Common questions

The questions we get most often

Do I need an account to book?

No. Booking a table, requesting one, or reporting a mistake needs no account. We ask for your contact details because the restaurant needs them to recognise you and to answer you, not to sign you up to anything.

What’s the difference between "instant confirmation" and "on request"?

With instant confirmation the place uses Bitebooker: pick a time and a party size and the table is yours straight away. On request means it doesn’t: we pass the request along and tell you by when to expect an answer, which may not come.

I booked and it says "waiting for an answer". Is the table mine?

Not yet. That happens when the party is larger than the restaurant accepts automatically, or when the room is nearly full: the booking arrived, but a person decides. We’ll tell you as soon as they answer; if you need an answer now, call them.

How do I cancel a booking?

From the page we give you when you book: that link is the one to keep, and it shows the status and lets you cancel. Cancelling frees the table, and it can’t be taken back.

I requested a table and nobody answered.

For places that don’t use Bitebooker the answer is up to them. If they haven’t given us a working contact we tell you straight away on the request page: in that case the only way is to call.

Why is a restaurant on this site?

Listings come from public sources — open mapping data and company registers — not from the restaurateur signing up. That’s why the catalogue is broad, and why it can contain mistakes.

A listing has the wrong details, or the place has closed.

There’s a link at the bottom of every listing to tell us, with no account needed. When enough people report the same thing, the listing comes down.

Do restaurants pay to appear higher?

No. The order depends on how complete a listing is, how close it is to where you’re searching from, and whether the table can be confirmed on the spot.