NoWait App Could Revolutionize Dining Out

Raise your hand if you’ve ever walked out of a restaurant after the hostess told you how long the wait would be. 

Now raise the other hand if you’ve been on a waitlist and gave up because you couldn’t tell how much longer it would be until you got seated. 

Robb Meyer realized these issues were plaguing restaurants and diners, and he decided to do something about it; he founded NoWait, a Pittsburgh based company that provides a waitlist app to make the dining experience smoother for everybody. 

“I was at a restaurant in 2009 and the wait was long, so the hostess said let me get your cell phone number and I’ll call you when your table is ready,” Meyer told Patch by phone.

“I thought, that’s brilliant – why don’t more restaurants do this? Why not automate the waitlist process? This technology was born out of a consumer need.” 

Two years later NoWait, an app that’s available for iPads and smart phones, hit the marketplace, and the company has been on the rise ever since. 

“We’re currently in 49 states and every province in Canada, roughly 1,950 establishments. We’re doing about 1 million guests per month,” Meyer said.

“But we’re really just starting to scratch the surface. There are a lot of restaurants out there.” 

A modern solution for an age-old problem 

According to Meyer, restaurants have been using the pager waitlist system for more than 15 years, and traditional paper lists obviously for much longer.

But those methods are outdated, expensive and ineffective when it comes to helping businesses and informing customers, he says. 

“We found restaurant owners don’t like the pagers – they break, the batteries die, and a certain number of them go missing each month,” Meyer said. “They are very costly for businesses.”

“And paper waitlists are messy, unorganized and confusing,” he added.

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“Our service costs $59 or $119.00 per month, and we provide additional statistics and analytics that buzzers and traditional paper waitlists can’t provide.”

The service allows restaurants to spot dining trends, track revenue based on wait times, see what times of day are busiest and compare quoted to actual wait times.

For diners the system is simple, helpful and effective. After leaving your cell phone number with the hostess, you will receive a text message when your table is ready. Diners also get a link that shows their place in line in near real time. 

“Click the ‘What’s My Place?’ link on any smart phone and we will show you, physically, where you are in line and how long before you are called to your table,” Meyer said. 

“You actually know and see your progression, so it keeps people from leaving.” 

Safety Harbor restaurateur satisfied with NoWait service 

Russ Latimer has been using the NoWait service at his downtown Safety Harbor restaurant, Nantucket Bucket, since he opened last October.

He says the app has proven to be a huge benefit to his business and his customers. 

“People love it. They’re amazed when they see they can find out where they are in line just by using their phones,” he said. 

According to Meyer and Latimer, the Bucket is the only establishment in Pinellas County currently using the service.

Latimer is quick to point out that a restaurant first needs to have a waiting list before they can utilize the NoWait app.

“We’re the only ones in town who have this, and as far as I know, we’re the only ones in town who really have a need for it,” he said. “You have to have a waiting list to be able to take advantage of this service.”

"But they've got something cutting edge here. People like seeing where they're at in line."

For more information on NoWait, visit the company's website at nowaitapp.com.