Restaurant FAQ Examples

The questions below are the ones restaurants are asked over and over, on the phone during service, by direct message at eleven at night, and in the first line of a booking enquiry. Each group gives the questions in the diner's own wording, a model answer you can adapt, and a note on what the answer has to achieve operationally.

Most get asked because the answer is not published anywhere, or sits somewhere nobody looks. The test of a restaurant FAQ is not whether it is complete, but whether the phone rings less during the Friday dinner rush.

One section works differently from the rest. Allergens cannot be answered in a static FAQ the way everything else can, and that section explains how to answer safely rather than reassuringly.

Reservations and bookings

• •Do you take bookings, or is it walk-in only?
• •How far ahead can I book?
• •Is there a minimum spend or a deposit?
• •How long do I get the table for?
• •Can I request a specific table or area?
• •What happens if I am running late?

Model answer, table time. "Tables are booked for two hours for parties of up to four, and two and a half hours for five or more. If the restaurant is quiet we will not move you on, but during Friday and Saturday service we do need the table back. We hold a booking for twenty minutes, so call us if you are running late."

What the answer has to achieve. Table turn time is the thing diners most dislike discovering at the table, so publishing it costs nothing and prevents an argument during service. Say how late you will hold a booking, and give the number to call, because a diner who cannot reach you simply does not arrive. If a deposit or card guarantee applies, state the amount and when it is kept. An unpublished no-show charge appearing on a statement is the most reliable source of a one-star review there is.

Walk-ins and waiting

• •Do you take walk-ins?
• •What time is quietest if I have not booked?
• •Can I wait at the bar, or join a waiting list?

Model answer. "We keep a few tables back for walk-ins every service. Before 6.30pm and after 9pm on weekdays you will usually be seated straight away. On Friday and Saturday we recommend booking, but it is worth asking, and you can wait at the bar if the wait is short."

What the answer has to achieve. Give a real time window rather than "it depends", because a diner choosing between you and somewhere else needs to know whether turning up is a gamble. If you cannot take walk-ins at weekends, say so plainly rather than letting people be turned away at the door, which costs far more goodwill than the honest no.

Finding you and parking

• •Where exactly are you?
• •Is there parking?
• •Is there a car park nearby, and what does it cost?
• •Which bus or train stop is closest?
• •Is there a bike rack?

Model answer, parking. "We have no car park of our own. The Mill Street multi-storey is a three-minute walk and free after 6pm. On-street parking on the high street is pay and display until 8pm. The nearest station is a seven-minute walk."

What the answer has to achieve. Parking generates the most calls for the least reason, and the answer never changes. Name the specific car park, the walking time and the cost after your opening time, since that last detail is the one people want. Put the address, a nearby landmark and the parking answer in one block, and repeat it in the booking confirmation, because someone looking for you is on a phone in a car, not browsing your website.

Dietary requirements

• •Do you have vegetarian options?
• •Do you have vegan options?
• •Can you do gluten-free?
• •Can the kitchen adapt dishes?
• •Do you have a children's menu?

Model answer. "There are vegetarian and vegan dishes in every course, marked on the menu. The kitchen can adapt some dishes and not others, depending on how they are prepared. Tell us when you book and we will have an answer ready on arrival rather than at the table."

What the answer has to achieve. Count your actual options before writing this, because "we always have something" is heard as "there is one salad". Say how many dishes there are and whether they run across courses. Ask diners to tell you at booking, because a requirement that arrives with the order costs the kitchen time and the diner a worse meal. Keep dietary preference separate from allergens, in your wording and in your process. Conflating them is where restaurants get into trouble.

Allergens: how to answer without creating a risk

This is the one group where a confident static answer is the wrong answer.

An FAQ page is read without supervision, cannot ask a follow-up question, and does not know what changed in the kitchen this morning. Suppliers change, recipes are adjusted, a dish gets prepped on a different surface because the usual station is busy. Never state in a static FAQ that a particular dish is safe for a particular allergy. That is a statement about today's kitchen made by yesterday's web page. The FAQ's job is to route the question to the people and the process that can answer it properly.

Model answer. "We take allergies seriously and we handle them in person rather than on a web page. Please tell us when you book, and tell your server again when you arrive, so the kitchen knows before anything is prepared. Our team will go through the dish you are considering and tell you what the kitchen can and cannot do safely that day. Full allergen information for every dish is held in the restaurant and your server will bring it to the table on request."

What the answer has to achieve.

• •Direct the diner to a person, every time. Booking note, then server on arrival. Two touch points, because one gets missed.
• •Say that the information exists and where. Diners ask partly to find out whether you have a system at all. "Allergen information is held in the restaurant and available at the table" answers that without making a per-dish claim.
• •Never publish a dish-level safety claim or a free-from list. The moment a static page says a dish is free from something, you have created a document someone may rely on after a supplier has changed.
• •Avoid "may contain" as your whole answer. Blanket disclaiming reads as refusing to engage, and pushes the diner to ask again at the table under time pressure.
• •Keep the written answer aligned with your legal obligations and your local food safety authority's requirements. Those are specific to where you operate, and they are the reference point, not a template from the internet.

Children and families

• •Are children welcome, and is there an age limit in the evening?
• •Do you have high chairs?
• •Is there a children's menu, and what is on it?
• •Are there baby changing facilities?

Model answer. "Children are very welcome. We have four high chairs, so mention it when you book and one will be at the table. There is a short children's menu, and the kitchen does smaller portions of most mains. Baby changing is in the ground-floor accessible toilet. After 8.30pm the room gets busier and louder, which some families prefer to avoid."

What the answer has to achieve. Say yes or no plainly, because parents are making a decision and ambiguity sends them elsewhere. Count the high chairs: "we have high chairs" and "we have two" are different answers to a party of three families. Describe the evening atmosphere honestly rather than imposing a rule, which lets parents decide and avoids a conversation at the door.

Dogs and assistance animals

• •Are dogs allowed, inside or only outside?
• •Do you have water bowls?
• •Are assistance dogs welcome?

Model answer. "Dogs are welcome in the bar area and on the terrace, and we will bring a water bowl over. The main dining room is dog-free. Assistance dogs are welcome everywhere in the restaurant."

What the answer has to achieve. Be specific about areas, because "dog friendly" gets read as everywhere and then has to be corrected at the door. Answer the assistance dog question separately and affirmatively, as it is a different matter from a pet policy and diners ask because they have been refused before.

Opening hours and kitchen times

• •What time do you open and close?
• •What time does the kitchen stop serving?
• •Are you open on Mondays, or on bank holidays?
• •Do you serve lunch all afternoon?

Model answer. "We are open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays. The kitchen serves midday to 2.30pm and 6pm to 9.30pm, until 10pm on Friday and Saturday. The bar stays open an hour after the kitchen closes. Bank holiday hours go on our social channels the week before."

What the answer has to achieve. Publish kitchen times separately from opening hours. The gap between the two is the most common reason someone arrives and cannot eat, and it is entirely preventable. State which days you are closed in a sentence rather than leaving it to be inferred from a list. Handle exceptional dates by naming one place you will always update. A wrong published time does more damage than none, because the diner has already travelled.

Group bookings, private hire and events

• •Do you take bookings for large groups, and what is the maximum table size?
• •Is there a set menu for groups?
• •Do you add a service charge for large parties?
• •Can we hire the whole place, or a private room?
• •Can we bring a cake?
• •Do you have live music, and when?
• •Do you do Christmas or festive menus?
• •How do we pay for a function, and is there a deposit?

Model answer. "Tables up to eight book online as normal. For nine or more, email us and we will arrange it, usually with a short set menu chosen in advance so the kitchen can serve everyone together. A discretionary service charge applies to parties of eight or more, and you are welcome to bring a celebration cake, which we will plate and serve for a small charge. The back room seats twenty-four and can be hired privately with a minimum spend that varies by day, on a deposit per head deducted from the final bill. Live music is the first Friday of the month from 8pm. Festive menus go up in early October and book quickly."

What the answer has to achieve. Give the exact number at which the booking route changes, since that is the whole question. Explain the set menu as a service decision rather than a restriction, because the reason - everyone eats at the same time - makes it acceptable. Publish the service charge threshold and percentage; a charge discovered on the bill is the most common dispute here and one sentence removes it. Be concrete about capacity, deposit and minimum spend, which are asked in the same breath. Flag the live music night in both directions: it draws some diners and is why others want a different evening. Say when seasonal menus are released, because those enquiries arrive weeks before you are ready.

Takeaway, collection and delivery

• •Do you do takeaway?
• •Is the full menu available to take away?
• •Do you deliver, and how far?
• •How long will collection take at busy times?
• •Can I order takeaway by phone?

Model answer. "Collection runs during kitchen hours, with most of the menu available except a few dishes that do not travel well, which are marked. Order by phone or through the link on our website. At peak times collection takes around twenty-five minutes. We do not deliver ourselves; delivery is through the apps listed on our site."

What the answer has to achieve. Say which dishes are excluded and why, since the alternative is disappointing someone at the counter. Give a realistic peak wait, because an optimistic number produces a queue of annoyed people in your doorway during service. Be clear about who delivers: diners hold you responsible for a cold delivery whoever carried it.

Getting the answers in front of diners

A restaurant FAQ fails more often through placement than through content. The answer exists; it just is not where the question gets asked.

• •Booking confirmation and reminder. Address, parking, table time and the "tell us about allergies" line. The highest-value placement here, because it reaches the diner while they are planning the journey.
• •Website footer, on every page. Kitchen times, closed days, dog policy, group booking route.
• •On the table or in the window. A card with a QR code pointing at your answers handles the quiet questions: Wi-Fi, how to tip, the children's menu, whether the terrace is open. Nobody has to wait for a server to ask.
• •Your social profiles. Where bank holiday hours get asked, so where they need posting.

If you want the set drafted from your menu, hours and policies rather than written from scratch, Answrii’s FAQ generator for restaurants covers that route.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions should a restaurant FAQ have?

Usually twelve to twenty. The test is whether it covers every question your team answers on the phone more than twice a week.

Should the FAQ live on its own page or on the contact page?

Its own page, with the four or five most-asked answers repeated on the contact page and in booking confirmations. Diners looking for parking or kitchen times go to contact first.

Can we publish allergen information online at all?

Where you operate sets specific requirements, and your local food safety authority is the reference for that. The safe pattern for a general FAQ is to say that allergen information is held in the restaurant and available on request, and to route the diner to your team before ordering, rather than making dish-level claims on a page that cannot be kept current.

Should we answer questions about things we do not offer?

Yes. "We do not have our own car park" and "we do not deliver ourselves" prevent wasted journeys and misplaced complaints. An explicit no is a useful answer; a missing one is read as a yes.

How often does this need updating?

Hours and closed days the moment they change, seasonal menus and events on a monthly check, everything else twice a year. One person should own it, or the festive menu from two years ago stays on the page.