Buyer's guide
What should a restaurant look for in an AI receptionist?
A restaurant should look for an AI receptionist that answers during the rush without pulling the host, writes reservations to the book you use, holds large parties with a deposit, confirms and releases tables, sends takeout callers to your own ordering link, and stops on any allergy question. The table turns each into a question for a vendor. The test is a Friday at 7:30.
What are the seven things to check?
Each row is a question for the vendor. The last column is what Foreman does.
| Check | Why it matters | What to ask | Foreman |
|---|---|---|---|
| The rush | Nobody leaves a party at the stand to answer the phone. | Does it answer during service without pulling the host? | Texts back a missed call in under a minute & books the table, so the host keeps seating. |
| Reservations | A promised table the book cannot hold is worse than none. | Does it write to your reservation book? | Writes to your book & texts the host. The integrations page lists which reservation & POS tools are live. |
| Large parties & deposits | A party of 10 that no-shows empties a room. | Can it ask for a deposit above a party size you set? | Parties above your set size get a deposit link with the booking. |
| Confirmations & no-shows | Seats go empty when a cancellation arrives at 5 PM. | Does it confirm & release unconfirmed tables? | Sends a Y or N confirmation & can release & refill tables. |
| Takeout calls | A direct order is worth more than a marketplace order. | Does it send callers to your own ordering link? | Texts your own ordering page so the order is prepaid & the margin stays with you. |
| Allergies | A guess here can hurt a guest. | What happens on an allergy question? | Allergies, large parties & anything unsure go to your manager by text, & the guest is told. |
| Menu & hours accuracy | A wrong dish or hour costs a visit. | What does it answer from? | Only from the menu, hours & policies you approved. It does not invent. |
How should takeout calls work?
A guest calls to ask for pickup at 6:30. If the call rings out, they open a delivery app and the app takes a cut of the order. The better path is a text that goes out within a minute with your own ordering page, so the order is prepaid and the kitchen has it before the guest walks in. Foreman does this by sending the link. If you use Square for ordering or payments, Square is a live connection and its developer platform exposes payments, orders and customers.
How many calls does a restaurant miss at the peak?
One call-handling vendor reports 33% of calls missed at peak and about $134 per reservation call ($42 a guest, 3.2 guests), from 1.2 million calls published in December 2025, as cited on the Foreman restaurants page. It is vendor data. At that default, 15 missed calls a week at a 38% booking rate is about $764 a week in tables, which is worked-example arithmetic and not a promise. The independent field study from 411 Locals found 37.8% of calls to small businesses answered by a live person.
What does it cost?
Foreman is $495 per location per month with no contract. The dated comparison is on AI receptionist pricing. The product page, with an example Friday, is Foreman for restaurants, & the wider group is hospitality.
Questions owners ask
What else do restaurant owners ask about AI receptionists?
What should a restaurant look for in an AI receptionist?
Look for how it handles the rush, whether it writes to your reservation book, deposits for large parties, confirmations that release unconfirmed tables, a takeout path that keeps the order direct, and a hard rule on allergies. Then ask for the bill at your call volume.
Can an AI receptionist take reservations?
Yes, if it reads your availability and writes to the book you use. Ask which reservation and POS tools it is connected to and what each connection covers, and ask to see a booking land in your book before you sign.
Can it take takeout orders?
Foreman texts the caller your own ordering page, so the order is prepaid and goes direct and the margin stays with you. If a vendor reads back a menu order on the phone instead, ask how it gets modifiers and allergies exactly right every time.
What about allergies?
A tool should not guess. The right behavior is to stop, tell the guest a manager will follow up, and put the details in front of the manager. Foreman does this for allergies, large parties and anything it is unsure about.
What does it cost?
Foreman is $495 per location per month with no contract. The dated comparison with other AI receptionists is on the AI receptionist pricing page.
Where do these numbers come from?
- 411 Locals, field study of 85 small businesses across 58 industries over 30 days: 37.8% of calls answered live, 37.8% to voicemail, 24.3% no response.
- Square Developer, API Reference: Square APIs cover payments, orders, customers, staff & merchants, with webhook events for changes.
Checked 10/11/2026. Vendor studies are directional, not audited. Where a figure is called an industry estimate, we could not trace it to a primary study. Your own phone log beats every number on this page.