Restaurants
An AI receptionist for restaurants
The phone rings hardest exactly when nobody can answer it. Friday at seven, every server is on the floor, the host stand has a queue, and the call asking to book a table for six goes to voicemail, or to the restaurant down the road.
A typical call
Where the calls go missing
Peak service is peak call volume
The two collide every single night. Your team has to choose between the guest in front of them and the one on the phone, and whichever they pick, somebody waits.
Every missed call is a covered table
A booking for four is not a small loss. Neither is the takeaway order that went to whoever picked up first.
The same six questions, all night
Are you open, do you take walk-ins, where do we park, do you do gluten free, is there a set menu, can we bring a cake.
What Hilda handles
- Taking table bookings: date, party size, seating preference and special occasions
- Answering the routine questions on hours, location, parking, dietary options and set menus
- Taking phone orders for collection and delivery, straight into Toast or Clover
- Quoting realistic wait times so walk-in callers know what they are coming to
- Passing anything unusual to a manager with the reason for the call attached
What it deliberately does not do
Knowing where a system stops matters more than knowing where it starts.
- It does not comp meals, apply discounts or agree refunds; complaints route to a manager immediately.
- It does not confirm that a dish is safe for a severe allergy. Allergy calls go to a human, every time.
- It does not overbook. If the book is full it says so and offers the next available slot.
Further reading
Your phone rings hardest when nobody can answer it
Common questions
- Does an AI receptionist for restaurants take phone orders?
- Yes; Hilda takes phone orders for collection and delivery and pushes them straight into Toast or Clover, alongside taking table bookings and answering routine questions on hours, parking and dietary options.
- Will it overbook a table if the restaurant is full?
- No. If the book is full, Hilda says so and offers the next available slot instead of squeezing in a booking that doesn't fit.
- Can it handle a severe allergy question?
- No; Hilda does not confirm that a dish is safe for a severe allergy. Those calls are passed to a person, every time.
- How much does an AI receptionist cost?
- Hilda AI is $199 a month per location, with 500 minutes included and $0.25 per additional minute. There's no setup fee, and you can cancel anytime.
Hear it on your own calls
We will set Hilda up with your details and call it together, so you hear exactly what your callers would hear.