Thoughts on restaurant reservations, pricing, and building software for independents.
Six reservation systems have a genuinely free tier in 2026. I run one of them. Here's what each actually includes, where each starts charging, and which fits your restaurant.
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A practical guide to evaluating reservation platforms: what questions to ask, what trade-offs matter, and what to ignore.
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I built one of these platforms, so take this with appropriate skepticism. Here's what I'd want to know if I were choosing today.
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OpenTable's pricing is more complicated than it looks. Here's the full breakdown at real restaurant volumes: base fees, per-cover charges, and the costs nobody talks about.
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Who owns the guest relationship when someone books through your reservation platform? It depends on the platform. Here's what to look for.
Read moreAn honest look at what matters when choosing reservation software, including a few areas where we're not the strongest option.
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The busier your restaurant gets, the more you pay in per-cover fees. Here's the math on flat pricing vs. per-cover pricing.
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The math behind empty tables, and strategies that actually reduce no-show rates.
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The per-cover pricing model for reservation software seemed unfair. Here's why I built bavoli and the math behind flat pricing.
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