WhatsApp bot for restaurant reservations

Requests only

The simplest setup: a request form with no calendar. Say so when you describe the bot. If it adds calendar steps anyway, switch the calendar off in Calendar settings, choose Remove calendar nodes in the builder, pick Something else and ask for date and time questions. The default option removes those steps without replacing them. Then turn on Require review in the builder's Configure tab so each request waits for you. The form collects the date, time and party size, and you accept each request after checking your book. The bot doesn't check free times. Reminders, expiry and in-chat changes don't apply, and your answer reaches the guest only within 24 hours of their last message.

One calendar per table

Each table gets its own calendar. The guest picks the table, and the bot offers a time only if it is free. Party size doesn't choose the table. Needs the Growth plan.

Party size and notes

Party size and allergies are questions in the flow. They show on the request in your inbox, not on the calendar entry, and you can add them to your owner notification. They don't change which times are offered.

Deposits

On Growth, a payment step sends a Stripe Checkout link once the time is held. If you approve bookings yourself, the guest's payment confirms the booking and they're told so, and it leaves your requests. An unpaid request lapses when your approval time runs out. If the bot confirms bookings itself, an unpaid booking stays until you cancel it. This needs calendar steps: on a request form nothing holds the time, so a guest could pay for a table that is already taken. If you decline a paid booking, refund the deposit in Stripe yourself.