For restaurant owners · Front desk and inquiries
Sort the messages that came in during service
One callback list from the voicemails, messages and host notes that piled up during service, most urgent first, with replies drafted for the routine ones.
The prompt
Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and fill in each part in [BRACKETS]. Restaurant managers and whoever closes the host stand.
I run a restaurant. During service the phone rings, messages come in and the host jots notes, and nobody has a free hand to answer. After close I want one list that tells me what to deal with first. What I have: - Everything that came in during service, one per line, with the time if I have it: [MESSAGES FROM SERVICE] - My answer sheet for routine questions like hours, parking and walk-ins: [MY ANSWER SHEET] - Tomorrow's reservations, so you can see what touches tomorrow: [RESERVATIONS FOR TOMORROW] What I want: 1. Sort every item into three groups: needs an answer before we open tomorrow, routine, and for me. 2. "For me" means a complaint, an allergy question, a deposit, a refund, a question about a bill, a change to an event, or anything unclear. 3. For each routine item, write a short reply from my answer sheet. 4. For anything that touches a reservation tomorrow, say which reservation and what the guest wants changed. Rules: - Write a draft for me to read. Do not send anything. - Use only what I gave you. If something is missing, ask me instead of guessing. - Never quote a price, promise a table or claim anything I did not give you. - Do not answer anything in the "for me" group. Say what it is and what time it came in. - Leave out guests' card details and anything about their health. Give me back: - The list, most urgent first, with the time each item came in - A draft reply for each routine item - The items that wait for me, one line each
When to use it
Service is over and there is a pile of voicemails, messages and sticky notes from the host stand that nobody had a free hand to answer.
When not to
Do not use it to answer a complaint, an allergy question, a deposit or a refund. Those land on your list unanswered, and you or the kitchen answers them.
What to paste in
- [MESSAGES FROM SERVICE]: Voicemail notes, messages and host notes, one per line with the time. Write "allergy question, call back" instead of the details.
- [MY ANSWER SHEET]: Your standing answers in plain words: hours, holiday hours, parking, walk-ins, patio.
- [RESERVATIONS FOR TOMORROW]: Tomorrow's book in short form: first name, party size, time, plus what is still open.
Never paste
- Guests' last names, phone numbers or card details
- A guest's allergy or health details: write "allergy question" instead
A filled-in example
Sample. Fictional business, fictional client.
MESSAGES FROM SERVICE: 6:10 voicemail, Dana, party of 6 tomorrow at 7, wants to move to 7:30 / 6:45 message, are you open Monday? / 7:20 host note, guest called about a charge on last week's bill, wants a call / 8:05 voicemail, allergy question, call back / 8:40 message, do you have a private room for 20 in December? MY ANSWER SHEET: Closed Mondays; open Tue to Sun, 11 to 10; free lot behind the building; walk-ins welcome at the bar. RESERVATIONS FOR TOMORROW: Dana, 6 at 7:00; Lee, 2 at 7:30; Rosa, 4 at 8:00; 7:30 is full for parties over 4; back room open.
What you should get back
- One list, with what cannot wait until tomorrow at the top
- A short reply for each routine question, from your answer sheet
- Each change that touches tomorrow's book, with whether it fits
- The bill question and the allergy call set aside for you, unanswered
What stays with you
The prompt writes a draft. You decide what happens to it, and nothing should reach a guest until you have read it. Decisions about money stay with a person every time, and so do health questions and complaints. When KeenHand builds a routine like this, every message carries the same four decisions: Automate, Approve, Revise, Reject.
Related
- Answer hours, parking and menu questions. Replies to the everyday guest questions about hours, parking, walk-ins and tonight's menu, written only from the answers you paste in.
- Reply to a large-party reservation request. A reply to a big-table request that offers only the times your large-party rules allow and says what the guest needs to do to hold the table.
- Answer a gift card or refund question. A clear, kind reply to a guest asking about a gift card that will not scan, a lost card or a charge they question, written around the decision you made.
More: every prompt for restaurants, front desk and inquiries, and AI for restaurants.
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