Nobody should leave the pass to answer a phone.
Aroha is an AI receptionist for restaurants. Aroha answers your phone, takes the booking, and writes any allergy on it word for word. It books while the caller is on the line, texts the caller and the owner, and gets the owner for urgent jobs. You can talk to Marco at Otto & Vine, a demo receptionist for a made-up business, free in your browser.
A day of calls, answered.
- 10:15am, prep in full swing: "Someone asks whether you do gluten free and if there is parking."
- Answered from your menu notes and texted the parking map.
- 12:40pm, lunch rush: "An office wants a table for twelve on Friday."
- Groups over eight go to you: texted BIG JOB, and relayed your yes and the set menu price.
- 7:41pm, friday service: "Table for six tomorrow, one guest is coeliac."
- Booked 7:30 by the window, coeliac on the booking and the prep sheet, confirmation texted.
- 10:55pm, after close: "A guest needs to move tomorrow’s booking to Sunday."
- Moved it where the book had room, texted the new time with a one tap cancel.
It already knows how these calls go.
This is the setup you get on day one, and you can read and change every word of it.
- Answers during service
- The phone stops pulling someone off the pass at seven on a Friday.
- Captures dietary requests
- Notes the request for your team without promising an allergen-free meal or offering medical advice.
- Follows your booking rules
- Party size, seating preferences and timing, checked against the availability your system provides.
- Handles change requests
- Helps callers request a change, confirming it only when the connected booking system succeeds.
- Takes the takeaway order
- Or routes it, depending on how you want it handled.
- Tells you about big bookings
- Groups, functions and set menus text you first, and your answer goes back to the guest.
- Reads a voucher from a photo
- Guests photograph a voucher or a confirmation; it reads the code and expiry instead of having them spell it out.
- Replies to texts and WhatsApp
- Switch it on and it answers booking texts in your restaurant’s name, offering real times from your book.
Functions & Dietary, built for restaurants.
Group bookings to confirm, and every allergy taken on the phone, in one list. It is sorted by what each call needs from you, most urgent first, and you can ring or text anyone straight from their card. It fills itself from what callers told the receptionist, so nothing is typed in.
When it cannot wait, it gets you.
Most restaurant calls can wait for a gap in service. These are the ones that should not.
Urgent by default: A large group or function booking; A complaint from someone who has just eaten; An allergy question only the kitchen can answer. Aroha texts the owner straight away, rings them if they do not reply, and tells the caller the answer.
Vouchers and confirmations without the spelling
It texts the guest a link, they photograph the voucher or the booking confirmation, and it reads the code and the expiry back on the call.
Works with what you already use.
If your book lives in NowBookIt, ResDiary or OpenTable, set it to take the request and send you the details to confirm there. Or let it book into its own calendar.
What it costs
Start free. Plans from NZ$79.99 a month, or pay as you go at NZ$0.59 a minute plus NZ$5 a month for a number. Month to month, no contract.
Questions
What happens with allergies?
It repeats the allergy back, records it on the booking, and never tells a guest a dish is safe. The kitchen confirms on the night.
Will it overbook the room?
It holds your sitting length and covers. Groups over the size you set go to a manager rather than straight into the book.
Can it take takeaway orders?
It can take them or route them, depending on how you want it handled.
We already use a booking system. Does it clash?
No. If your book lives in NowBookIt, ResDiary or OpenTable, set it to take the request and send you the details to confirm, so a call during service is never lost.
Can it handle a complaint?
It listens, takes the details, and texts you straight away so you can ring the guest back before they write a review.
Can guests send a voucher by photo?
Yes. It texts a link, the guest photographs the voucher or confirmation, and it reads the code and expiry back instead of having them spell it out.
Will it answer booking texts too?
Yes, if you switch it on. It replies in your restaurant’s name with real times, and steps back the moment you reply yourself.