Usage Guide

Everything you need to run reservations with Simple Reso — from your daily dashboard to customers, analytics, and settings. New here? Start with the Setup Guide to configure your restaurant first.

How Simple Reso works: everything runs on email

Simple Reso is an email-based reservation system. There is no SMS or text messaging — every confirmation and update is delivered by email, so make sure guests enter a valid email address when they book.

When a guest books, they get a confirmation email

It includes their reservation details and a secure link they can use to modify or cancel the booking themselves — no phone call needed.

You get a notification email at your restaurant inbox

Every new booking — and every guest change or cancellation — is sent to the email set in Settings. Use an inbox your team monitors, like the host stand or a manager address.

Tip: Add your sending domain to your contacts and check spam early on, so booking emails always reach both you and your guests. The dashboard is always the source of truth, even if an email is missed.

Your dashboard (Home)

The Home page is your daily command center. It shows a calendar and the full list of reservations for the selected day, along with quick stats like covers and reservation count.

Day calendar

Tap any date to see that day’s reservations. Days with bookings are marked with a colored dot. Use "Today" to jump back to the current day.

Automatic day rollover

The dashboard advances to the next day automatically at midnight in your restaurant’s timezone, so your team always opens to the correct day.

Daily stats

See total reservations and covers (confirmed plus arrived guests) for the selected day at a glance.

Search & filter

Search by guest name, email, or phone, and filter the list by status (confirmed, arrived, no-show, canceled).

Taking & editing reservations

Guests book themselves online, but you can also add and edit reservations by hand from the dashboard — useful for phone calls and walk-ins.

Add a reservation manually

Use "Add reservation" to enter a guest’s name, contact info, party size, date, and time. Staff-entered bookings are not limited by the online max party size, so you can book groups of any size.

Large parties

For groups over 10, use the "11+" field or the plus/minus stepper. On phones and tablets you can type the number directly.

Edit a booking

Open any reservation to change the time, party size, or details. Editing a guest’s booking sends them an updated confirmation email automatically.

Internal notes

Add staff-only notes to a reservation (e.g. "window table", "anniversary"). These are never shown to the guest.

Managing the day: Arrived, No-show & Cancel

As service runs, mark each reservation so your list stays clean and accurate.

Arrived

Tap "Arrived" when a party is seated. The reservation collapses out of the active list (behind a "Show arrived" toggle) so staff can focus on who is still expected. Arrived guests still count toward covers.

No-show

Mark a guest who never arrived. This increments their no-show count on their customer profile so you can spot repeat offenders.

Cancel

Cancel a reservation that will not be honored. Canceled bookings drop out of your covers count.

Undo

Marked someone arrived by mistake? Expand the arrived list and tap "Undo" to return them to confirmed.

Customers

Every guest who books is saved automatically, building a guest book over time without any extra work.

Guest history

See each guest’s total visits, covers, and no-show count. Search by name, email, or phone to find anyone quickly.

Notes & tags

Add notes and tags (like "VIP" or "allergy") to a customer so your team has context the next time they book.

Reservation history

Open a customer to view their past and upcoming reservations, and edit any of them in place.

Export

Download your customer list as a CSV for marketing, backups, or your own records.

Analytics

The Analytics page turns your reservations into trends so you can staff and plan with confidence.

Covers & booking trends

See how reservations and covers move over time and identify your busiest days and times.

No-show insights

Track your no-show rate so you can decide whether to adjust your booking policies.

Settings & availability

Settings control everything about how and when guests can book. This is where you configure your hours, capacity, and booking page.

Hours & special days

Set your weekly opening hours and override specific dates for holidays or closures.

Capacity & booking rules

Control total seats, seats per time slot, party-size limits, reservation duration, slot interval, and how far in advance guests must book.

Online booking switch

Turn your public booking page on or off. Keep it off while you finish setup, then flip it on to go live.

Share & embed

Copy your direct booking link or embed the widget on your own website.

Tip: For a step-by-step walkthrough of every setting, see the Setup Guide linked at the bottom of this page.

Manager PIN & security

Because the app often runs on a shared front-of-house tablet, a 4-digit manager PIN protects sensitive pages.

Protected pages

Once set, the PIN is required to open Analytics, Settings, and Billing, so day-to-day staff cannot change them by accident.

Password resets

Forgot your login password? Use "Forgot password?" on the login screen to receive a secure reset link by email.

Billing

Manage your subscription from the Billing page. Online booking stays active as long as your subscription is in good standing.

Subscription status

Check whether your plan is Trialing or Active, and update your payment method or manage your plan at any time.

Get the most out of Simple Reso

Install the app on your front-of-house tablet for one-tap access, and review the Setup Guide whenever you need to fine-tune your configuration.