Restaurant Answering Service: 5 AI Options (2026)
Friday at 7:30, the host stand has a line, the kitchen is slammed and the phone won’t stop. “Are you open Monday?” “Can I get a table for six?” “Do you do gluten-free?” “I’d like to book the back room for 40 in December.” The last one is worth more than the night’s specials, and it’s the one most likely to hit voicemail.
The quick answer: A restaurant answering service picks up every call your staff can’t. Restaurant-only AI tools like Slang AI, Hostie and Loman handle reservations and takeout inside their own systems. Carly is the pick when you want one assistant for the phone, texts and email: it answers every call from your menu and policies, handles reservation requests, sends private-event and catering leads to your manager on the spot, texts back every missed call and follows your rules the same way every night.
What restaurant calls are about
- Questions the website already answers: hours, parking, the menu, allergens, kids’ menus, corkage.
- Reservations: new bookings, changes, large parties, “is there anything at 8?”
- Takeout: orders, order status, “how long?”
- Private events and catering: the highest-value call of the week.
- Everything else: lost items, gift cards, a complaint that needs a manager.
A good answering setup answers the first group itself, books or captures the second and third, and gets the fourth to a person while the caller is still excited.
Restaurant answering services compared
| Option | Answers by | Setup | Strongest at | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Phone, text, WhatsApp, email | Minutes, on the site or by asking ChatGPT or Claude | Answering from your info, event and catering leads, texts, one inbox | Owners who want calls, texts and email handled by one assistant |
| Slang AI | Phone | Onboarding with Slang | Reservations, multilingual callers, VIP routing | Full-service and multi-location groups |
| Hostie | Phone, text, email, Instagram, Google Maps | Onboarding with Hostie | Reservations and guest messages in one place | Independent restaurants and hospitality groups |
| Loman | Phone | Onboarding with Loman | Phone orders | Pizza and takeout-heavy shops |
| Goodcall | Phone | Self-serve | Simple call answering | Small shops on a budget |
Details from each vendor’s site, checked November 3, 2026.
1. Carly
Carly answers your restaurant’s phone, texts, WhatsApp and email from one place. It’s reliable and endlessly customizable: tell it your rules in plain English (“parties over eight go to the manager, we don’t take reservations for brunch, gluten-free pasta is available but the fryer is shared”) and it says the same thing on every call.
Setup takes minutes. Paste Carly’s setup prompt into ChatGPT or Claude, grab a number, and forward the calls your host can’t take (missed-call setup).
- Answers every call at once. No one waits on hold while the host seats a table.
- Knows your restaurant. Hours, menu, allergens, parking and policies, from the information you give it.
- Handles reservation requests. It takes the party size, date and time, then books through your reservation system’s API where there is one or texts the guest your booking link.
- Catches the big ones. Private events, buyouts and catering inquiries go to the manager by text with the date, headcount and budget, and land in Carly’s CRM for follow-up.
- Texts back every missed call within seconds, with your online ordering link if that’s what they wanted (missed call text back).
- Speaks English and Spanish, picked from how the caller talks.
- Answers the catering emails too. Inquiries that arrive by email get the same answers and the same follow-up as a free Zapier-style workflow.
- Connects to everything. Thousands of apps, including Toast through its API, so you can get the week’s numbers sent to your partners on Monday morning (AI tools for Toast).
Best for: owners who want the phone, texts and email handled by the same rules. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Get started.
2. Slang AI
Slang calls its restaurant voice AI a “Superhost.” It switches between 97 languages mid-call, answers from your approved information, manages reservations and suggests a sister location when you’re full, routes VIPs straight to staff and alerts you to private-event inquiries and lost items.
- Watch for: it’s phone-only and built around reservations; texts and catering email live elsewhere.
- Best for: full-service groups with several locations.
3. Hostie
Hostie answers calls, texts and email in your restaurant’s voice, and adds Instagram and Google Maps messages to the same inbox. It books reservations and takes takeout orders, with transcripts and the option to jump into a conversation.
- Watch for: restaurant-only, so the rest of your business tools need their own setup.
- Best for: independent restaurants that want guest messages in one place.
4. Loman
Loman is built for phone orders. It says it takes full orders with modifiers and payment on the call, and its customers are heavy on pizza and takeout.
- Watch for: its strength is ordering, not events or reservations.
- Best for: takeout-heavy shops that lose orders when the phone rings out.
5. Goodcall
Goodcall’s AI agent answers calls for local businesses, restaurants included, and charges by unique caller.
- Watch for: general-purpose, so restaurant workflows take setup. Trustpilot reviewers complain about billing (Goodcall alternatives).
- Best for: small shops that want calls answered cheaply.
How to pick a restaurant answering service
- What are most of your calls? Takeout orders point to Loman. Reservations point to Slang AI or Hostie. Questions, events and catering point to Carly.
- What happens to a 40-person event inquiry at 8pm? It should reach a manager in minutes, with the details.
- Can you change what it says tonight? A sold-out special, a holiday closure, a new allergen. With Carly you type it.
- Does it text? Many guests would rather get a link than hold.
- Does it cover email too? Catering inquiries often come by email.
No-shows are the other half of the reservation problem: see appointment no-show statistics for what restaurant booking data shows, and best AI tools for restaurants for the rest of the operation.
Set it up in minutes
Carly business setup prompt
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI. It walks you through the rest.
Help me connect Carly Teams so I can work with my organization's business texts, phone calls, voicemail and voice/text agents from this chat. I'll add it to you myself: tell me exactly what to click for the app you are, one step at a time, and wait for me to confirm before moving on. If a step doesn't match what I see, ask me what's on my screen. If you can do the setup yourself (Claude Code, Codex, Muse, Grok Bot), go ahead, and ask me for any key in your secure credential prompt, never in the chat. Don't tell me it's connected until list_phone_lines works, and if I have several teams, ask which to use. Before sending a text or making a call, confirm the team, recipient and message or task with me. The steps are below.
# Connect Carly Teams to an AI app
> Carly Teams works a team's business phone lines through the team's AI agents: business texts, phone calls, voicemail, the voice and text agents, and the team's CRM.
MCP server: https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp (streamable HTTP, OAuth)
## Setup
Carly Teams isn't in any plugin or connector directory yet, so it's added as a custom connection by URL.
1. Add Carly Teams:
- ChatGPT: open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click Add, and choose Create MCP App (not Create plugin or Upload plugin archive). If Create MCP App isn't on the menu, turn on Developer mode first in Settings > Security and login. Name it "Carly Teams" with the description "Work with my team's business texts, calls, voicemail and voice/text agents," paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp as the server URL, choose OAuth, create it, and sign in. Then in the message box open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick Carly Teams. No plugin needs to be built, packaged or uploaded.
- Claude (claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork): Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user carly-teams https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then /mcp, pick carly-teams, and authenticate.
- Codex: `codex mcp add carly-teams --url https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp`, then `codex mcp login carly-teams`.
- Cursor: add {"mcpServers": {"carly-teams": {"url": "https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp"}}} to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, then sign in to carly-teams from Customize.
- Muse: a custom connector to https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp with a Carly API key as its bearer token. The key comes from carlyassistant.com/account (API key under Carly Teams) and goes in Muse's connector settings, not in a chat message.
- Grok: grok.com/connectors > New Connector > Custom, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, and sign in.
- Grok Bot: a custom remote MCP server named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. Approve it and sign in.
- Perplexity: Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize > Connectors), then Add custom > Connector > Add MCP connector. Choose Remote, name it Carly Teams, paste https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp, pick OAuth, check the box and click Add, then click the Carly Teams card to sign in.
- Anything else: a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) named carly-teams at https://carlyassistant.com/team/mcp. It signs in with OAuth.
Sign in with the Carly account that belongs to the organization.
2. Once it's added, the Carly Teams tools show up in the chat, including list_phone_lines. If they don't, turn Carly Teams on for the chat or start a new chat.
3. To check it worked, call list_phone_lines: it returns the teams and phone lines the account can reach. A team with no phone line yet can get one with find_numbers (optionally by area code) and get_number, which may return a checkout link to finish.
4. Something to try first: "Review our missed calls and voicemail and help me reply to customers." Carly Teams also reads and answers business texts, has the team's agent make calls, and edits the voice and text agents. Texts and calls go out at once from the agent's number and can't be taken back. Team permissions apply.
## Email, calendars and workflows
Email, calendars, files, booking pages and workflows are the regular Carly connector, added separately. It's listed in ChatGPT's plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a67a26316b88191860222f918d4ec54) and Claude's connector directory (https://claude.ai/directory/carly), and connects anywhere else at https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/. Its setup is https://carlyassistant.com/mcp.txt.Then call it during service and ask about the gluten-free menu (how to test it).
FAQ
What is a restaurant answering service?
A service that answers your restaurant’s phone when staff can’t: questions, reservations, takeout and event inquiries. AI answering services like Carly answer every call at once, from your own information.
Can an AI answering service take restaurant reservations?
Yes. Carly takes the party size, date and time and books through your reservation system’s API where it has one, or texts the guest your booking link. Slang AI and Hostie book inside their supported reservation systems.
Can AI take phone orders for my restaurant?
Loman is built for phone orders with payment. Carly answers order questions and texts the caller your online ordering link so the order lands in your system.
What happens with private event and catering calls?
With Carly, they go to your manager by text the moment the call ends, with the date, headcount and budget, and the lead is saved for follow-up.
Can I keep my restaurant’s phone number?
Yes. Forward the calls your host can’t take, or every call, to Carly.
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See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
