Reservation System for Restaurants: Set It Up in 5 Minutes and Without Commissions

7 minutes

Restaurant Reservation System Without Commissions

Your digital menu can also fill your dining room. With the iaMenu reservation system, the customer viewing your menu can reserve a table at that very moment, without registering, without apps, and without paying a commission per diner. You manage everything from the panel: confirm, seat, mark no-shows, and also record reservations that come in by phone or WhatsApp.

Unlike traditional reservation portals, here the reservation originates from YOUR menu and the customer is YOURS: their data remains in your CRM (Marketing section), not in a third-party database.

What you will learn in this section

1. Activate online reservations in your public menu
2. Configure the reservation policy (advance notice, group size, hours)
3. How your customer reserves step by step
4. Manage reservations from the panel: confirm, seat, complete
5. Register manual reservations (phone, WhatsApp, walk-in)
6. Automatic emails: confirmation, 24h reminder, and cancellation with 1 click
7. Control no-shows

Step 1: Activate online reservations

Reservations require a Professional or Premium plan (in the 14-day trial they are unlocked for you to try).

EscritorioMovil

In the side menu, go to Reservations. At the top, you will see the switch "Reservations in your public menu":

• Activated — your customers see the "Reserve" button on your digital menu
• Deactivated — the button disappears from the public menu, but you can still register manual reservations

⚠️ To activate online reservations, you need to have configured hours in Customize Menu → Hours. Without hours, there are no slots to offer, and iaMenu will notify you and guide you to configure them.

In the mobile dashboard, open the side menu and go to Reservations. The same switch "Reservations in your public menu" is at the top of the list. You can confirm and manage reservations from your mobile while you are in the room.

Step 2: Configure your reservation policy

In the Settings tab of the Reservations panel (or in Customize Menu → Reservations), you define the rules of the game:

Step 3: This is how your customer reserves

The customer clicks "Reserve" on your digital menu and completes 4 steps: date → time → people → their details (name and phone; email optional).

• No registration or app: the customer does not create an account. They authenticate their reservation with a unique link they receive by email.
• In their language: the reservation modal is translated into the languages of your menu (30 languages available).
• Integrated anti-spam: IP limits and honeypot traps prevent automated junk reservations.

Step 4: Manage reservations from the panel

Each reservation goes through a cycle of states that you control with a click:

Pending → Confirmed → Seated → Completed
              ↘ Cancelled       ↘ No-show

In the list, you have quick actions in each row: ✅ confirm, 🪑 seat, 🚫 mark no-show, ❌ cancel. You can also call, message via WhatsApp, or email the customer with the direct contact icons.

Step 5: Manual reservations (phone, WhatsApp, walk-in)

The reality of a restaurant: most reservations still come in by phone. To avoid them living in a notebook, click "+ New reservation":

1. Choose the source: Phone, WhatsApp, Walk-in, Email, or In-person (this will be recorded for your statistics)
2. Customer details: when entering the phone number, iaMenu detects if it is a returning customer and shows you their history ("3 reservations · 1 no-show") before accepting
3. Date, time, and people: no advance notice restrictions — you decide

Manual reservations are already confirmed (you have already spoken with the customer).

Step 6: Automatic emails that work for you

The emails are sent with your restaurant name, in the customer's language, and respect your real time zone. If the customer cancels, the table is freed instantly in your panel.

Step 7: No-shows under control

• Mark No-show when a confirmed customer does not show up: it remains in their record forever
• In the next reservation for that phone number, you will see the recurrence warning
• The no-show counter per customer is in the CRM (Marketing → Customers)

Comparison: iaMenu vs reservation portals

Common troubleshooting

The "Reserve" button does not appear on my menu

Check: (1) that the switch "Reservations in your public menu" is activated, (2) that you have configured hours with at least one open day, and (3) that your plan is Professional or Premium (or you are in trial).

The customer says they did not receive the confirmation email

Ask them to check spam. The email is sent as soon as the reservation is created. If they entered their email incorrectly, you can resend the details via WhatsApp from the contact icons of the reservation.

I want to accept groups of more than 8 people

Increase the "maximum group size" in the policy, or leave the online limit and manage larger groups by phone as a manual reservation (without limits).

Related tutorials

• QR Orders at the table so the customer can also order from the table
• Marketing and CRM to turn each reservation into a repeat customer
• Customization and hours to configure the hours that feed the calendar
• Gaston to create and consult reservations by speaking

Ready to fill more tables without paying commissions?

Try iaMenu for 14 days free — everything unlocked, no card needed.