Who is calling, and what do they need?
Callers ask about hours or the menu, place or change a takeout order, and follow up on an order in progress. If staff cannot answer during service, make that limitation plain and use the business’s actual ordering channel.
Keep the top-level menu in the caller’s language. In Auto Attendant each option does one thing: it rings up to three phones one after another (each for 10 to 60 seconds, never together), takes a voicemail, or plays a message and hangs up. Point each option at the person, or the shared phone, that actually handles this call, and add a backup only where a missed call costs you.
How restaurant or takeout business calls actually go
A restaurant’s phone is busiest exactly when its staff are busiest. The calls are short and repetitive: opening hours, a table for tonight, an order to collect, a question about allergens. The temptation is to build a menu that answers all of them, but that tends to slow the line down. A short greeting that states hours and address and then offers two options usually serves callers better.
The one call that cannot be handled by a recording is the allergy question. Someone asking whether a dish contains a particular ingredient needs an answer from a person who knows what is in the kitchen that day. Give that call a route to the manager during service hours, and tell callers plainly when no one is available to answer.
Recommended menu
| Caller’s choice | Role to ring | What it does | Why this route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Place a takeout order | order desk | Rings one phone | The order-desk phone is answered when someone is free during service. |
| 2. Current order | shift lead | Rings one phone | One on-duty role can check the order handoff. |
| 3. Hours, menu, or group enquiry | host stand | Rings one phone | The host-stand phone handles general questions without ringing the kitchen. |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Shaded text is a fill-in field: replace it with your own.
This example uses 3 menu options. Auto Attendant allows up to seven; add an option only when it sends a distinct kind of caller to a meaningfully different destination. A call that rings every phone you listed without an answer goes to voicemail. The menu can be in English, French or Spanish, and a line can also skip the menu and go straight to one action.
Greeting script
Business name. To place a takeout order, press 1. For an order already placed, press 2. For hours, the menu, or a group enquiry, press 3.
Shaded text is a fill-in field: replace it with your own.
26 words, about 10 seconds spoken at 150 words per minute. The estimate is calculated from the script above; allow extra time for pauses and clear delivery.
Read each reason before its key, as in “For a new enquiry, press 1”. Replace the shaded fields and any role or service wording before you type the greeting into the menu; a text-to-speech voice reads it to callers.
A worked example
Illustration: a 40-seat restaurant offers 1 for reservations and 2 for takeout orders and pick-up questions. During service, option 1 rings the host stand; option 2 rings the kitchen expediter. Outside service hours the greeting states opening hours and the address, then goes to voicemail for reservation requests.
The failure is a greeting longer than the time a hungry caller will listen to. Eight seconds of hours and address, then options, is plenty. Everything else belongs on the website.
After hours, weekends, and holidays
State when ordering resumes and where callers can find the current menu if the restaurant has a maintained online listing. Voicemail is useful for event enquiries, less so for an order needed immediately.
Keep the message aligned with current service hours, holiday menus, and kitchen cut-off times. A closed kitchen should not receive an option that sounds live.
Outside the hours you set, Auto Attendant plays your closed message and then takes a voicemail or ends the call; it does not forward calls after hours, and holidays are closed all day. Where the advice above mentions an on-call route, either keep that person’s option within your set hours or give the arrangement in the closed message.
Check the greeting after every schedule change. A voicemail arrives by email with the recording attached and a transcript when one is produced, but it does not make the call live or guarantee a response time.
Rules and standards worth knowing
Allergen questions are a food-safety issue. FDA identifies nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame 1. The FDA publishes the Food Code, a model that helps food control jurisdictions at all levels of government regulate retail and food-service operations 2. Whoever answers allergen questions should be trained and should not guess.
Restaurants are places of public accommodation under the ADA 3. Staff may ask only two questions when it is not obvious whether a dog is a service animal 4; make sure the person on the phone gives the same answer as the person at the door.
Sending order-ready texts or marketing messages triggers Telephone Consumer Protection Act consent rules 5. Auto Attendant places no outgoing calls or texts; staff do, afterwards.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state and change; confirm anything that affects your business with the source or an adviser.
Common menu mistakes
- Sending calls to the kitchen during a rush.
- Letting callers think voicemail places an order.
- Keeping old hours or menu instructions in the greeting.
Keep the greeting short, use the same names callers see elsewhere, and make sure every route has a sensible end when nobody picks up.
Check the menu before you publish it
- State hours and address first and keep the greeting under about ten seconds.
- Route allergen questions to a trained person and say what happens if nobody is free.
- Check that the takeout option rings a phone someone can answer during the rush.
- Update the holiday greeting before the first closed day.
- Call during a busy service and time how long the caller waits.
Related guides and templates
- Salon or barbershop: phone menu guide
- Fitness studio: phone menu guide
- Photography or events studio: phone menu guide
- Moving company: phone menu guide
- Lunch-hour greeting: call-flow template
- Holiday closure: call-flow template
- Weekend greeting: call-flow template
- Main business greeting: call-flow template
- Call routing and menu design
- Missed calls and what they cost
Further reading
Longer research pieces on this topic, each with its own source list and a downloadable PDF.
Articles on this topic
Topics Small business phone Auto attendant Call forwarding Voicemail All topics
Sources
Every regulatory and pricing claim on this page links to the primary source it came from. Figures were checked on the date shown at the top of the page; rules and prices change, so verify before relying on one.
- FDA, Food Allergies (the nine major food allergens). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/food-allergies - FDA, Food Code. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.fda.gov/food/retail-food-protection/fda-food-code - ADA.gov, Businesses That Are Open to the Public (Title III). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.ada.gov/topics/title-iii/ - ADA.gov, ADA Requirements: Service Animals. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-2010-requirements/ - 47 U.S.C. § 227, Restrictions on use of telephone equipment (Telephone Consumer Protection Act). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227