Pre-orders with a booking
Pre-order food with a table booking: guests choose before they arrive
After a guest books, Mosey asks what they would like to eat. They pick dishes from your menu, with your allergen information beside each one, and your kitchen sees the counts for every sitting. Nobody pays up front: the guest settles the bill on the day.
Free to claim
Every tool is optional.
Why does a full room slow your kitchen down?
A Friday sitting at seven is a dozen tables arriving inside twenty minutes. Every table sits down, reads the menu, asks about the lamb and orders at once, so the pass goes from empty to buried in a single moment. The first table's starters wait behind the last table's questions.
Allergies make it worse. A guest mentions a nut allergy when the plates are already on their way, and the whole line stops to check.
Choosing ahead moves that work to before service. The kitchen reads the counts, preps the right amounts and answers the allergen questions at the start of the shift. Nothing is taken as payment, so there is nothing to refund when plans change.
How does choosing food before arrival work on Mosey?
Guests book as usual
A guest books a table in the Mosey app. Straight after booking, and later on the booking in My Bookings, the app offers Choose your food in advance.
They pick from your menu
They choose dishes from your live menu, up to twenty of any one, and say which menu they would like if you run more than one. Your allergen information shows beside every dish, and a notes box takes anything the kitchen should know.
You see it added up
Each choice sits on the booking, and the prep sheet adds the dishes up for the day and for every sitting.
What do your guests see, and what do you see?
Only dishes you can serve
The list holds the dishes that are live on your menu. A draft, a hidden dish, one marked unavailable or one kept for members is left out, and so is a menu that is switched off or not served at the table.
A choice, not a payment
Guests are told this is a preference for the kitchen. Nothing is charged, no stock is held back and the guest pays on the day as usual, so a change of plan costs neither of you anything.
Counts you can cook from
The prep sheet carries an Ordered ahead block with how many of each dish the day needs and how many for each sitting. Every booking row lists that table's choices beside its allergens and notes, and the bookings list marks each booking that has one.
Ordering ahead comes with the Host plan at €169.99 a month. There is no fee per dish and no cut of the food, because no money moves through it.
How do I get guests choosing their food ahead?
- Host your business on Mosey and take bookings. Ordering ahead comes with the Host plan, so there is no switch to find.
- Build your menu in Menu Builder and mark the dishes that are available. Guests can only choose dishes that are live.
- Add your allergen information to each dish, so guests see it beside their choice.
- Check that each menu is switched on and served at the table. A menu kept for collection or delivery only is not offered to a booking.
- Open the prep sheet when you start prep and again before service. When a guest adds or changes a choice, the people who manage your bookings get a notice that opens the booking, and the sheet adds every choice up.
- Mention it where guests read about you, on your website and your socials: they find it in the app straight after they book.
What does ordering ahead cost?
Ordering ahead is part of the Host reservation plan at €169.99 a month, with no charge per dish and no charge per booking. Mosey takes no fee on the food because the guest pays on the day, at your till or however you take payment. Your first paid plan starts with a 14 day free trial (one per business).
Free
No monthly fee
Starter
€79.99 a month
Host
€169.99 a month
How is this different from set menus and from online ordering?
A set menu is a product. The group picks one, pays a deposit per head and the booking becomes an event-style sitting. Choosing ahead is lighter: it works on a booking of any size, from your whole menu, with no deposit attached.
Online ordering is a sale. The customer pays and the order reaches your kitchen as a ticket. Choosing ahead is a note on a booking. It does not create an order or take a payment, and the bill on the day is rung up as usual.
A guest who types the lamb into a request box gives you a note. A guest who picks the lamb from your menu gives you a count, and the prep sheet adds the counts up for you.
Who should offer food choices with a booking?
Restaurants with fixed sittings or busy evenings, where a dozen tables sit within the same half hour. Kitchens that cook slowly: a braise, a roast, a whole fish. Birthdays and work dinners, where one person books and eight people eat. If you serve mostly walk-ins and take few bookings, leave it: the offer is optional for every guest, and nobody is made to choose.
Know what the room will eat before the doors open
Host your business on Mosey, take bookings on the Host plan and open the prep sheet before your next service.
Pre-orders with a booking: questions from owners
Does the guest pay when they choose?
No. It is a preference for your kitchen. Nothing is charged, no stock is set aside and the guest pays on the day.
How long can a guest change their choice?
Until the cutoff you set in your reservation settings, anywhere from thirty minutes to three days before the booking starts (two hours unless you change it), in your local time. After that the guest still sees what they chose, cannot change it, and is told to speak to your staff on the day.
What if a dish is no longer on my menu?
A dish that has left your menu stays on a booking exactly as the guest saved it, so the prep sheet still counts it and you can talk to the guest. Guests cannot choose a dish that is not live when they pick.
Does it work through the booking widget on my website?
No. The widget takes the booking. Choosing food happens in the Mosey app.
Will I be told when a guest chooses?
Yes. The people who manage your bookings get a notice in the dashboard and by web push, at most one per booking every ten minutes, and it opens that booking. The bookings list also marks every booking that has a choice.
What if I am not on the Host plan?
The app does not offer food choices on your bookings, and nothing changes for your guests. Move to Host and your upcoming bookings can take a choice.
Where to go next with bookings
More ways to fill your business
Set menus for big bookings
Offer a set menu to large parties, take the deposit per head and know what the kitchen is cooking before they arrive.
No-show protection
Ask for a deposit or save a card, set a cancellation window guests accept, and stop a booked table going empty.
The till and card payments
A web till for tables, tabs and takeaway, with split bills, shift reports and card payments at a capped rate.
