# AI Receptionist & Phone Answering for Restaurants Source: https://insertchat.com/industries/restaurants > Answer hours, menu, and reservation calls without pulling staff off the floor. An AI receptionist for restaurants answers the phone during service and after close, using your hours, menu, allergen information, and reservation policy. InsertChat’s assistant handles menu and dietary questions, tells guests to confirm allergies with your staff, books tables into a supported calendar or takes the request for your host, and flags private events and complaints for a manager. ## Turn a dinner-rush call into a reservation with the allergy noted Example workflow: Phone call. Illustrative scenario. Answers depend on your sources; actions depend on your connected tools and permissions. This is not a customer testimonial or measured result. A parent calls at 6:45 p.m. on a Thursday, while your host is seating a full dining room. > Do you have room for six on Saturday at 7:30? My son has a peanut allergy. Is the satay okay for him? ## Answer from your allergen chart Share what your published allergen information lists for the satay, and ask the guest to confirm the allergy with your staff on arrival. ## Handle the reservation Book Saturday at 7:30 in your connected calendar, or record the request for your host to confirm. ## Note the allergy The summary and transcript, allergy included, sit on the guest’s contact for your host to share with the kitchen before Saturday. ## Your team sets the boundaries A guest reporting an allergic reaction or a food safety concern is flagged for a manager right away. Whether a dish is safe for an allergy is always your staff’s call. ## What it handles for restaurants Handled by your assistant: - Hours, last seating, and holiday closures - Menu, vegetarian, and gluten-free questions from the menu you publish - Reservation requests, booked into a supported calendar or recorded for your host - Parking, directions, and accessibility questions - Corkage, dress code, and patio seating questions Sent straight to your team: - Allergic reactions and food safety concerns - Complaints about a visit, a dish, or a bill - Large parties, private events, and catering inquiries that need a manager - Lost phones, wallets, and other items left behind ## What it asks and what it needs to know Details it collects: - Guest name and phone number - Party size, date, and time - Allergies or dietary needs in the group - Occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary - Seating requests, such as the patio or a high chair - For private events or catering, the date, headcount, and budget - For lost items, what was left and when What to add to its knowledge: - Hours, last seating, and holiday schedule - Your current menu with prices - Allergen and dietary information for each dish - Reservation policy, party size limits, and cancellation rules - Private dining, event, and catering details - Parking, directions, and accessibility notes ## Can an AI receptionist take restaurant reservations? Yes, in one of two ways. It can book a table into a supported calendar, such as Google Calendar or Outlook, or take the name, party size, date, and time for your host to confirm. InsertChat is not a reservation platform, so if you already use one, your host enters the request there. Parties above the size you set go to a manager. ## Will it answer allergy questions? Only from the menu and allergen information you publish, and it tells guests to confirm any allergy with your staff before ordering. Keep that information current when dishes or suppliers change. If a guest describes a reaction after eating, the call is marked for a manager right away and the caller hears the emergency instructions you wrote, such as calling 911. ## How much does an AI receptionist for restaurants cost? On Pro, you pay $98 a month, or ten monthly payments upfront for a full year. That covers a phone number, a monthly batch of credits, three staff seats, and three AI assistants. A short call about parking still uses at least a minute of credits, since every call is rounded up to the minute. Texts and WhatsApp messages may add their own charges. ## Can it take takeout or delivery orders? No. InsertChat does not take food orders or payments. The assistant can tell callers how to order, for example through the online ordering link or delivery apps you list, and answer menu questions while they decide. Questions about an order already placed go to your team. ## What happens with private event and catering inquiries? The assistant collects the date, headcount, occasion, budget, and contact details, and the inquiry is flagged for your manager or events lead. It can share the private dining and catering details you publish, such as room capacity or minimum spend, while event quotes and contracts stay with your team. ## Can it talk with guests who don’t speak English? Yes. It replies in the guest’s language, using the same menu, hours, and allergen information. Describe each dish’s main ingredients in your menu source, so the assistant can explain a dish clearly to a caller in any language it supports. ## Can one account cover several restaurant locations? Yes. Set up an assistant for each location, with that restaurant’s address, hours, and menu. Pro covers three locations this way, and Growth, Scale, and Enterprise raise the assistant limit. Each location can have its own InsertChat number, and every number after the first adds $10 a month. ## Related features - [AI receptionist](https://insertchat.com/product/phone) - [Website chat](https://insertchat.com/product/website) - [Knowledge & answers](https://insertchat.com/product/knowledge)