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Booking and Enquiry Automation for Restaurants and Cafes in Australia

Automation for restaurants and hospitality venues handles the reservations, enquiries, and reputation work that's impossible to manage from the floor during service. Australian restaurants and cafes lose bookings every day because nobody can answer the phone in the middle of a lunch or dinner rush, and they lose revenue to no-shows that leave tables empty on the busiest nights. Against a backdrop of ongoing hospitality staffing shortages, automation answers reservation calls 24/7, takes bookings and function enquiries when the team is flat out, sends confirmation and reminder messages that reduce no-shows, captures private-event and catering enquiries that would otherwise go to voicemail, and builds the Google and social review profile that drives discovery for new diners. It runs alongside your existing booking system rather than replacing it, so the front of house stays focused on the guests in front of them.

By Justine Coupland

The Problem

What's Costing You Money Right Now

Reservation calls missed during service

Nobody can stop mid-rush to answer the phone. Every unanswered booking call is a table you didn't fill, and the caller simply rings the restaurant down the road that picked up.

No-shows leaving empty tables on peak nights

A no-show on a Friday or Saturday is a table that could have turned twice. With thin hospitality margins, a handful of empty covers a week is the difference between a good month and a flat one.

Function and event enquiries falling through

Birthdays, work parties, and catering enquiries are your highest-value bookings, but they arrive by phone, email, and social DMs at random hours. Miss the reply window and the group books elsewhere.

Reviews and online reputation deciding who walks in

Diners choose where to eat based on Google and social reviews before they ever call. A thin or stale review profile means you lose walk-in and discovery traffic to venues that look more popular online.

The Solution

How LUNA Fixes This

ServiceHow It Helps
AI Reservation AnsweringEvery booking call is answered 24/7, even mid-service. The AI takes the reservation, checks party size and timing, captures dietary notes, and adds it to your system, so the floor team never has to break away from a table to pick up the phone.
Booking Confirmations and RemindersGuests get an automatic confirmation when they book and a reminder before their sitting, with one-click confirm or cancel. Empty tables get released back for rebooking instead of sitting idle on your busiest night.
Function and Event Enquiry CapturePrivate-event, catering, and large-group enquiries are captured the moment they come in, across phone, web, and social, then routed to the right person with all the details, so high-value bookings never sit unanswered overnight.
Review AutomationHappy guests get a timely, one-click Google review request after their visit. A steady stream of fresh reviews lifts your local-pack ranking and gives new diners the social proof that decides where they book.
Unified Messaging InboxInstagram DMs, Facebook messages, SMS, and email land in one inbox the team can manage from a single screen, so enquiries that arrive on social get the same fast response as a phone call.
Restaurant Website DesignA fast, mobile-first site with menus, the booking widget, photos, and opening hours front and centre, built to turn a Google search into a reservation rather than a bounce.

Investment

What Does It Cost?

Every quote is custom. Pricing depends on scope (single-outcome vs full stack), call volume, your existing tools, and what compliance applies. We quote after a 30-minute discovery call so the number matches the actual work. No public price list. No lock-in.

FAQ

Common Questions

Will the AI work with my existing booking system?

Yes. The automation runs alongside your current reservation platform rather than replacing it. The AI takes the booking by phone and pushes it into the system you already use, so your floor team sees reservations the same way they always have, just without having to answer the phone mid-service.

How much can reminders really reduce no-shows?

A lot. Automated confirmations and pre-sitting reminders with one-click cancel typically cut no-shows sharply, because guests either confirm or free the table early enough for you to rebook it. On a busy Friday or Saturday, recovering even one or two no-show covers per service adds up fast across a year.

Can it capture function and catering enquiries after hours?

Yes. Private-event, large-group, and catering enquiries are your highest-value bookings, and they rarely arrive during quiet moments. The system captures them 24/7 across phone, your website, and social, then routes them with full details to whoever handles events, so nothing high-value sits unanswered overnight.

We're short-staffed already. Does this add to the team's workload?

It does the opposite. With hospitality staffing as tight as it is, the point of automation is to take the phone, the reminders, the social DMs, and the review chasing off the team's plate. Your people stay focused on the guests in the room instead of juggling the phone and the floor at once.

How does this help us get more diners through the door?

Two ways. First, you stop leaking bookings, the missed reservation calls and unanswered enquiries that were quietly going to competitors. Second, the review automation builds a fresher, stronger Google profile, which is what most diners check before choosing where to eat, so you win more of the discovery and walk-in traffic too.

Can guests still talk to a real person when they need to?

Always. The automation handles the routine bookings and FAQs that clog up the phone during service, but anything unusual, a complex dietary request, a special occasion, a complaint, gets routed straight to your team. Guests get faster answers on the simple stuff and a human on the things that matter.

Ready to Automate Your Business?

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. We'll identify opportunities specific to your industry and build a custom automation plan.