Patio reservations policy: book the terrace, or keep it walk-in?
Three ways to run outdoor tables, and the rain rule each one needs.
A patio reservations policy answers one question: can guests book a table outside? Some restaurants take reservations for the patio like any other table. Some keep it for walk-ins. Some let guests ask for it and promise nothing.
Each works. Each needs a rain rule. Here is how to choose, how to word it, and what to do on the day the weather turns.
Three ways to run a patio
- Walk-in only. Nobody books outside. The patio fills from the street, first come, first served. It is simple, and rain costs you nothing but empty chairs.
- Bookable, like any table. Guests pick the terrace when they book. It sells the patio ahead, and turns every rainy evening into a problem to solve.
- Asked for, not promised. Guests book a table and ask for outdoors. You seat them outside when you can, and inside when you can’t.
You can also mix them: book some patio tables and keep the rest for walk-ins, or take bookings outside at lunch and keep the evening for the door.
Should restaurants take reservations for patio seating?
The answer turns on one question: when it rains, can your dining room take the patio’s guests?
- Yes, easily. Bookable is safe. On a rainy night, everyone moves inside.
- Partly. Book a few patio tables, enough to move inside, and keep the rest walk-in. Or let guests ask for outdoors without promising it.
- No. Keep the patio walk-in, or make it bookable with a clear rule: a rained-out booking is moved if there is room, and cancelled if there isn’t.
Covered or heated tables change the answer. A covered table can stay booked through a shower. Treat those tables as a group of their own, not as part of the open terrace.
Think about the guest, too. Someone who booked the terrace chose the terrace. Telling them on the day that they are inside, or not coming at all, is the moment the policy has to carry.
Your patio reservations rain policy: write it before they book
A rain rule guests find out about on the day feels like bad news. The same rule read before booking is just information. Say three things:
- What happens when the weather turns: moved inside if there is room, otherwise cancelled, or the patio is walk-in only.
- When you decide: by a set time on the day, so guests are not left waiting.
- How they will hear: a call, an email or a message.
Wording you can adapt:
“Terrace tables depend on the weather. If it rains, we will move you inside if we have room, and let you know by 4 pm on the day.”
“Our terrace is walk-in only. When the weather is good, come early: tables go to the first guests who arrive.”
“You can ask for a table outside when you book. We will seat you there whenever the weather and the room allow, and inside otherwise.”
In ResOlio, put the rule in your house rules. Guests agree to them when they confirm, on your booking page and in the window your embed opens on your website.
How far ahead to open the patio
A booking made weeks ahead is a bet on the weather. You have two ways to soften it.
- Open the terrace online closer to the day. Keep patio tables bookable by phone only, and switch them to online booking once the week looks settled. Your team can still take a patio booking by phone.
- Open it with the rest, and lean on the rain rule. Simpler, as long as guests read the rule first.
In ResOlio, each table, area or combination can be booked online, by phone and the host, or kept for walk-ins, for the whole day or for one sitting. The most specific rule wins: a table’s rule beats its area’s. When you publish a change, guests are offered the new rules from then on, and bookings already made stay.
When it rains: move, call, or cancel
On the day the weather turns, work through the patio bookings in this order.
- Stop new online bookings outside. In Settings › Availability, switch Online off for the terrace and publish. Switch it back on when the sun returns.
- Move the bookings you can. In ResOlio, tap a name in the floor map’s guest list: the tables that can take the party light up, and a tap moves them there.
- Tell the guests you cannot move. Call them, or write to them. From Starter, you can write to a guest from their booking, and on Pro you can write once to everyone booked at one time.
- Take the patio tables out of service. On an office tablet, a free table can be taken out of service until a time later today, so nobody is given it. A table with a booking stays in service until you move the booking.
ResOlio doesn’t watch the weather: your team decides, and the tools above do the rest.
Keep some patio tables for walk-ins
On a sunny day, a fully booked patio turns away everyone who walks past. Keeping a few tables for walk-ins keeps the door busy.
There is no right share. Start with a few tables, watch who walks in and who you turn away, and adjust.
In ResOlio, set those tables to walk-in only, for the whole day or for one sitting, such as the evening. Walk-ins go into the same book as your bookings, so the host sees the whole patio on one floor map.
How it works in ResOlio
- The terrace is its own area, on every plan. Name it once, with the name guests see in English, French and Arabic. See floor settings.
- Who can book which table, on every plan. Online, by phone and the host, or walk-in only, for an area, a table or a combination, all day or for one sitting. See Availability.
- Outdoors as a wish, on every plan. If you let guests ask for it, a guest can choose Outdoors when booking. As a wish, marked “If possible”, it never removes a time; ticked “Must have this”, the form warns that it may remove some times. Tables can also be marked Covered or Heated.
- Your rain rule in writing, on every plan. See house rules.
- Moving bookings inside, on every plan. See move a booking and take a table out of service.
- Writing to guests, from Starter. One guest at a time; a whole sitting at once on Pro. See Messages.
Free takes up to 50 bookings a month. For more on areas and the floor, read restaurant table management.
Questions
Should I take reservations for outdoor seating?
If your dining room can take the patio’s guests on a rainy night, yes. If it can’t, keep some or all of the patio walk-in, or let guests ask for outdoors without promising it.
What happens to a patio booking when it rains?
Whatever your rain rule says, and guests should read it before they book. Choose between moving them inside if there is room, and cancelling with notice by a set time on the day.
Can guests ask for the terrace without me promising it?
Yes. In ResOlio, if you let guests ask for it, a guest can choose Outdoors as a wish: you try to give it, and it never removes a time from the page. Only “Must have this” makes it a condition, which may remove some times.
How many patio tables should stay walk-in?
There is no right number. Start with a few, watch how many guests you turn away at the door, and adjust. In ResOlio, any table can be set to walk-in only, for the whole day or for one sitting.
Can I stop online patio bookings on a rainy day?
Yes. In ResOlio, switch Online off for the terrace in Settings › Availability and publish. Bookings already made stay, and your team can still book by phone. Switch it back when the weather clears.
Do I have to tell guests the patio depends on the weather?
Tell them before they book. A rule read in advance is information; the same rule on the day is a disappointment. In ResOlio, guests agree to your house rules when they confirm.
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