Book a table at the places that only take phone bookings
To book a table at a lot of good restaurants, you still have to ring. No app, no online form, just a phone that gets answered between lunch and dinner service if you are lucky. By the time you remember to try again, Saturday is full.
Send it to us. Tell us the restaurant, the date, the time and how many people. A real person rings, keeps trying until someone answers, makes the booking under your first name and texts you the confirmation, along with anything the restaurant wanted you to know.
The problem
Why booking by phone is harder than it should be
They only answer between services
During lunch and dinner the staff are on the floor and the phone rings out. The window to get through is a couple of quiet hours in the afternoon, which is exactly when you are busy with your own day.
Groups get complicated
Dinner for two is easy. Dinner for eleven means questions about set menus, high chairs, splitting the bill and whether you can all sit together. That is a ten minute conversation, not a quick call.
The details get lost
The coeliac, the vegetarian, the pram, the cake for the birthday. You mean to mention all of it and remember two. Then you are ringing back the next day to add the rest, if you can get through.
First choice is full, now what
If seven o’clock is gone, you have to decide on the spot: earlier, later, another night, or hang up and try your second choice. Then you start the whole thing again somewhere else, with a new person on the phone.
The fix
What you get when we book it
We ring until they answer
If the phone rings out because everyone is on the floor, we try again later. You don’t have to watch the clock for the quiet patch between lunch and dinner.
Everything passed on once
Put the dietary needs, the high chair and the birthday in your message. We read them out to the restaurant and check they have written them down against your booking.
A plan B you chose
Tell us what to do if your first choice is full: a different time, another night or the next restaurant on your list. We follow your order and text you what we got.
An example
What it looks like
You tell us
Dinner for 8 at Luca’s Kitchen this Saturday, 7pm, for my mum’s 70th. One coeliac, one vegetarian. Can we bring a cake? If 7 is full, 6.30 is fine. If Saturday is gone, try Sunday lunch at 12.30.
We text you back
Booked at Luca’s Kitchen: Saturday 6.30pm for 8, under your first name. 7pm was full. They have noted one coeliac and one vegetarian. Cake is fine and they will keep it in the fridge. They need a deposit for groups of 8 or more. Ring them or drop in before Thursday to pay it.
An example only, with made-up names, to show the kind of answer you get.
Three steps
How it works
- 1
Tell us who to call
The business or person, and what you want to ask, book or find out. Thirty seconds on the form below.
- 2
We ring them
A real person makes the call and says they are ringing on your behalf. No answer? We try again until there is one.
- 3
We text you the result
What they said, in plain words, sent to your mobile. The recording and a written transcript too, if you asked for them.
Good to know
We book in your first name and pass on what you told us. We don’t pay deposits or give card details. If the restaurant needs a deposit or a card to hold your booking, we tell you how they want it done and by when. We can’t promise a restaurant has room, only that we will ask.
Free while we’re getting started
Who do you want us to ring?
Give us the who and the what. We make the call, keep trying if nobody answers, and text you what they said.
- A real person makes the call, not a robot
- We say we’re ringing on your behalf
- No answer? We try again, and again
- The answer lands on your phone as a text
Leave it with us.
We’ll make the call and text you what they said. Now go and do something better with your day.
Questions people ask
What if they need a deposit or card number?
We don’t handle payments. We find out how much, how to pay and the deadline, and text that to you. We also ask how long they will hold the booking while you sort it out yourself.
Can you book for a big group?
Yes. Tell us numbers, any children, dietary needs and whether you want a set menu or to order on the night. We ask the questions a group booking brings up. If you prefer, we text you the answers before anything is locked in.
What name is the booking under?
Your first name, unless you tell us otherwise. We say we are calling on your behalf. If the restaurant wants a contact number for the booking, we only give yours if you have told us that is fine.