Restaurant · Host

An AI phone host for your restaurant

It answers every call during service and after close: books tables against your own availability, adds guests to the waitlist when a slot is full, answers menu, hours and parking questions, and puts the call through to a person when a guest asks for one.

What the agent does on a call

Books tables that actually exist

Before it books, the agent checks availability against your opening hours, how many tables you take per slot, your largest party size and your slot length. If the time is taken, it offers the nearby times that are free.

Runs the waitlist when you're full

When the slot a guest wants is full, the agent offers the waitlist and saves their name, party size, number and the time they wanted. You work it from the Waitlist page and mark guests seated or cancelled.

Answers from your menu

Paste your menu or upload a photo, PDF or spreadsheet and it's turned into categories and items for you to review. The agent answers from it and never invents dishes or prices.

Careful with allergies

It shares what your menu says about ingredients, but never promises a dish is free of an allergen. It tells the guest to confirm with staff when they arrive.

Hands off to a person

Add a transfer number and, when a guest asks for someone or needs something the agent can't do, the live call goes to your team.

Speaks your guests' language

Choose the language the agent speaks: English or one of 14 others, including Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Tagalog.

How setup works

  1. 1Sign up and pick the Restaurant starter. Type your restaurant's name.
  2. 2Set your opening hours, tables per slot, largest party and slot length.
  3. 3Import your menu from text, a photo, a PDF or a spreadsheet, and add FAQs like parking, dress code and corkage.
  4. 4Call it in your browser. Book a table, ask for a dish, ask for a manager. Fix anything by chatting.
  5. 5Pick a plan, get a number in your area code, or forward the line guests already call.

The backend behind it

Actions, data tables and webhooks come with every plan, Free included. The call log and Inbox come with a phone number.

Reservations and waitlist

Built in. Bookings land in Reservations, full slots in Waitlist, and each call in the call log with its recording and transcript.

Data tables

Keep specials, private-dining packages or catering options in a table the agent reads mid-call, and update it without touching the prompt.

Webhooks

Get a signed event when a booking is created or cancelled, or when a call ends, and send it on to your own systems.

Actions

Describe something else you want it to do, like checking a gift-card balance in a system with an API, and Apollo drafts a hosted action for it.

Why the phone still matters for a restaurant

Guests call to ask if you have a table at eight, whether the patio is open, if there's parking, and whether the risotto has mushrooms. Those calls come in at the same moments your host stand is busiest. An AI phone host takes the routine ones off the floor, so the people at the door can look after the people at the door.

How availability works

Apollo keeps the reservation book itself. You tell it when you're open each day, how many tables can be booked in one slot, the largest party one table seats, and how long a slot lasts. When a guest asks for a time, the agent checks that slot first and only books if it's inside your hours and has room. It reads the date, time and party size back before it confirms.

What it doesn't do yet

It books new reservations and adds guests to the waitlist. It doesn't change or cancel an existing booking over the phone, because it can't yet prove the caller is the person who made it. Those calls go to your team, and you change or cancel the booking from the dashboard. It also doesn't sync with outside reservation platforms; Apollo's own book is the source of truth.

Test it on a busy Friday before it takes one

Readiness tests have an AI caller ring your agent and grade the result: it asks what the agent can do, insists on a person, and tries to pull it off topic. Add your own scenarios too (up to 20 per agent), like a guest who wants a table at a time you're closed or asks whether a dish has nuts. Each scenario has to pass 3 runs in a row. You can also share a talk link so your staff can try the agent in a browser. Read more in how to test a voice agent before it takes real calls.

Safety rules, built in

The restaurant starter follows these rules on every call, on top of anything you add.

  • Never guarantee a dish is free of an allergen. Share what the menu says and tell them to confirm with staff when they arrive.
  • Only book within opening hours, and never invent menu items or prices.
  • Never make up facts, prices, availability, or policies. If you don't know, say so and offer to take a message or transfer.
  • Never ask for or repeat payment card numbers, bank details, Social Security numbers, or passwords.
  • If someone describes an emergency or danger to life, tell them to hang up and call 911 right away.

Questions

Can the AI host take reservations for my restaurant?

Yes. It checks your availability (opening hours, tables per slot, largest party, slot length) before it books, then reads the booking back to the guest. Bookings show up in the dashboard's Reservations page.

What happens when we're fully booked?

The agent offers any nearby free times it found, and if none work, adds the guest to the waitlist with their name, party size, number and the time they wanted.

Can guests change or cancel a reservation by phone?

Not with the agent yet. It can't verify that the caller made the booking, so those calls go to your team, and you change or cancel the booking in the dashboard.

Does it connect to my existing reservation platform?

No. Apollo keeps its own reservation book. Outside reservation platforms only offer partner APIs, so there's no sync with them today.

How does it know my menu?

Paste it in, or upload a photo, PDF or spreadsheet. Apollo turns it into categories and items you review and save. The agent answers from what you saved and won't invent dishes or prices.

Will it answer allergy questions?

It shares what your menu says, but it never guarantees that a dish is free of an allergen. It tells guests to confirm with staff when they arrive.

More in the full FAQ and on pricing.

Put an AI host on your line.

Building and testing are free. Pick a plan when you want it answering a real phone number.

Guides

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A step-by-step guide to putting an AI host on your restaurant's phone: reservations against your real availability, a waitlist for full slots, menu answers, and a clean handoff to your team.

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How to forward your business number to an AI phone agent

Keep the number your customers already know and let an AI agent answer it. How call forwarding works on landlines, mobiles and VoIP lines, which forwarding mode to start with, and how to check it's working.

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A practical checklist for testing an AI phone agent before launch: browser test calls, simulated callers with readiness tests, share links for your team, and reading transcripts to fix what you find.

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