Can the chatbot take reservations directly?+
It captures the request in a structured way — date, time, party size, and any special requests — and sends it to you by email or webhook (an automatic forwarding rule: every new request goes straight to your system). The final confirmation is still yours to give, since you're the one who knows what the floor actually looks like that night.
Can it tell guests about tonight's specials?+
Yes, as long as you keep it updated. Whatever you enter — a daily special, a seasonal addition, a dish that's sold out for the night — is what the bot repeats. It's only ever as current as your last update.
Can it handle a request for a large group or a private event?+
It recognizes that a group or private-event inquiry is a different kind of request than a regular table, and collects it accordingly: preferred date, approximate group size, occasion. Because a booking like this can commit a large part of your dining room, confirming it stays with your team.
Does it know our holiday hours?+
Only what you tell it. You set special hours for any date — a holiday closure, a shortened service, an early seating — and the bot reflects exactly that instead of your regular weekly schedule.
Can it answer questions about allergens or ingredients?+
It repeats whatever you've entered about a dish and nothing more. For a guest with a genuine allergy, it always points to the confirmation your staff give in person before the order is placed — the bot never presents itself as the final word on that.
Does it help reduce no-shows?+
It can, because a structured request with a name and contact details makes a confirmation or a reminder possible — a request that only exists as a memory from a busy phone call usually doesn't get either. It doesn't replace how you manage your booking list.
Can it answer questions in more than one language?+
Yes. For a restaurant that sees guests from outside the country, or travelers who don't speak the local language, this is often the main reason to set it up — the same questions about hours, dietary options, or reservations, answered in whichever language the guest writes in.
Can it connect to our existing reservation system?+
If your reservation system has an open interface, requests can be forwarded to it automatically by webhook. Where that's not available, requests still arrive by email in a structured, readable format.
What happens to a request that comes in outside business hours?+
It's captured the same way as during service, with the same details, and waits for your team the next time someone checks. The guest gets an immediate response instead of silence until the next day.
Can guests cancel or change a reservation through the chatbot?+
It can collect a change or cancellation request and route it to you the same way it routes a new booking. Whether that automatically updates your reservation list depends on the connection you have in place.
Does it know if we're fully booked?+
Only if that information is connected to it. Without a live connection to your reservation system, it collects the request and lets your team confirm availability — it doesn't guess.
Can it recommend dishes to guests?+
It can describe what's on your menu the way you've written it up — ingredients, whether something is vegan or gluten-free, what today's special is. It doesn't improvise a recommendation beyond what you've given it.
How much do we have to set up ourselves?+
The basic setup starts with what you already have: your menu, your hours, your holiday schedule, the questions guests ask most often. Getting it running is a matter of hours, not weeks; keeping the content current afterward is on you.
What data does the chatbot store?+
With a request, the request category, contact details and a summary are passed on; with a callback request, name, phone number and preferred time; with an appointment request, contact details, the requested service, the preferred date and notes; with a handover to your team, the reason for it and, if handover is switched on, the last messages of the conversation. You can also retrieve the full conversation history via the API. No health data, no payment information, no reservation history beyond what's needed to hand the request to you.
Is it GDPR-compliant?+
Smartwebchat itself is GDPR-compliant and hosted exclusively within the European Union, with a data processing agreement available under Article 28 GDPR. That's a statement about how we operate, regardless of where your restaurant or your guests are located.
Can it handle a request that comes in while the kitchen is mid-service?+
Yes — that's precisely the situation it's built for. Nobody needs to step away from the floor to write anything down; the request is captured on its own and is there, complete, when someone has a moment to look.
Can it be set up to answer only certain questions?+
Yes. You decide which topics it covers — reservations, menu questions, hours — and which ones it declines to answer and hands to your team instead, such as anything about a specific guest's medical condition.
