How to quote a wait time
Quote a range your own seating pace supports, then check it against what happened. Waitlist apps can fill in the number, but how they get it differs, so know whose estimate you are reading.
The short version
A wait quote is a promise made while you do not know how the room will behave. The goal is not a perfect number. It is a number your hosts can say with a straight face and your guests can plan around. Apps help by putting the same number on every screen and in the text. They do not know your kitchen.
Where the number comes from
The data shows three kinds of source, and it matters which one you have.
The host types it. In Resy OS, the waitlist text carries the wait the host inputs. Resy OS’s help pages show a message of the form “the estimated wait for your party of N is” followed by that host-entered time. Bzz’s page describes estimates set by the venue, while its homepage also mentions live floor capacity and historical dining times. Here the app only displays your judgment, so your judgment is the accuracy.
The app calculates it from the room. Hostme’s help pages let you choose between two calculation methods, one of which is based on table availability. Hostme is the one to read if you want to see the settings. Eat App has a Wait Est field on each waitlist entry, based on the start time selected for the party. SpotOn Reserve’s FAQ says the estimate comes from an algorithm and is fed to Google in real time. Yelp Guest Manager’s FAQ says it learns your wait times with machine learning.
The tier decides whether you have it. TablesReady lists predicted wait times starting on its Starter plan, so the free plan does not include them. Check the app page for each product’s plan details before you rely on a feature.
For many apps the pages only say that an estimate exists. Waitwhile says it uses a dynamic system to estimate waits, and WaitQ says its estimate tells customers roughly how long they may wait. Neither page gives the formula. We do not guess at how they work.
What the apps cannot see
Whatever the method, an estimate leans on what the system knows: who is waiting, party sizes, which tables are open and how long parties have stayed in the past. It does not know that a six-top ordered a third round, that the kitchen is behind on one station, or that a reservation is walking in late. Estimates drift for reasons you can see from the host stand and the app cannot.
Reviewers of one product mention limited control over wait estimates by table size or location. That is a good question to ask of any app: can I tune it, and can I override a single quote?
Habits that keep quotes honest
Quote by party size. A table for two and a table for eight turn at different speeds. Think about each size separately, and check whether your app handles party size.
Use ranges. “Twenty to thirty minutes” survives a slow table. “Twenty-five minutes” does not.
Pad for reservations. If you take bookings alongside the waitlist, count the reservations due in the next hour before you quote. A waitlist-only list will not tell you that.
Update the guest. If the number changes, tell the guest. A text, a refreshed page or a short chat in apps that record two-way SMS costs far less than an irritated guest at the desk. ScanQueue’s site describes guests tracking their position and estimated wait from a browser, which saves the question.
Stop quoting when it is a guess. If the room is changing fast, say “we’ll text you the moment a table is close.” Apps that text on table-ready make this possible.
Round up on busy nights. Beating a quote delights a guest. Missing it costs you the party.
Check your own accuracy
You do not need statistics. For a week of busy shifts, write down three things for each party: the quote, the time you seated them, and whether they stayed. Then look at it by party size and by hour.
- Are quotes usually short or usually long?
- Is one party size always wrong?
- Do walk-aways cluster after a quote above a certain length?
Your own tally gives you the correction. If quotes run short by a similar amount every time, add it to what your hosts say. If your app lets you choose the calculation method or override the number, use that setting rather than overriding at the stand each time.
What to ask before you pick an app
- Is the estimate automatic or host-entered?
- Which plan includes it? Estimates may sit above the free tier.
- Can the estimate go into the text and onto the guest’s tracking page?
- Can your hosts override it for a single party?
- Does it account for reservations, if you take them?
The walk-ins best-of list selects apps with confirmed SMS notifications and wait-time estimates. The waitlist and reservations list covers apps with confirmed reservations. The free plans list shows which apps let you try the waitlist before paying. For the texting side of the process, read the guide to SMS and pagers.
A note on what we know
Our data records whether an app offers wait-time estimates, with the vendor page we read. It does not measure how accurate any of them are, and we do not claim that one app quotes better than another. Test with your own host stand, on your own busy nights.
Frequently asked questions
Which apps record wait-time estimates?
Most restaurant-relevant apps in our data. Exceptions with no estimate recorded include QaTable, Waitly, resOS, Obee and Servme. The walk-ins best-of list names the apps that have both SMS and estimates confirmed.
Should I quote a single number or a range?
A range is easier to keep. A single number turns into a promise, and a guest who is told 20 minutes treats 35 as a broken one. Pick a range your host can actually hit, and update it when the room changes.
How do I know if my quotes are accurate?
Log the quote and the actual seat time for a few shifts. Resy OS records a report on how accurate quoted waits are, per its features page. In other apps, a simple tally on a clipboard works.