Winner CES 2026 · ISE 2026 · TMCnet 2026

AI Phone for Restaurants. The answering service for restaurants that books tables.

AI Phone is an answering service for restaurants that picks up every line on the first ring, in the dinner rush, at lunch and after close. AI voice departments answer from your menu pages and policies, book tables with AI Booking, take messages with the callback number read back and put the manager on duty through when a call needs a person.

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7 days free · per company, never per seat · nothing to install

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Zanus AI · AI Phone · Forwarded calls

Answering service for restaurants: calls handed to the team, each announced with who is calling and why, real Zanus AI screen

Forwarded calls

A guest who asks for the manager is announced first, who and why, and the screen keeps how long your colleague took to answer.

Easy setupSet up everything just by talking to Lisa AISee how ›

You“During service, ring the host stand first; if nobody picks up, the AI answers.”

Lisa“Reservations department: the host stand rings first during service, and the AI answers whenever nobody picks up. Apply?”

You talk. Lisa sets it up. Applied only on your yes.

How Restaurants use it

At 7:15 on Friday three callers ask for tables at once; each is answered and booked while the host seats a walk-in.

A caller asks whether the patio takes dogs and how late the kitchen serves; both answers come from your own pages.

A sales rep asking for the owner during service hears when she can be reached and leaves a message, his number read back.

REAL AI - the whole Front Office is AI, not old software with an AI button.

What’s included

Keep your number: forward your existing line to your Front Office line and the AI answers immediately, no porting needed. Port the number in when you decide; we handle it with the carrier
A local number in your area, or your own number ported in
Answers on the first ring, 24/7, 365; your business hours only decide when people are reachable
Human-like voice: you choose the voice and the persona per function, greeting, sales, support, booking, callbacks
Receptionist style, no phone menu: the caller just talks in any of 40 languages; the AI detects the language on the first sentence and switches the whole call
Departments you define, sales, support, booking, billing, technical…, each with its own policy: AI first, operator first, or AI only; each with its own AI specialist when no human is free
Directory of your operators with per-day working hours, languages, the nicknames callers use, vacations and temp-worker expiry
Transfers announce the caller and the reason; your person accepts before the call is connected; the call is pulled back before a mobile voicemail can swallow it
Language routing: a Spanish-speaking caller reaches your Spanish-speaking operator first
Hold music with spoken updates; when a person is unavailable the AI says the honest line you wrote for that time of day
Takes messages with the callback number read back and confirmed, delivered to that person's own inbox
Books appointments live from your calendar during the call; captures the e-mail letter by letter; saves the lead
Every fact from your approved knowledge, prices only from your catalog; with no source it says so and offers a person
Robocalls and telemarketers get one polite goodbye and stay away from your team
Off hours your way: full AI service, take-a-message only, or voicemail; holidays and special closures with the message you write
Every call transcribed into the customer's record with a summary; call log with transcripts, exportable; the morning briefing reads it for you

Available on its own or inside a solution · See pricing › · Per company, never per seat.

Everything AI Phone does, for every business ›

Works withAI Booking AI Calls Teleprompter AI Calls Transcripts AI Quoting AI Tickets AI Returns & Warranty AI CRM Lisa, your AI assistant

On every call

What a restaurant answering service should finish on the call

AI phone answering for restaurants with a whole AI call center behind one number: reservations, events, catering and the office each answered by its own voice AI agent.

Answers in the rush

Calls during peak hours meet no hold queue and no menu of options, so there are no wait times on the line: callers say what they need while your team serves the room.

Books the table on the call

With AI Booking, only the free times for that party size are offered, and the confirmation goes out by text before the caller hangs up.

Routes by reason

The AI handles each department your way: reservations, events, catering and the office can each be AI only, AI first or your people first, with their own hours.

Keeps every message

The message is written out for the right person with the callback number read back digit by digit, even when a diner hangs up mid-sentence.

Rings the manager where she is

Her computer, the phone app or her mobile rings in the order she chose, and the guest is announced before the call connects.

Puts every call on the record

Each call the AI phone agent takes keeps its transcript, summary and outcome on the guest's record, and a first-time diner is saved as a new contact for your team.

Rush and after close

Restaurant phone answering service for the rush, after close and days off

Restaurant calls go unanswered when nobody can reach the phone: the dinner rush, the pre-shift meeting, after hours. A missed call on a Friday can be a table booked elsewhere, and AI Phone answers in those moments so missed calls stop costing covers.

Friday and Saturday turns

When the dining room is full and the host is walking a table, the phone is still answered, and the caller who wanted eight o'clock gets a table or a place on the waitlist.

After the last seating

Outside your hours choose full AI service, take-a-message only or voicemail, and the reservation book stays open while the lights are off.

Holidays and buyout nights

On a holiday or a night the room is bought out, callers hear the message you wrote for that day before the AI offers them another date.

Calls that decide a night

AI answering service for restaurants, call by call

The anniversary booking

A caller wants a quiet table for two at eight and mentions an anniversary; the booking card keeps what was said, so the server sees it on arrival.

The allergy caller

A guest asks whether the gnocchi has egg in it; the AI reads your published allergen note, and a severe allergy is put through to the manager.

The lost scarf

A guest rings the morning after about a scarf left on a chair, and the message reaches the host team with her number read back.

The routine calls

Routine calls about parking, the opening hours and menu questions such as the vegan options are answered from your pages, so the host stays with the guests in front of her.

Compare

Restaurant answering service compared: voicemail, live agents, AI Phone

What the call needs	Voicemail	A live answering service	AI Phone
A table for six on Saturday	Heard tomorrow, after the table is gone	Written down for the host to call back	Booked on the call:: free times for six, confirmed by text
Your menu and policies	Not used	A script the agent may not have	Answered from your pages:: corkage, patio, parking and allergen notes as you wrote them
Call volume in the rush	A full mailbox	Callers on hold	All picked up:: several guests answered at the same moment
A guest who needs the manager	A callback hours later	A message passed on	Put through:: the manager hears who is calling and why first
After the call	A recording to listen to	A short summary by e-mail	Written on the record:: transcript, summary and outcome for the next shift

2 minutes

Set up the answering service for restaurants in 2 minutes

Forward the restaurant line

No new phone system: forward the number on your menus and website, and the AI phone answering system answers from the next call, with no porting.

Tell Lisa the departments

Reservations, events, catering and the office: say who answers each one, at which hours, and whether the host stand rings first.

Write the lines that matter

Say what callers hear about allergies, large parties and the closed days, and Lisa reads each rule back to you before your yes.

Call it yourself

Ring your own number, ask for a table and the corkage policy, and read the report of every call when the 7-day trial ends.

Questions & answers

Frequently asked questions about an answering service for restaurants

What is an answering service for restaurants?

A service that picks up the phone calls your host stand cannot, so guests are not left ringing. AI Phone does it as an AI receptionist whose AI voices answer from your menu pages and policies, book the table with AI Booking, take messages with the number read back and transfer to your manager by the rules you set.

Is an AI answering service better than a live answering service for restaurants?

It depends on what you want finished. A message-taking telephone answering service for restaurants writes the call down for later; AI Phone, the restaurant AI on your line, completes it: the table booked in your own book, the patio question answered from your page, the complaint put through to the manager, and every call written down with its transcript.

How much does a restaurant answering service cost?

AI Phone is priced per company, never per seat or per agent, so every host and manager shares it. The plans sit on the pricing page, and your restaurant can run it for 7 days on its own line with no credit card before deciding.

Can an AI answering service book restaurant reservations?

Yes, with AI Booking added. The AI offers only the free times for the party size the caller gives, holds the place while the guest confirms by text, and the confirmation leaves from your number before the call ends.

What does the AI do with takeout calls?

It answers the menu, the prices on your list and the pickup hours as you wrote them, then follows your rule for orders: tell the caller how your restaurant takes them, or put the call through to the person at the pass, announced first.

Do we need new phones or a new number?

No. Forward the line diners already call to your Front Office and the AI answers from that moment, with no hardware to install and no porting. A new local number is there if you want a second line for events.

Will the AI put sales calls through during service?

Only if you say so. The AI hears why someone is calling, so a sales rep or a supplier is told when the buyer can be reached and leaves a message, while reservation and event calls go to the people who handle them.

Does the AI answer guests in Spanish and other languages?

Yes. The AI voice agent for restaurants answers each diner in their own language from the first sentence, whatever voice you picked. A tourist asking about the dress code in French hears your policy in French and can book the table on the same call.

What happens when the restaurant is closed?

You choose per time of day: full AI service, take-a-message only or voicemail. On a holiday or a closed Monday, callers hear the message you wrote for that day, and messages wait for the right person with the callback number read back.

Can a manager listen to a live call?

Yes. A manager can follow a live call in real time from AI Phone, and when the call ends its transcript, summary and outcome sit on the guest's record for the next host who opens it.

How does the AI pass a guest to the manager?

A transfer rings the manager on the computer, in the phone app or on her mobile, in the order she chose. She hears who is calling and why before the call connects, and if nobody can be reached the diner hears the line you prepared and leaves a message.

Keep exploring

Where next?

Start with the one thing you need. Add more anytime by asking Lisa.
AI Front Office for Restaurants ›

Award-winning AI

Winner at CES 2026, ISE 2026 and TMCnet Enterprise AI Product of the Year.