish that is not written in the profile.
Does it take a deposit when booking a table?
The deposit starts switched off. If you turn it on, you choose the percentage of the service. Hostly keeps 1 % of that charge. Stripe’s fee is separate. The diner does not pay the Hostly fee. Without payment, the booking can be confirmed without paying.
Does it talk about allergens and the menu?
Only from what you have written and approved in the catalogue. If an allergen or a dish is missing, she says she does not know. She does not complete the menu on her own. A PDF of the menu does not enter the chat until you review what was extracted.
How much does a restaurant chatbot cost?
From 29,90 € a month, VAT not included, on the Counter plan: 600 conversations and 1,800 AI replies. There are larger plans and pay-as-you-go. It installs with one line of code on the restaurant’s website. The AI does not reply inside WhatsApp.
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