For no-reservation restaurants, pizza spots, ramen bars, brunch
Restaurant waitlist app, built for walk-ins.
Free restaurant waitlist with QR self check-in, party size capture, phone-ready texts. For pizza spots, ramen bars, brunch places, taquerias — anywhere customers queue instead of book.
QR self check-in
Customers scan, type name + party size, join the queue. Hostess focuses on seating, not taking names.
Party size matched to tables
See every waiting party's size. A 4-top opens → next party of 4 wins, not the next 2-top that happened to be first.
Phone capture for table-ready texts
Customers can leave the queue zone — you text them when their table's ready.
No app download
Runs in any phone browser. Tourists, walk-ins, first-timers — no install friction.
Print-ready QR
Use our free QR generator to print a large version for the door or hostess stand.
Data vanishes after 48h
No persistent customer database. UK GDPR-friendly by default.
Some restaurants don't take reservations and never will: classic pizza slice joints, ramen bars, smash-burger spots, Saturday brunch places, taquerias, any place where the walk-in is the whole identity. Those restaurants still have a queue problem at peak — just not one a booking system solves. The List is a free restaurant waitlist app built specifically for walk-in dining.
Customers scan a QR on the door, type their name and party size (and optionally a phone number), and get a queue position. They don't have to cluster near the hostess stand. They can wander down the block, grab a drink, come back when their party's up. The hostess sees the whole queue with party sizes so they can match parties to tables properly — a 4-top opens, they call the next party of 4, not the next pair that happens to be at the top.
It's not trying to be SevenRooms or Resy. Those are for restaurants that want reservations, loyalty programs, kitchen comms, and a full-fat system with a four-figure monthly bill. The List is for the walk-in problem specifically: fair order, party-size aware, free. If you also take reservations, use your existing system for those and this for the walk-in side.
Free forever for restaurants. Ads on marketing pages only — never on the customer signup screen. Phone numbers and names auto-delete 48 hours after the queue's last activity, so you're never holding personal data longer than you need.
Saturday brunch at a 30-cover walk-in restaurant
Typical run-of-show
- 1QR at the hostess stand + at the door.
- 2Arriving parties scan and enter name + party size.
- 3Hostess sees the live queue with every party size visible.
- 4Table opens → hostess picks the best-fit party, taps to remove from queue.
- 5Customer gets called or texted, seated, cycle continues.
When to use this vs a full reservation system
Use The List if you don't take reservations at all, or if you run a walk-in section alongside reservations and need to manage the walk-ins separately. Use Resy, OpenTable, SevenRooms if you take reservations as your primary system — they include a waitlist feature you can run alongside the bookings.
Mixing the two: plenty of restaurants take reservations for the dining room and run walk-in-only at the bar, or take reservations for dinner but run walk-in-only for brunch. The List is designed to cover the walk-in half of that without any double-booking risk — it's entirely standalone from your reservation system.
Matching party size to table size
A party of 2 on top of the queue isn't always the right pick if the next table that opens is a 6-top. The List doesn't auto-match because every restaurant has different rules ("always seat the 2-top at the bar", "prioritise larger parties at dinner"), but it shows every party size next to every name so your hostess can make the call in one glance.
If you want automatic best-fit matching with table projection, that's what Waitwhile and NextME do (and charge for). We kept it free by keeping the human in the loop — most restaurants prefer that anyway.
Questions hosts ask
How is this different from Yelp Waitlist, Resy Waitlist, or OpenTable Waitlist?+
Those come bundled with their reservation platforms and typically charge a significant monthly fee. The List is free standalone. If you already pay for Resy or OpenTable, use their waitlist. If you don't, and you just need a walk-in queue that works, this is lighter and costs nothing.
Can customers see their estimated wait time?+
Not in v1. We show queue position and party size. Wait-time estimates require knowing your table turn rate, which varies by night — getting it wrong is worse than not showing it. Waitwhile does estimates well; use them if that's important.
Can I text customers when their table's ready?+
Phone numbers are captured so you can text from your own phone or a shared restaurant mobile. We don't send automated SMS in v1 — that would mean per-message fees which break the free promise. Pair with an iOS Shortcut for one-tap pre-written texts.
What about large parties vs small?+
Every party shows its size on your admin dashboard. The hostess picks the next party when a suitable table opens. No automatic best-fit — human judgement wins for most restaurants.
Does this work for fine dining?+
Probably not the right fit. Fine dining almost always runs on reservations and needs the depth of Resy / SevenRooms / Tock. This is for no-reservation walk-in-forward restaurants.
What happens to customer data?+
Names and phone numbers auto-delete 48 hours after the queue's last activity. Nothing kept long-term. UK GDPR-friendly by default. We never email customers and never sell data.
Ready in 10 seconds.
Tap the button. Share the QR. That's it.
Running something else?