Is a Google Sheet good enough for restaurant reservations?

For one phone line and one person taking bookings, yes. It breaks when bookings come from two places at once (phone plus website) or two staff edit at the same time; that is when double-seatings start and a shared reservation system earns its keep.

How do I track no-shows on a paper book?

Call at 15 minutes past the booking time, mark NS if unreachable, and total the covers and no-show counts at close. A month of those two numbers gives you your no-show rate and tells you what a card-hold policy would be worth.

Free template

Printable reservation sheet (plus Sheets and Excel guidance)

A clean printable reservation sheet for one service, plus exactly how to rebuild it in Google Sheets or Excel, and when a paper book stops working.

A reservation sheet needs seven columns: time, guest name, party size, phone, table, notes, and a status mark for seated or no-show. Print the sheet below (one page per service), or rebuild it in Google Sheets or Excel in about two minutes with the guide underneath.

Paper works until the phone and the website book the same table. The moment two people can take bookings at once, you need one shared book; that is the honest limit of this template, and we say so at the bottom.

Reservation sheet

One page per service. Pencil, sorted by time.

Date: Service:

Time	Guest name	Party	Phone	Table	Notes (occasion, allergies, highchair)	Seated / NS

Status: circle party size on arrival, write table number. NS = no-show (call first, 15 min grace).Covers seated: No-shows:

Google Sheets setup (2 minutes)

1. New sheet, name the tab for the service date (e.g. "Fri 12 Jul dinner").
2. Row 1 headers: Time | Guest name | Party | Phone | Table | Notes | Status.
3. Select row 1, bold it, then View > Freeze > 1 row.
4. Format column A as Time (Format > Number > Time).
5. Data > Create a filter, so you can sort by Time after adding late bookings.
6. Status column: Insert > Dropdown with values Booked, Seated, No-show, Cancelled.
7. Duplicate the tab each service. File > Share with the host stand tablet, set to "Editor".

Excel setup (2 minutes)

1. New workbook, one worksheet per service.
2. Row 1 headers: Time | Guest name | Party | Phone | Table | Notes | Status.
3. Select the header row, Home > Format as Table (pick a plain style); this gives you sorting and banded rows.
4. Column A: right-click > Format Cells > Time.
5. Status column: Data > Data Validation > List, values: Booked,Seated,No-show,Cancelled.
6. Print setup: Page Layout > Orientation Landscape, Fit Sheet on One Page.

How to run the sheet during service

Write bookings in pencil, sorted by time. On arrival, circle the party size and write the table number. Fifteen minutes past booking time with no guest: call the phone number, then mark NS if unreachable. At close, count covers (sum the Party column of seated rows) and no-shows; two numbers, thirty seconds, and you will know your real no-show rate within a month.

How to use this well

One page per service, not per day. Lunch and dinner books mixed on one page cause double-seatings.
The phone column is not optional: it is the difference between a no-show and a saved table.
Track the two totals nightly (covers, no-shows). A month of data tells you whether you need a no-show policy and what it is worth.
The honest limit: paper and spreadsheets cannot stop two bookings landing on the same four-top at 7 PM. When that starts happening, move to a shared system; TableHelm's free plan is one option, unlimited reservations for one location.

Questions

Common questions

Seven: time, guest name, party size, phone number, assigned table, notes (occasion, allergies, highchair), and a status mark for seated, no-show or cancelled. Sorted by time, one page per service.

More free templates

Want the system these templates plug into?

TableHelm is free for one location: booking page, floor plan, waitlist, guest book and email confirmations. The policies you just copied paste straight into it.

Start free See pricing