Industries Restaurants & Cafes
Business texting and a shared inbox for restaurants and cafes
The dinner rush is on, the pass is stacked, and the phone is ringing off the hook: a table wanting to move from 7 to 7:30, someone asking if you can fit a group of eight, a DM about whether you do set menus for a birthday. Nobody on the floor can stop to take all of it, so calls ring out, DMs pile up, and a big booking books somewhere that picked up. HiveThread puts every message in one shared inbox that your host stand and managers can clear between services, so a full house never means a missed booking.
People plan nights out on their phones, at night, across every channel you have. They text to change a reservation, they message your Instagram after seeing a plate you posted, they type into your website chat asking about dietary options or a private function. When those land in four different apps on the venue phone, the manager’s phone and two social accounts, something always slips. HiveThread brings it all into one place, with AI that drafts replies in your venue’s voice so a quick answer goes out even at the height of service.
Sound familiar?
Booking changes arrive right in the middle of service
The 7pm table wants to push to 7:30, a party of four is now a party of six, someone is running twenty minutes late, and every one of these lands exactly when your floor staff are slammed. A call that rings out or a DM nobody sees becomes a table held empty, a double-booking, or a group turned away at the door. A written message waits patiently in one inbox and gets handled between covers, so your bookings stay accurate without pulling a host off the floor.
Group and function enquiries slip through the cracks
The messages worth the most (a table of ten, a birthday set menu, a Christmas function, a corporate lunch) are the ones most likely to be lost, because they come in as long Instagram DMs and website questions while everyone is serving. When a big enquiry sits unanswered until tomorrow, that group has already booked the venue that replied tonight. One inbox with the full thread means the high-value bookings get a fast, warm answer.
The same questions ring the phone off the hook
"Are you open Monday?", "do you take walk-ins?", "is there parking?", "can you do gluten-free?", "is the courtyard dog-friendly?" The same handful of questions tie up your phone all day and pull staff away from tables. When those come in by text, DM and website chat instead, saved replies and AI drafts answer them in seconds, so your team spends the rush looking after the people actually in the room.
A day with HiveThread
Saturday, 6:40pm as the first tables sit
Service is starting to build and the HiveThread inbox on the host stand is already busy. Waiting: a text from a booked guest, Priya, asking to move her table of four from 7 to 7:45, an Instagram DM asking whether you can do a set menu for a birthday of twelve next Friday, and a website-widget question about gluten-free options. It is all in one list, not split across the venue phone, the manager’s Instagram and a website nobody is watching mid-service.
The floor manager taps out a quick yes to Priya and updates the booking, then checks the AI’s draft on the gluten-free question (accurate off your menu) and sends it. The birthday of twelve is worth a proper reply, so she assigns it to the venue manager with a private note, "function enquiry, Friday, wants set menu options". Nobody double-answers, because the whole team can see who owns each thread.
By 7:15 the venue manager, on a break out the back, opens the app on their phone, sends the birthday group your set menu and a warm note about the private nook, and locks in a deposit conversation for a booking worth far more than a two-top. Priya arrives at 7:45 to a table that is ready, the gluten-free guest is looked after, and not one of those messages pulled a host away from the door during the rush.
How restaurants and cafes use HiveThread
Handle booking changes without leaving the floor
Time changes, party-size tweaks, running-late texts and cancellations all land in one inbox your host stand and managers share, so a quick written reply keeps the book accurate between covers. No host is stuck on hold mid-service, no table is held empty because a message was missed, and no group is turned away because a change never reached the floor.
Win group and function bookings while they are hot
Birthdays, corporate lunches, Christmas functions and big tables are your highest-value enquiries and the easiest to lose. HiveThread lands them in one inbox where a manager can send set menus, answer function questions and start a deposit conversation fast, so the group books with you tonight instead of the venue that replied while you were still serving.
Turn Instagram plates into tonight’s tables
Every dish and fit-out shot you post pulls DMs from people picturing a night at your place. HiveThread brings those Instagram and Facebook messages beside your texts, so when someone asks "do you have a table for two tonight?" or "can I book the courtyard?", your team answers while they are still hungry, not tomorrow when the craving has passed.
Answer the everyday questions without tying up the phone
Opening hours, walk-ins, parking, dietary options, dog-friendly seating: the same questions ring your phone all day. With every channel in one inbox and saved replies for the ones you answer constantly, your team clears them in seconds and stays focused on the guests in the room instead of the handset behind the pass.
The features doing the work
One inbox that survives the rush
SMS, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and your website chat land in a single shared inbox at the host stand, so booking changes, function enquiries and quick questions sit in one list instead of four apps across three phones.
Hand the big bookings to a manager
Assign a function or group enquiry to whoever handles events, leave an internal note the guest never sees, and watch typing indicators so two staff never send a booked table conflicting answers during service.
Replies drafted in your venue’s voice
The AI learns from your website and menu, then drafts answers about bookings, hours and dietary questions for your team to review and send. A person approves every message. It is not a chatbot taking your bookings on its own.
Answer from the floor or on a break
Web, iOS and Android apps with push notifications mean a manager can reply to a function enquiry from out the back and the host can update a booking from the stand, with no one tied to a phone behind the pass.
Your standard answers, one tap away
Keep your hours, walk-in policy, parking and dietary answers saved so the questions you get a hundred times a day go out in a tap, even at the peak of Saturday service.
Frequently asked questions
Can our floor team and managers share one venue number?
Yes. Every message to your HiveThread number lands in one shared inbox that your host stand and managers can all see. Assignments, private notes and typing indicators keep it clear who is handling each booking, so a table change is never missed and a function enquiry is never answered twice during a busy service.
Will the AI take bookings on its own?
No. HiveThread is not a chatbot. The AI drafts a suggested reply from your own menu, hours and policies, and a real person on your team reviews, edits and sends it. You stay in control of every booking and quote. The tool just means a fast answer goes out even in the middle of the rush.
Do the Instagram DMs from our food photos come through?
Yes. Connect your Instagram and Facebook pages and those DMs land in the same inbox as your texts and website chats. When a plate you posted pulls in "table for two tonight?" or a group enquiry, your team sees it straight away and can answer while the person is still deciding where to eat.
How does this help with function and group enquiries?
Big enquiries land in the same inbox as everything else, where a manager can assign them, attach a private note, send set menus and answer questions fast. The full thread stays on the contact, so the high-value bookings that used to get lost in a busy service get the quick, warm reply that wins them.
How long does setup take?
Most venues are answering messages the same day. Connect a number, link your Facebook and Instagram pages, paste the chat widget onto your website and invite your team: no new hardware, and nothing to install at the host stand beyond signing in on the device you already use.
Never lose a booking to a busy night
Available now in Australia, the US and Canada.
Give every table change, group enquiry and question one place to land and a team that can answer mid-service. Plans from $49/mo AUD ($25/mo USD).