An AI chatbot for restaurant websites

At 6 PM on a Friday your host stand is juggling walk-ins, the phone is ringing and the kitchen is calling tickets. That is exactly when people open your website with a question. Allinaa puts an AI assistant on that website that answers from the information you approve and turns bigger requests into inquiries your manager can handle tomorrow morning.

What guests ask a restaurant website at 6 PM on a Friday

Most restaurant website questions are small, repeated and urgent to the person asking:

• "Are you open right now, and until when does the kitchen take orders?"
• "Is there parking, or should we take the street spots?"
• "Do you have a kids' menu?" or "Can I bring a cake?"
• "Is the patio open tonight?"
• "Do you have anything gluten-free?"
• "We're 14 people next Saturday. Can you do that?"

None of these need a manager, except the last one, which needs a manager's attention and a few details first. A good website assistant answers the first group from your own information and collects the details for the second.

Answers from the menu page the guest is reading

The assistant knows which page of your website the guest is viewing and can read that page's visible text. If someone is on your brunch menu and types "is the hash vegetarian?", the answer comes from the brunch menu text, not from your dinner menu. Two practical consequences:

• Keep menu pages as real text. A menu that exists only as a photo or a scanned PDF gives the assistant very little to read. Paste the dishes and descriptions into your knowledge as well.
• Retire old menus. When a seasonal menu ends, remove it from the site and from the approved knowledge so the assistant stops mentioning it.

The assistant only shares links that appear in your approved information or on the page itself. If it tries to invent a link, the link is removed before the guest sees the reply.

Allergens and dietary questions: what the assistant says and never promises

This is the one area where a restaurant should be strict, and the setup reflects that. Write a short allergen policy into your knowledge, for example:

With that in place, the assistant repeats what the menu states ("the menu marks the grilled salmon as made without gluten") and then the policy. It should not decide on its own that a dish is safe. AI answers can be wrong, which is why the wording you approve matters more here than anywhere else. During setup, ask the assistant five or six allergy questions yourself and read the answers before you go live.

Catering, private events and large parties: the details your manager needs

A large-party or catering request is worth real money, and it usually arrives as one vague line: "Do you do parties?" The assistant asks up to three short clarifying questions, one at a time, and only the ones still missing:

• Date and time, and how flexible they are
• Number of guests
• Occasion (birthday, rehearsal dinner, office lunch)
• Dine-in, private room or off-site catering
• Dietary needs for the group

Then it offers the inquiry form. The guest confirms their name and a phone number or e-mail and gives permission to be contacted. You get an e-mail notification, the guest gets a confirmation e-mail, and the request waits in your inquiry inbox with a status (New, In progress, Completed), private notes for your team, search and CSV export.

Reservation requests vs. your reservation system

Be clear with yourself about this: Allinaa does not connect to point-of-sale or reservation systems. It cannot see which tables are free tonight and it cannot book one. What works well instead:

• For normal tables, put your booking link in the knowledge. The assistant sends guests to it.
• For parties above your online limit, the assistant collects the request and your team confirms by phone or e-mail.
• For same-day questions ("can we walk in?"), write the answer you would give on the phone, such as "we keep the bar for walk-ins."

Visitors and tourists who write in other languages

If you are in a tourist area or a neighborhood with many Spanish or Chinese speakers, the language setting matters. Standard includes 3 configured languages (American English by default plus two you choose). Premium answers in all supported languages, 108 in the chatbot catalog today. Your menu can stay in English; the assistant explains it in the guest's language.

Illustrative conversation: a gluten-free question and a 14-person birthday inquiry

Illustrative example, not a real conversation.

Night-time questions are covered in after-hours answers, and keeping menu answers right over time in chatbot accuracy.

Questions owners ask

Can the chatbot take reservations directly?

No. Allinaa does not connect to reservation or POS systems. It can send guests to your booking link and collect large-party requests that your team confirms.

Will it tell guests a dish is safe for their allergy?

It is set up to repeat only what your menu states, add your allergen policy, and tell guests to confirm with staff. AI answers can be wrong, so test allergy questions before going live.

What happens when the trial ends?

The assistant stops answering, but the chat keeps offering the inquiry form, so party requests still reach you. Activation and invoicing are arranged with Allinaa; nothing is charged automatically.

Do I need a developer to install it?

Usually not. The wizard gives you a short code and step-by-step guides for the common website builders. You can also e-mail the code to your web developer from the setup screen.