You might already chat with guests through SMS for simple reservation inquiries or scheduling questions.
But, did you know that texting is a powerful tool that can improve your overall restaurant operations?
This includes everything from sending automated reservation reminders and waitlist notifications to running full marketing campaigns.
To do this, you need the right tool. And with so many texting services available, each offering unique features, choosing the right one can be tricky.
That's why we've compiled this guide covering some popular restaurant texting services.
We'll break down their strengths and weaknesses, helping you find the perfect system for your needs.
Let’s begin.
Tablein offers much more than a texting service.
It is a user-friendly restaurant booking system offering a suite of features for taking and managing reservations, along with fully integrated SMS capabilities.
Our system’s features enable real-time communication with your guests throughout the entire dining experience.
Imagine this: a potential diner discovers your restaurant on social media and decides to book a table using Tablein's integrated booking widget, shown below.
Source: Tablein
Immediately after making the reservation, the system sends an instant confirmation via SMS and email.
Then, a day before the reservation, the customer receives a reminder SMS, increasing the chance of them showing up.
Beyond confirmations and reminders, Tablein offers other valuable SMS options.
Source: Tablein
You can send feedback requests after a meal, trigger no-show notifications when guests don't honor their reservations, and even send "table's ready" alerts to walk-in customers.
In addition to these SMS features, Tablein is a complete restaurant reservation management system with features like:
All these features make Tablein a powerful efficiency booster, particularly for small to medium-sized restaurants looking for a more intuitive and affordable alternative to systems like OpenTable.
As for pricing, we offer three paid tiers and a free trial.
Source: Tablein
All tiers have all features unlocked, while the SMS cost will vary based on your country and carrier, so feel free to contact us for more information.
Overall, for an affordable reservation system that integrates a texting service, look no further than Tablein.
Twilio is a different kind of service.
It is a fully customizable platform that allows businesses to integrate various communication methods, including SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp, directly into their own systems.
This works through their cloud-based API, which developers can use to build communication features into other software.
Twilio offers a wide array of communication features, including:
Also, their rich communication service protocol (RCS) enables features like branded messaging and verified sender IDs for all your texts.
Source: Twilio
Clearly, Twilio offers a wealth of functionalities, but this can be overwhelming for some businesses.
In fact, Twilio is best suited for tech-savvy restaurants or larger chains that require a scalable and globally applicable messaging workflow with full control over their setup.
But, one significant advantage of Twilio is its flexible pricing model. You can start using their API for free and pay only for the features and message volume you use.
While prices vary by region, here's a table showing SMS and MMS pricing in the USA.
Source: Twilio
Twilio also offers volume discounts and some paid features, but you'll need to contact them directly for details, as this information isn't publicly available.
So, if you need a highly customizable solution that integrates into your existing systems, try Twilio.
Next, we have Podium, a communication and reputation management system that positions itself as an ideal platform for attracting and converting leads and, ultimately, helping businesses grow.
One useful feature is their text-to-pay option.
Once set up, you can send invoices directly through existing text threads, allowing customers to pay quickly and conveniently.
Source: Podium
This is especially beneficial for takeout or curbside pickup orders as it streamlines the payment process and eliminates the need for third-party delivery apps to process payments.
Podium also integrates extensive review management and customer engagement features, making it a top choice for restaurants prioritizing reputation and customer feedback.
Source: Podium
For example, you can send review requests via SMS and then collect and manage them within their centralized inbox.
However, these powerful features come at a cost. Podium is one of the more expensive systems on our list, starting at $399 per month.
Source: Podium
While these plans include unlimited one-to-one messages, monthly bulk messages are limited, which could be a drawback if you plan to use Podium for large-scale campaigns.
But, if cost isn’t a concern, Podium is a great system that offers a full set of premium texting features.
Fourth on our list is Emitrr, an automation-driven tool offering a comprehensive suite of communication features.
Beyond core texting functionalities, Emitrr provides tools for reminders, review and reputation management, and feedback collection, promising to optimize the entire customer journey.
Source: Emitrr
Emitrr emphasizes automation, making it an excellent choice for restaurants looking to streamline operations and save time.
For instance, after a table reservation, Emitrr can automatically send reminder notifications before the appointed time, helping reduce no-shows, just like Tablein.
Furthermore, you can schedule automated feedback requests, which are collected and displayed in Emitrr's review management dashboard.
Source: Emitrr
This system can also help you bring back some customers.
Say a guest hasn’t visited you in a while. Emitrr can re-engage them with automated recall SMS messages triggered after a specified period of inactivity.
Emitrr's automation features are designed for ease of use, making them accessible even for businesses new to such software tools.
Pricing reportedly starts at either $99 or $149 per month, depending on the source, and goes up to $249, with a free trial available.
Overall, Emitrr is best suited for restaurants seeking to automate communication processes and improve customer engagement, especially those new to automation tools.
SlickText is a comprehensive SMS marketing platform designed specifically for loyalty programs, promotional campaigns, and other customer retention strategies.
If you aim to elevate your restaurant marketing, SlickText offers a robust solution to scale outreach campaigns and drive impactful results.
Some of the key features SlickText provides include:
Consider, for example, their text-to-win campaigns.
Source: SlickText
A restaurant could easily create a custom contest in which guests text a specific keyword to enter a sweepstakes. SlickText then automatically selects a winner from the entries, simplifying the process for your team.
SlickText offers a variety of payment tiers, with a free trial available for experimentation.
Source: SlickText
Their most affordable paid tier starts at $29 per month, providing limited features and 500 texts, which can be a suitable starting point for smaller restaurants.
At the high end, their premium tier costs $1250 per month and includes 50,000 monthly texts, with many options in between.
For restaurants focused on building customer loyalty and implementing effective retention strategies, SlickText can be a valuable tool to explore.
Textline is the only tool on our list specifically focused on customer service operations and team collaboration.
It achieves this by enabling seamless two-way texting between businesses and customers, and between teams, facilitating direct and real-time communication.
Source: Textline
Textline's key features include:
With its robust collaboration features, Textline is particularly well-suited for restaurants offering catering or large-scale event services.
It allows different team members to coordinate seamlessly, ensuring smooth execution and efficient communication.
Source: Textline
For example, the kitchen staff can update the serving team about a dish's readiness via a quick group text, or the event manager can instantly notify all staff about a schedule change.
So if you also need a texting service that supports more than just your patrons, this might be a good fit.
Regarding pricing, Textline offers four paid tiers starting at $20 per month per agent.
Source: Textline
This means the most affordable plan effectively starts at $60 per month, with additional SMS messaging costs and fees not included in the base price.
Overall, if your restaurant prioritizes collaboration and excellent customer service, especially for coordinating larger events or catering services, Textline is worth considering.
Toast is primarily recognized for its powerful point-of-sale (POS) system and as an all-in-one restaurant management platform.
But Toast also offers robust SMS marketing features that are fully integrated within its ecosystem.
Source: Toast
Toast's SMS capabilities include features like:
Being tailor-made for restaurants, Toast’s automated SMS campaigns are ready-made for common use cases, as illustrated in the next image.
Illustration: Tablein / Data: Toast
While similar campaigns can be connected to other systems, Toast streamlines the process considerably by having everything pre-made, similar to Tablein.
Accessing Toast's SMS marketing requires a subscription to their system, with the SMS functionality as an add-on.
Source: Toast
While Toast offers a free plan, pricing for the texting features requires contacting their sales team for a custom quote.
Their website indicates that the base SMS marketing package includes 500 texts per month per location.
Restaurants can purchase up to 15,500 additional monthly texts per location to accommodate higher volume needs.
In conclusion, Toast is best suited for mid-to-large-sized restaurants requiring a comprehensive solution to manage all aspects of their operations, from restaurant management to SMS campaigns.
Similar to Toast, Square is primarily known as a point-of-sale (POS) system.
However, Square offers additional customer engagement tools, such as SMS marketing and reminders.
While their texting features and automated campaigns might be more limited than some other platforms, they provide a solid foundation for businesses starting out with texts.
Source: Square
Square simplifies the setup process, allowing users to establish rules for automated messages, including reminders, targeted campaigns based on specific criteria or events, and even review collection.
Their platform also provides a library of pre-built campaigns, such as birthday greetings and re-engagement messages for lapsed customers.
That’s something other tools on our list don’t offer.
Pricing for Square's SMS marketing involves two components.
First, you'll need a Square Online subscription, which ranges from a free tier (with transaction fees) up to $79 per month for the premium tier.
Then, to enable SMS marketing, there's an additional $10 monthly fee, plus usage-based charges depending on the number of texts sent.
Source: Square
For small to medium-sized restaurants, Square's texting options offer an affordable way to leverage SMS marketing without a significant financial investment.
If you're already using Square's POS system, integrating their SMS features is a worthwhile consideration.
EZTexting is a purpose-built solution specifically designed for text message marketing.
This platform empowers businesses to execute targeted text campaigns, send timely reminders, and engage customers with customizable promotions and marketing initiatives.
EZTexting offers a robust set of features, including:
There’s also EZTexting's campaign calendar, which simplifies scheduling your texts.
Source: EZTexting
This means you can prepare promotions for major holidays, special events, and custom campaigns well in advance and let the system do the rest.
Furthermore, the platform's analytics features enable tracking the message delivery rates and customer engagement, providing valuable insights to optimize your campaign effectiveness.
Source: EZTexting
Beyond marketing, EZTexting also offers basic restaurant-specific functionalities, such as coordinating curbside pickup and deliveries, updating table availability, and sending reminder notifications.
Now, let's talk about pricing.
EZTexting offers tiered pricing, starting at $20 per month, and going up to $3000 for large enterprises.
Source: EZTexting
All tiers except the Enterprise plan include 6000 yearly credits, with 1 credit equivalent to 1 SMS message or 3 credits for 1 MMS message. For more credits, the price starts at $0.03 per credit.
With its robust feature set and flexible pricing, EZTexting presents a compelling option for businesses looking to enhance customer communication and drive results through text messaging.
As you've seen, there's a wide range of texting services available for restaurants, each with its own strengths.
You have dedicated restaurant reservation systems like Tablein, which seamlessly integrate texting into your booking workflow, marketing-focused platforms like SlickText, ideal for loyalty programs and promotions, and even POS systems like Toast, offering comprehensive solutions.
Hopefully, this overview has helped you identify the perfect tool—or perhaps even a combination of tools—to meet your restaurant's unique requirements.
So, don't wait!
Start exploring some free trials, look at some demos, and see which platform best fits your workflow.