A restaurant CRM that fills itself from your orders

Most restaurants know their regulars by face and lose everyone else. A restaurant CRM, or customer database, keeps the rest: who ordered, what they ordered, and how to reach them.

You do not need an expensive system for this. You need a list that updates itself, because a spreadsheet you fill in at 11 p.m. stops being filled in by Thursday.

A guest who orders on your site is added automatically. Checkout always asks for a phone number. In your settings you can also ask for a name and an email, and the name prints on the kitchen ticket.

A walk-in order typed at the counter carries the guest's name and phone, unless they would rather not give one. You can add a customer by hand at any time.

If you already keep customers in a spreadsheet, send it to us and we add them, along with any meal plans.

The list grows with orders, so the fastest way to fill it is to send people to order. Put your link in your Instagram bio, on the door, and on the bag.

Turn on the email field at checkout so new guests leave an address. At the counter, ask for a name so the ticket is easy to call. If you already have a customer sheet, send it and we add everyone, including meal plans.

Open a guest and you see their orders, newest first, each with its status and total. You can click into any one.

A guest can have several addresses, each with a label, a unit, and a door note such as “side door on King, buzz 2”. One is the default for delivery. The note shows to the driver on the day that address is used.

You can add allergies and notes. Allergies show on every label for a plan customer, so nobody has to remember. Internal notes are for you and your staff only.

Type two letters into search and the list narrows. Search matches name, phone, address, and notes.

Fatima A. calls to say her order arrived cold. You type her name, open her last order, and see what she ordered, when, and whether it was delivery. You answer her by name. That conversation is the difference between a lost guest and a regular.

The list is only worth keeping if you use it. Here are three plain ways kitchens do.

Launch a dish. When a new menu goes up, email everyone on the list instead of hoping the Instagram algorithm shows it. The restaurant email marketing page covers sending.

Fix a bad order. Call or text the guest, with their phone number one tap away from the order.

Run weekly plans. The customer list for plan customers shows who is active, paused, or ending soon. Offer a renewal before the last box goes out.

Open a guest and count their orders. Three in a month is a regular, so say hello by name and keep an eye on their order. One order in six months is a guest worth a note about what is new.

Look at repeat addresses. If five guests on one street order every week, a driver stop there is cheap. That is a reason to promote delivery on that street.

Add the allergy the first time a guest mentions it, so every label carries it. Fix addresses that did not land on the map with Fix the address, so the driver is not hunting for a door.

Use the notes for what staff actually need: “likes extra sauce”, “call from the street, doorbell is broken”.

A customer list holds personal details, so collect what helps you cook and deliver: name, phone, address, allergies. Do not add what you will never use. Tell guests why you ask, and answer if they ask you to remove them.

Orders placed on your own site put the guest on your list. Orders that come through a marketplace's app do not. That is the main reason to keep a direct channel running next to any marketplace.

Only email people who gave you their email so you can contact them, and make it easy for them to say stop.

It is not a loyalty program. There are no points, stamps, or rewards. It is the list, the order history, and the email, which is enough for most kitchens to start using their regulars.