Toast Tables: The Guest Experience
Last updated: Dec 10, 2025, 10:18 AM
- SMS Messaging for Toast Tables
- Guest Emails
- Online Waitlist: Guest Experience
- Online Reservations: Guest Experience
- Reservations With Local by Toast: Guest Experience
- Additional Resources
SMS Messaging for Toast Tables
Under Waitlist & Reservations > Guest Communication > SMS in Toast Web, you can configure the SMS messaging that guests will receive for waitlist and reservation communications. For example, you can configure your SMS templates for confirmations, waitlist notifications, and reservation reminders.
Some templates allow you to enable guests to reply 1 to confirm or 9 to cancel. If you'd like to take advantage of this feature, make sure you check the box that says Enable auto response (as shown above). You can also toggle off certain SMS templates, which can be useful when you are going to bulk add reservations and you don’t want to send an SMS message right away.
2-Way SMS Messaging for Toast Tables
2-way messaging is available to all Toast Tables users if you want your host to be able to manage all communication right from the app and not be limited to message templates. Guests will also be able to reply to text messages and these messages will show up in the host app. You can configure this setting by using the toggle under Guest Communication, as shown below.
If your restaurant is enrolled in 2-way messaging, this means that in addition to automated SMS text messages, you may receive or reply to messages from guests with custom messages. In order to receive or reply to messages, the guest's phone number must be input into the Toast Tales app.
Note: This feature should only be used to discuss details about bookings. Use of this feature to send marketing or other similar commercial messages is strictly prohibited.
 | 2-way messaging is currently only available in the US and Canada. Check back soon for updates! |
Upon joining the waitlist, guests will receive an SMS confirmation with a link where they can check the ETA for their table as shown below.
After selecting the link in the SMS, the guest will also be able to view your menu, , and cancel, if needed.
Guest Emails for Toast Tables
With Toast Tables, your restaurant can send your guests emails for reservation confirmations, modifications, and cancellations when the guest provides an email address upon creating a reservation. These settings can be toggled on and off in Toast Web by navigating to Waitlist & Reservations > Guest Communication > Email Templates or by clicking (you must be logged in to Toast Web). You can configure which email notifications are turned on, as well as preview the email templates.
Here is an example of a reservation confirmation email:
Note: Reservation confirmation emails will not share table number information with your guests.
Online Waitlist: Guest Experience
Guests can always add themselves to your waitlist online through your restaurant's Online Waitlist link. After opening the link, guests can see how many parties are waiting in each dining area and where their place is in line vs. the total parties on the waitlist, as shown in the example below.
After entering their party's information, they'll be sent a text letting them know they've been added to the waitlist.
If your restaurant uses both online waitlist and online reservations, when the waitlist is not available, your guests will be prompted to make a reservation from the Online Waitlist page.
Reservations With Local by Toast: Guest Experience
For restaurants that use Toast Tables and have enabled ordering on the Local by Toast app (learn more: ), guests will be able to discover restaurants and place a reservation directly in the app. Guests can also discover restaurants and place reservations through the as a browser-based alternative.
When guests go to the Explore tab (1) in Local by Toast, they will now see a Reservations button (2) at the top of the screen. This will reflect a list of restaurants that have Toast Tables online reservations turned on. Guests can go to a specific restaurant page, which will include a Reservations button. From there, they can search for availability based on date/time and party size.
Online Reservations: Guest Experience
Curious to know what the guest experience looks like when making an online reservation at your restaurant? Check out the video below:
Upon making an online reservation, if a guest wants to make any changes, they can tap the Modify Reservation button in their confirmation email and on their confirmation page. On the confirmation page, they can also search for a new reservation size, date, and time slows, as well as edit their current reservation with special requests.
Guests can modify their reservation based on the configured reservation creation time in Toast Web. For example, if your restaurant has configured that guests can create reservations up to four hours in advance, the guest can modify their details up until four hours. If it’s within four hours, the guest cannot modify their reservation.
Guests can also add reservations to their calendar from their confirmation email and confirmation pages, as shown in the example below:
Express Booking
Guests can now create Toast accounts for express booking so that they can manage all of their upcoming reservations in one place and easily make future reservations with all of their pre-filled information. The guest can use these guest accounts across other Toast experiences, such as online ordering, Local by Toast, Scan-to-Pay, and Toast Mobile Order and Pay®.
Additional Resources