Sittingly

Taking a booking is easy. Knowing whether tonight's 9pm party of eight fits, which of your tables it fits on, what the room still has free at 7:30, and what the four people who did not turn up on Saturday actually cost you is the rest of the job, and most restaurants do it from a paper book and a memory of the room. Sittingly starts with a free worksheet that puts numbers on it: the floor plan turned into covers, the sittings each table really turns once you allow for resetting it, and what a year of no shows takes off the top. The paid plan keeps what it sized, as one book across the phone, the website and the people who walk in.

Sittingly is built and run by Ellul Solutions Ltd, a software company registered in England and Wales. It is a small product with one job, not a platform: the booking book of one independent restaurant, and keeping it findable. The free worksheet and the paid plan are made by the same people, and the worksheet is not a trial of the paid plan.

Who it is for: For the person who owns the booking book in one independent restaurant, bistro, gastropub or cafe with tables, or a small group of two or three sites: the owner-operator, the general manager, or the front of house manager who sets the sittings and answers the phone.

Sittingly Pro is £59 a month for the whole restaurant, billed monthly, however many people take the bookings.