JOURNAL / INDEX · 370 ENTRIES · PAGE 5 OF 31 LAST ENTRY 2026-10-08
THE JOURNAL PUBLISHED FROM LONDON · 51.5072°N 0.1276°W

Everything we learn, written down

Bookings, menus, online ordering, search. Written by the people building the product, between services.

Last published 8 Oct 2026 — the TableSpark team, London
ARTICLES363
FILMS14
TOPICS9

All entries

49–60 of 363 Newest first · Articles Articles ✕

September 2026

2026-09 12 entries
FIG. 50 Building the website
Building the website 2026-09-30

Match Your Restaurant Website's Colours to the Room Guests Walk Into

Guests often decide a restaurant website is the right place before they read a word. A mismatch between its colours and the sign on the door makes that check harder.

FIG. 51 Menus and allergens
Menus and allergens 2026-09-30

Building an Online Menu When There Is No Printed Copy to Scan Yet

A menu still in the chef's notebook means a missing menu online in opening week. Built by hand as dishes are confirmed, it reaches the same live menu a scan would.

FIG. 52 Bookings and reservations
Bookings and reservations 2026-09-30

The Guest Is On the Phone and Nobody Can Find Their Booking

A paper diary answers who is coming tonight. The caller on hold is asking the other question, and a slow lookup can end in a guess, a duplicate or a wrong cancellation.

FIG. 53 Cost and comparison
Cost and comparison 2026-09-30

Does Online Ordering Need a Separate System to Print Kitchen Tickets?

An online order that lands on a laptop in the office still has to reach the pass. Before taking on the cost of a second system, check what the ordering plan already prints.

FIG. 54 Bookings and reservations
Bookings and reservations 2026-09-30

The Phone Booking With No Email Never Gets a Reminder

The confirmation and the day-before reminder only reach guests who left an address. Phone bookings are the ones most often missing it, and the cost lands on a Saturday.

FIG. 55 Search and being found
Search and being found 2026-09-29

The Two Fields Behind Your Restaurant's Google Result

Google counts an impression whether or not anyone clicks. The headline and the line beneath it decide which, and wording nobody chose is a missing reason to pick the restaurant.

FIG. 56 Menus and allergens
Menus and allergens 2026-09-29

Catch a Misread Price Before Your Menu Scan Goes Live

On a live site, once a scanned menu is applied, saving is publishing. A misread decimal point that nobody checked becomes the wrong price a guest sees and orders at.

FIG. 57 Ordering and payments
Ordering and payments 2026-09-29

Cancelling a Paid Order Should Never Leave Staff Guessing About the Money

A guest asks for a paid order to be cancelled and the server presses Cancel. Whether the money went back is a separate question, and a wrong guess returns as a dispute.

FIG. 58 Running the site
Running the site 2026-09-29

Seating a Walk-In Without Inventing a Booking First

When the only way onto the floor plan is a reservation, hosts invent one for every walk-in. The diary then carries wrong covers and bookings that never happened.

FIG. 59 Running the site
Running the site 2026-09-29

Two Open Orders on One Table Is How a Bill Goes Unpaid

A table that pays for its mains can still owe for its starters. Once the next party sits down, that unpaid bill has no guest left to ask and no obvious owner.

FIG. 60 Ordering and payments
Ordering and payments 2026-09-29

Selling a Gift Card From Your Own Site, Not a Paper IOU

A handwritten voucher has no record behind it, and a buyer who lives far away may be a lost sale. Here is how to put a real gift-card sale on the restaurant's own site.

FIG. 61 Guest data and privacy
Guest data and privacy 2026-09-28

The Regular Nobody at the Door Recognised

Whether a returning guest is known at the door usually depends on one person's memory. The history exists; the problem is that nobody seating the table can see it.

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