For restaurants and cafés

How to create a restaurants waitlist

The ten omakase seats you do each night sell out by lunch, and everyone who calls after that gets the same apology. A Google Form never fills, so it takes 40 names for 10 seats. Instagram DMs pile up from people asking if tonight is open. Someone has to answer all of it while prepping service.

Your host stand runs on a notebook and a phone that keeps ringing. 6 steps, about five minutes, or one click with the recipe below.

Step by step

Set up the Tonight's counter yourself

These are the exact values the recipe applies. Change any of them to match your line.

  1. Create the waitlist

    Sign in, click New waitlist, and name it "Tonight's counter". It starts as a draft, so nothing is public until you publish.

  2. Set capacity to 10 per day

    In Settings, set the capacity to 10 per day and the reset to daily at 5:00 AM. The count starts over at every reset; nothing is deleted.

  3. Set the opening hours

    Under Hours, set signups to open Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Outside those hours the form shows a closed screen with the next opening time, in the joiner's time zone.

  4. Add the form fields

    Email is built in. On the Form tab, add Name (required), Phone (required), Party size (required). Labels and help text render as plain text.

  5. Show the counter

    In Settings, turn on the counter so the form shows how many spots are left. People join faster when they can see the number.

  6. Publish and share

    Click Publish. The Share tab has the hosted link, a QR code, and the script tag or iframe for your site. The submit button reads "Join tonight's list".

Or do it in one click

Use the recipe

The "Tonight's counter" recipe creates the waitlist with every step above already done. Sign in, click once, and it is live as a draft you can publish.

Create this waitlistSee the recipe page

Recipe

Tonight's counter

  • 10 per day
  • Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat 6 AM–12 PM
  • 4 fields
  • 10 seats per day. The count resets at 5:00 AM in your time zone.
  • The list opens at 6:00 AM and closes at noon, Tuesday through Saturday.
  • Outside those hours guests see the next opening time instead of a form.
  • Asks for name, phone, and party size (1 to 4).
  • Guests see their number for today on the success screen.

After you publish

How the list runs

Capacity per day

Ten a day, twenty a week, or a monthly cap. Deleting a no-show frees the slot.

Resets at your time

5:00 AM in your time zone, not midnight UTC. Week windows start on the day you pick.

Opening hours

Only take names Tuesday to Saturday, 6:00 AM to noon. Outside that, the form says when it opens.

Numbered for today

"You're #4 today." The number restarts every window; the all-time count stays in your export.

QR and hosted page

No website needed. Print the QR code on the door and the menu.

Phone and party size

Add a phone field, a party-size choice, a note. Required or optional, your call.

FAQ

Questions people here ask

Does it text guests when their table is ready?

No. Unwaited takes names and enforces capacity. It does not run a live host stand with SMS callbacks. Call guests from the phone number they gave you.

What if we close on Mondays?

Leave Monday out of the opening hours. Monday visitors see the closed message and the next opening time.

Can I change today's capacity on the fly?

Yes. Raise it and the list reopens immediately. Lower it and it closes once the count is reached.

Related

Keep reading

Five minutes by hand, or one click.

Free for 100 signups a month. Unlimited waitlists. Every setting above stays editable.

Create this waitlist