New reservation app NoWait and Zavino want to text you

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New reservation app NoWait and Zavino want to text you

POSTED: Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 4:00 PM

Filed Under: Testing

Photo | Drew Lazor

When we first heard about NoWait, the Pittsburgh-based mobile phone app that's setting itself up to revamp the world of waiting lists, we were skeptical. What makes it any different from those light-up hockey puck things they give you at Outback Steakhouse? We got in touch with Zavino (112 S. 13th St.), the first and only restaurant in Philly to use the app, to figure out just what it is that sets it apart from Open Table or, say, a clipboard. For starters, you can't have a text-message conversation with those Outback pagers. Zavino GM Jason Brooke explained the specifics: When customers come in and put their names on the list (stored on an iPad), they get a text with an estimate of their wait and some suggestions for what to do in the meantime. Subsequent text alerts also let customers know when their tables are ready, and in the hours after dinner, the app even sends out follow-up thank-you texts. Customers can text back, too, so it would seem that the big thing here is interaction. Zavino's been using NoWait for about a month, and Brook says they've gotten a great reaction to it. "It's neat, you know?" he says. "You walk up to the host, you see the iPad, you get a text message it's pretty cool." He also made sure to point out that the company itself is receptive to restaurant clients' feedback, so it's been a good way to be a part of the project as it gets off the ground. While they're currently the only place in Philly to use the app, Blue Bear Tavern (216 S. 11th St.), which will be opening next month under Zavino ownership, is also in line to use NoWait.

Ivan

Posted 2011-03-02 10:52:05

Nice to see somebody actually took this concept to market albeit with a test market of one.  We've been considering doing it at Reservation Genie as we already capture mobile phone info from customers when they book reservations and text them reservation details...so throwing in a waiting list shouldn't be too hard.  But I don't think the Ipad is necessary, any computer should work fine.

Posted by Adrian Pelliccia @ 4:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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