How it works

Everything you need to know, briefly

You sit down, scan the code on the table, and from there everything happens on your phone: the menu, questions, the order and the bill. Nothing to download, nothing to install.

• 1. Getting started
• 2. Scanning the QR code
• 3. Seeing the menu
• 4. Chatting with the smart waiter
• 5. Allergies and preferences
• 6. Placing an order
• 7. The bill and paying
• Booking a table ahead
• 8. Common questions

1. Getting started

You need one thing: a phone with internet. Scan the code on the table, and the menu, the smart waiter, ordering and the bill all work with no account and no sign-up.

An account is optional and takes under a minute. It gives you three things: your allergies and preferences are saved once and reach the kitchen and the smart waiter on every visit without retyping; your visit and booking history shows on your account page; and you can chat from the home page, without being at a table, to ask if it's busy and book. Anyone who comes to the home page without an account is sent to a short sign-up and returned to the same spot.

2. Scanning the QR code

1. Point your phone's camera at the code on the table

   The sticker holds an ordinary link, so your phone's camera app opens it by itself. No special scanner needed.

2. Or type the code

   Six letters and digits are printed on that same sticker. Type them on the home page and you land in the same place. Next to the code field there's also a scan button that opens the camera inside the page, on iPhone and Android; the first time, the browser asks for camera permission.

3. Without seeing the sticker

   If you cannot see the code, ask the staff to read it out — six letters and digits — and type or dictate it on the home page. Once in, you can talk to the waiter by voice and hear it answer, without reading anything: anyone who marked screen-reader use on their account gets voice at every restaurant.

4. Check it's the right restaurant and table

   The restaurant's name and the table number are at the top of the screen. If something there looks off, you probably scanned another table's code; just scan again.

3. Seeing the menu

Tap Menu and it opens right inside the chat. No separate tab, nowhere to navigate: the answer to your last question stays on screen above it.

• The buttons at the top filter by category: starters, mains, drinks and so on.
• Next to each dish you see the price, the description and the allergens the restaurant marked.
• A dish that's sold out is marked and can't be added.
• The + adds a dish. Collect a few and send them all together.
• For some dishes the kitchen asks before cooking: how you want your steak or burger done, how you like the eggs in your shakshuka, spice level, extras. The + then opens a short sheet: a required question blocks adding until you answer, an optional one you can skip. That's also where you write a request for this dish only, like "no onion", and a paid extra shows its price before you add it.

The menu keeps reloading, so a changed price or a sold-out dish updates even while the menu is open on your screen.

4. Chatting with the smart waiter

Write the way you talk, in any language: "what's good?", "anything vegetarian?", "how much is the salad?", "please call a waiter". No commands to remember. The smart waiter also adds to your order: "I'd like a burger, medium, no onion" lands in your order exactly like that, and if a dish has a required question you haven't answered, it asks before adding. It sends to the kitchen only when you tell it to ("yes, send it"), or when you tap send in your order.

Many questions, like the menu, prices, calling a waiter or asking for the bill, are answered straight from the restaurant's data, without touching AI at all. That's faster and more accurate.

Each guest gets a limited number of chats. If you hit the limit, the smart waiter stops answering — but ordering from the menu, calling a waiter and the bill keep working as usual, and a waiter is called to the table right then. Nobody gets stuck mid-meal.

Talking to the waiter out loud

Where the restaurant has switched it on, there is a voice button next to the text box. Tap it and just talk: ask, add dishes, ask for the bill. The waiter answers out loud, in the language you spoke, and everything said lands in the same written conversation, so you can switch between talking and typing halfway through.

An order goes to the kitchen only after a clear "yes" to "send it to the kitchen?", and the allergy check works when you talk too. The voice conversation closes when you tap ✕, when you leave the screen, after a minute and a half of silence, or after 10 minutes. The audio itself is not kept by us; what was said is kept in writing, like any conversation. Anyone who has marked screen-reader use in their account gets voice at every restaurant, free.

A full explanation of what is sent to the model and what isn't is on the page How we use AI.

5. Allergies and preferences

There are two ways to tell us about an allergy, and they work together:

You can edit or delete your allergies and preferences any time on the page My account.

6. Placing an order

1. Collect dishes

   The + next to each dish adds it. The order bar at the bottom shows how many dishes you've picked and for how much.

2. Check and adjust

   Tap the bar and your order opens. There you can change amounts, remove a dish, and write an allergy note. Two of the same dish prepared differently, say a medium burger and a well-done one, are two lines. Up to 40 different dishes per order and up to 20 of each; for more, just send another order. Your order survives a page refresh.

3. Send to the kitchen

   One tap, and the order appears on the branch's kitchen screen. There's no extra confirmation step.

4. Follow the status

   The status updates in the chat by itself: Received, Cooking, Served. No need to refresh.

You can order several times during the meal. Every order adds up to one bill for the table, and even if several people at the table order from their own phones, it all lands on the same bill.

7. The bill and paying

Write Bill or tap the button, and you get the amount and a payment link in the chat.

If the restaurant hasn't connected a payment gateway yet, the system says so plainly and calls a waiter, rather than pretending you can pay. After a successful payment the table closes and a thank-you screen appears.

Refunds, a wrong bill or a dish that never came are matters for the restaurant. Full details on the page Pricing, billing and cancellation.

Ending your visit

The Done button at the top closes the table. The visit also closes by itself: after the bill is paid, and after four hours in any case. Once the bill is closed you can't add orders to it from the same phone; to stay and order more, scan the table code again and a new bill opens.

Booking a table ahead

From the home page, when you're signed in, you can write to the smart waiter "any room tonight at Bistro Talula Haifa?" or "book a table for Friday". It checks opening hours and what's already taken, suggests free times, and takes you to a short booking screen: how many of you, name and phone. The confirmation comes by email with a calendar link, and you can cancel any time from the page My account. The home page chat survives a refresh.

A booking is a request the restaurant holds; if you're late or they moved you to another table, that's between you and them. A restaurant that held an empty table is the one losing out, so if you're not coming, cancel.

8. Common questions