Seating a party

Seating happens on the live floor view. Whether the party booked ahead or walked in off the street, the goal is the same: get them to a table and start their visit. This guide covers every way to do it.

Seat a reservation or waitlist party

Reservations and waitlist parties appear in the rail beside the floor. To seat one:

1. Tap the reservation or waitlist entry to pick it up — the tables that can host that party size light up.
2. Tap (or drag onto) the table you want.

That seats the party, starts their visit, and marks the table Occupied. If the table you drop onto already has a live party, or is set to Needs cleaning or Blocked, TableStack stops you and explains why — so you never stack two parties on one table by accident.

For a booking, you can also check the party in at the host stand first. Check-in marks everyone as waiting at the stand (useful for large parties that trickle in) and lights up the Seat action once they are ready to sit.

Seat a walk-in

For a guest with no booking, open the walk-in composer in the rail:

1. Enter their name and, optionally, a phone number.
2. Pick the party size.
3. Tap a highlighted table to seat them.

The guest record is found or created automatically when you seat — so a returning regular is matched to their existing guest profile, allergies and preferences and all. If no table is free, you can drop the walk-in straight onto the waitlist instead so they keep their place in line.

Seat known guests together

When you know who is dining, you can attach guests to the seating so their profiles come with them. Attach the primary guest, then add companions — other known guests at the same table. Each attached guest links to their own CRM record, which is what surfaces allergies and preferences on the seated seat cards during service.

Hold a table for 15 minutes

Sometimes you want to promise a specific table to a party who is still parking or finishing drinks at the bar. Use Hold table 15 min on the table's panel. The table is taken out of service and shows a countdown; if nobody is seated before the timer runs out, it releases itself back into service automatically. You can also release the hold early with one tap the moment plans change.

A hold is a short, self-clearing block — different from blocking a table indefinitely for maintenance or a private event, which stays out of service until you unblock it.

What this affects

• The visit lifecycle — seating starts the party's meal at Seated, ready to advance through their courses.
• Table and party statuses — seating marks tables Occupied (or Partially seated as a large party arrives).
• The guest book — every seating adds to the guest's visit history.

What affects this

• Your floor design — you seat at the tables and capacities you built.
• Availability — reservations arrive on the floor from the booking flow.
• Your role — seating requires the seat-parties permission.

The rail reads the clock

The floor's reservation rail is time-aware: a party more than five minutes past its booking time gets a thin red edge on its card and a ":min min late" note (the rail header counts them too), while parties due within the next half hour show "due in :min min". VIP guests sit beside the name, and guests with allergies on file carry a red Allergy chip under it — hover or long-press it for the list. The whole picture — who's next, who's late, who needs care — lives beside the floor without leaving the page.

On a tablet or phone

Pull a card in the rail sideways and it lifts straight away — then drop it onto a table to seat the party, exactly like the mouse drag. Pressing and holding a card for a moment (you'll feel a tick) lifts it too. A quick swipe up or down still scrolls the rail. Pick the floor from the dropdown at the top on smaller screens. Pinch with two fingers to zoom the floor, drag with one finger (or two) to pan, and use the New reservation button in the floor toolbar to take a phone booking without leaving the room.