Direct reservations on your URL
Branded reservation page on your own domain. Customers book direct, you keep the customer relationship — no middleman, no commission, no third-party listings funneling guests to competitors.
Reservations and table management
Direct bookings. No per-cover fees.
Katalyst native reservations puts your booking page on your own domain — no OpenTable commission, no Resy commission, no third-party logo on your guest experience. Live floor view, smart waitlist, and SMS reminders that cut no-shows in half.
No per-cover fees
vs $0.25–$2.50/cover on OpenTable and Resy
Live floor + reservation view
host sees tables, bookings, and waitlist on one screen
Automated SMS confirmations
cuts no-show rate by 40–60% on average
What you get
A reservation system that sees the whole guest journey
Standalone reservation tools see only the booking. Katalyst reservations live inside the POS — so the guest who books also shows up in loyalty, gift card balance, online order history, and last visit notes. Hosts greet returners by name and remember their preferences.
Visual floor plan
Drag-and-drop your dining room layout once. Hosts see tables, party sizes, and statuses at a glance. Combine 2-tops into a 4-top with one tap when a walk-in shows up.
Smart waitlist with SMS
Walk-ins join the waitlist via host or QR code. Auto-text when the table’s 5 minutes out. Guests can stroll the block instead of crowding your entrance — better experience, faster turns.
Guest profiles and preferences
Returning guests show with last visit, party size, allergies, and notes. Anniversaries flagged, VIPs surfaced — your team treats every guest like a regular without remembering everything manually.
Pacing and shift control
Cap reservations per 15-minute slot to match kitchen capacity. Limit large parties on Friday nights. Block off slots for catering pickup. Granular controls without spreadsheets.
Built into the POS
Reservations link to POS guest profiles automatically. The same person who booked the 7pm table shows up in loyalty, gift card history, and online order records — one customer, one record.
The reservation-fee math
Why per-cover fees add up faster than you think
A 60-seat full-service restaurant doing 1.5 turns on Friday and Saturday and 1 turn the rest of the week books roughly 2,000 covers/month through reservations. At OpenTable’s standard $1.00/cover (network plan) that’s $2,000/month — $24,000/year — paid for the privilege of guests finding you on a third-party site.
Katalyst native reservations is included in the standard platform — zero per-cover fee, zero per-month add-on. The infrastructure cost replaces marketplace commissions with software you already pay for.
The pragmatic playbook: keep a basic OpenTable or Resy listing for discovery (they do drive new-guest traffic), but route repeat customers to your direct reservation page via email confirmations, post-meal review prompts, and your website nav. Most restaurants see 60–80% of bookings shift to direct within 6 months.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How does this compare to OpenTable or Resy?
OpenTable and Resy charge per-cover fees ($0.25–$2.50 per booked guest) and own the customer relationship — guests find your restaurant on their site, not yours. Katalyst native reservations puts the booking on your own domain with no per-cover fee. The trade-off: OpenTable still drives discovery for new guests; we recommend keeping a free-tier OpenTable listing for discovery while routing repeat customers to your direct booking page.
Can I import existing reservations?
Yes. We can import upcoming bookings from OpenTable, Resy, Tock, or CSV files during onboarding. Customer profiles (names, emails, visit history) migrate too. Most restaurants switch over a slow weekday and have all bookings live within 24 hours.
What about the waitlist?
Walk-ins join the waitlist either through the host stand (with party size and quoted wait time) or via QR code on the front door. Customers get an SMS when their table is approximately 5 minutes out — they can wander the block instead of standing at the entrance. Reduces perceived wait time and crowding.
Does this handle private events and large parties?
Yes. Private dining and large parties (8+) can be configured with custom deposit requirements, lead-time minimums, and approval workflows. Block off rooms or sections for events; combine multiple tables for groups. For full event management with catering, the Katalyst catering management module integrates seamlessly.
What about no-shows?
Three-stage approach: SMS reminder 24 hours out, second SMS 2 hours out, optional credit-card hold for parties of 6+ or for prime-time slots. Operators using all three see no-show rates drop from 8–12% to 2–4%. The credit-card hold itself rarely needs charging — its existence does the work.
Can guests book through Google or Instagram?
Yes. The Katalyst reservation page supports Google Reserve integration (book via Google Search and Maps results) and direct-link buttons for Instagram and Facebook business profiles. We handle the technical setup during onboarding.
Stop paying per cover
See Katalyst reservations in action
A 30-minute walkthrough — your floor plan, your reservation page, on a working POS.