Lead Capture7 min read

Restaurant Intake Form Templates and Field Checklist

Three ready-to-copy restaurant form layouts — catering inquiry, large-party reservation, and loyalty signup — with the fields to ask, why, and where to place them.

Farhad · Founder, GHL Spark

August 1, 2026

Cover illustration — a clean form outline on a dark green background, marked GHL Spark, Lead Capture

In short

A restaurant inquiry form should collect exactly what you need to answer a catering request, hold a table, or add a diner to your list — and nothing more. In practice that means a few different forms rather than one: a catering and private-event inquiry that gathers date, headcount, and budget so you can quote fast; a reservation or large-party request that captures the details a host needs to hold a table; and a loyalty or birthday-club signup short enough to finish at the table before the check arrives. This guide gives you three ready-to-copy field lists, a checklist of what each field is for and whether to make it required, and the best practices that keep completion rates high — short forms, mobile-first design, a QR code at the table, and clear consent before you send SMS or email. It closes with where to embed each form so diners actually find it — your website, Google Business Profile, table QR codes, and social bios — and where an all-in-one tool fits if you would rather host forms, capture diners into a list, and automate the reply from one place instead of stitching apps together.

Key takeaways

Use a different form for each job — a catering inquiry, a reservation request, and a loyalty signup have different lengths and different fields, and forcing them into one form loses people.
Keep the front-of-house form short — a loyalty or birthday signup a diner completes at the table should be two or three fields, because every extra field costs you completions.
Ask for a date, headcount, and budget on catering — those three answers are what let you quote fast, and a fast quote is what wins the event over a competitor who takes a day to reply.
Get explicit consent before you text or email — a simple checkbox that says what they are opting into keeps your SMS and email marketing compliant and your list clean.
Put the form where diners already are — a QR code on the table, a form on your site and Google Business Profile, and a link in your social bios each catch a different moment.

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A restaurant inquiry form should collect exactly what you need to answer a request — and nothing more. In practice that means a few short forms rather than one catch-all: a catering and private-event inquiry that gathers the date, headcount, and budget you need to quote fast; a reservation or large-party request that captures what a host needs to hold a table; and a loyalty or birthday-club signup short enough to finish at the table before the check arrives. Below are three ready-to-copy layouts as plain field lists, a checklist of what each field is for and whether to require it, the best practices that keep completions high, and where to embed each form so diners actually find it.

The reason to split forms by job is simple: the person planning a wedding reception and the diner scanning a table QR have very different patience for questions. An event planner expects to give you real detail and will happily complete a longer form; a seated diner has seconds before the food arrives. Design for that difference and both your completion rate and your data quality improve at once.

What should a catering and private-event inquiry form include?

This is the form that turns "do you do catering?" into a quotable request. Its job is to capture enough to price the event and reply fast, because a fast quote is often what wins the booking. Keep it to the fields below.

Contact name [text, required]
Email [email, required]
Phone [phone, required]
Event date [date, required]
Guest count [number, required]
Event type [dropdown: Wedding, Corporate, Private party, Birthday, Other]
Service style [radio: Drop-off, Buffet, Plated, Full-service]
Budget or per-head range [dropdown or text]
Dietary needs and allergies [long text, optional]
Anything else we should know? [long text, optional]

Those first five fields are the ones that let you quote without a back-and-forth — date and guest count size the job, and event type and service style shape the menu and staffing. The budget field feels awkward to ask but saves everyone time: it tells you at a glance whether the enquiry is a fit before you invest an hour building a proposal. Everything finer belongs on the follow-up call, not the form. For the wider picture of turning interest into enquiries, see how to capture leads with forms.

What does a reservation or large-party request form need?

A form does not replace your phone; it catches the bookings a busy line drops — after hours, mid-rush, and from diners who would rather not call. It is especially useful for large parties and private dining, where the details matter and a hurried call loses them.

Name [text, required]
Phone [phone, required]
Email [email, optional]
Requested date [date, required]
Requested time [time, required]
Party size [number, required]
Occasion [dropdown: None, Birthday, Anniversary, Business, Celebration]
Seating preference [radio: No preference, Indoor, Outdoor, Bar, Private area]
Special requests [long text, optional]

Party size does quiet but important work here — a table for two and a party of fourteen are different decisions, and knowing the number up front lets a host say yes or offer an alternative without a phone tag. The occasion field is worth keeping because it lets you add a small touch, a dessert plate or a reserved corner, that turns a booking into a memory. Treat a submission as a request to confirm, not an automatic hold, and reply quickly so the diner is not left guessing.

This is the form a diner completes at the table, so it has to be finishable in seconds. Ask only for what you need to reach them and send the perk.

First name [text, required]
Email or mobile [required — at least one]
Birthday [month and day, optional]
Consent to receive offers by text or email [checkbox, required]

That is genuinely all it needs. The birthday field earns its place because a birthday message is one of the highest-return automations a restaurant can run, but keep it to month and day so it feels light. The consent checkbox is not optional housekeeping — it is what makes the list legitimate and keeps your SMS and email marketing compliant. Everything else, from favourite dish to party size, can be enriched later once the diner is on your list and you have a reason to ask.

Which fields matter, and why ask them?

Every field should earn its place — each one you add costs you completions, so include it only if the answer changes what you do next. Here is the reasoning behind the core fields across all three forms.

Field	Why you ask	Required?
Name	Personalises the reply and creates the contact record	Yes
Email or phone	The channel you use to quote, confirm, or send offers	Yes (at least one)
Event or requested date	Sizes availability and lets you check the calendar	Yes on catering and reservations
Guest count or party size	Drives the quote, the staffing, and the table decision	Yes on catering and reservations
Event type or occasion	Shapes the menu, tone, and any special touch	Recommended
Budget or per-head range	Qualifies the enquiry before you build a proposal	Recommended on catering
Birthday	Powers a high-return birthday offer automation	Optional
Dietary needs	Avoids a menu scramble on larger events	Optional
Consent checkbox	Makes SMS and email marketing compliant	Yes where you will market

What are the best practices for restaurant forms?

Keep every form short and mobile-first. Assume the diner is on a phone at a table, so use a single column, large tappable fields, and the right input type for each field — a date picker for the event date, a numeric keypad for phone. Cut any question you do not act on.

Put a QR code where diners already sit — the table tent, the menu, the check presenter, the receipt. A table QR is one of the highest-intent placements a restaurant has, because the person has just had the experience you want them to repeat. Add a one-line reason to scan, such as a birthday treat or a first-visit reward, so scanning feels worth it.

Always get explicit consent before you text or email. Use an unticked checkbox that states plainly what the person will receive and how to opt out. Clean consent protects you and keeps your list made of people who actually want to hear from you — which is the whole point of building one. For ideas on what to send that list once it grows, see win-back campaign ideas for restaurants.

Where should I embed each form?

Give each form a home on your website, then link to it from everywhere a diner meets you. Add the form or a booking link to the website button on your Google Business Profile, so someone who just searched your name reaches it in one tap. Put the loyalty QR on the table and check, and drop the catering and reservation links in your Instagram and Facebook bios. If you run ads, send them to a dedicated form page rather than your home page.

Each placement catches a different moment: the site for someone researching an event, the profile for someone who just searched you, the table QR for a diner mid-visit, and social for a follower. One form, many doorways, so no interested diner has to hunt for it. For the broader playbook, see restaurant marketing and the Restaurant & Hospitality Marketing hub.

What tool should I use to build these forms?

You can build these in a standalone form builder and export leads by hand, but then the follow-up lives somewhere else and diners fall through the gap between apps. One option that keeps everything in one place is HighLevel, which hosts the form, captures each diner straight into an email and SMS list as a contact, and automates the reply — the catering acknowledgement, the internal alert, the loyalty welcome and birthday perk. Honestly, the value is less about the form fields and more about not stitching a form tool, a contact list, and a messaging platform together: forms, list, and automation in one system means a submission never gets lost during a dinner rush. If that fits how you want to work, you can start a free HighLevel trial and build all three forms above in an afternoon.

Whichever tool you choose, the structure is the same: a catering inquiry to quote fast, a reservation request to catch the bookings your phone drops, a short loyalty signup to build the list, mobile-first design, and clear consent. Get that right and your forms stop being an afterthought and start filling both your calendar and your list. If you want a hand wiring it up, see our pricing or book a call.

Frequently asked questions

What is a restaurant inquiry form?

A restaurant inquiry form is a short online form that lets a diner or event planner send you a request without calling — most often a catering or private-event inquiry, a reservation or large-party request, or a signup for your loyalty and birthday club. Each form captures a few structured fields so the details arrive in a usable shape rather than as a vague voicemail. The catering form gathers the date, headcount, and budget you need to quote; the reservation form gathers what a host needs to hold a table; and the loyalty form captures the contact details that let you bring the diner back.

What fields should a catering inquiry form have?

A catering or private-event inquiry form should capture the name, email, and phone of the person planning, the event date, the guest count, the event type, a rough budget or per-head range, and any dietary needs, plus a free-text box for details. Those fields are what let you quote quickly and accurately — date and headcount size the job, budget tells you whether it is a fit, and event type shapes the menu. Keep anything you do not strictly need off the form; you can gather the fine detail on the follow-up call once the enquiry is qualified.

How short should a loyalty or birthday-club signup form be?

As short as you can make it — ideally two or three fields. A diner scanning a QR code at the table has a few seconds of attention before the food arrives or the check lands, so ask only for what you need to reach them and send the birthday perk: usually a first name, one contact method (email or mobile), and a birthday. Every extra field measurably lowers the completion rate, so resist the urge to collect anniversary, favourite dish, or party size at signup. You can enrich the profile later once they are on the list.

Should the form ask for email or phone number?

Ask for whichever channel you will actually use, and if you can only ask for one, mobile number tends to win for restaurants because text messages get opened almost immediately and suit time-sensitive offers like a slow-Tuesday deal. Email is better for longer content like a new seasonal menu. Many restaurants ask for both but make only one required, so a diner who will not share a phone number can still join by email. Whatever you collect, pair it with a clear consent checkbox that states what you will send.

How do I get consent to text or email diners?

Add a short, unticked checkbox next to the submit button that says clearly what the person is agreeing to — for example that they will receive offers and updates by text or email and can opt out any time. Do not pre-tick it, and do not bury the permission in fine print. For SMS specifically, the consent language and opt-out path matter for compliance, so state the message frequency and a STOP-to-opt-out note. Clean consent protects you and keeps your list made of people who genuinely want to hear from you, which is what makes the list worth having.

Where should I put a QR code that links to the form?

Put it where a diner is already sitting with their phone in reach — on the table tent, the menu, the check presenter, the receipt, and the window or counter for takeaway. A QR code on the table is one of the highest-intent placements a restaurant has, because the person has just had the experience you want them to come back for. Make the code link straight to the form, keep the form mobile-first so it loads and completes on a phone, and add a one-line reason to scan, such as a birthday treat or a first-visit reward.

How do I make a restaurant form mobile-friendly?

Assume nearly everyone will fill it in on a phone, because at a table they will. Use a single-column layout, large tappable fields, and the right input type for each field so the correct keyboard appears — a numeric keypad for phone, an email keyboard for email, a date picker for the event date. Keep labels above fields, avoid long dropdowns where a few buttons would do, and cut any question that is not essential. A form that is quick and comfortable on a small screen will always beat a desktop-first design that forces pinching and zooming.

Can one form handle both reservations and catering?

You can, but it usually reads better to keep them separate, because the two requests need different fields and the person filling one out has a different goal. A reservation request is about a date, time, and party size for a table; a catering inquiry is about a headcount, budget, and menu for an event. Forcing both into one form means every diner sees questions that do not apply to them, which lengthens the form and lowers completions. If you want a single entry point, use a first question that branches to the right fields with conditional logic.

Do I need a reservation form if I already take bookings by phone?

A form does not replace the phone, it adds a channel that works when the phone does not — outside opening hours, during a service rush when no one can pick up, and for the growing share of diners who simply prefer not to call. A large-party or private-dining request in particular benefits from a form, because it captures the headcount, date, and special requests in writing so nothing is lost in a hurried call. Treat the form as a way to catch the bookings a busy phone line would otherwise drop.

How do I follow up on form submissions automatically?

Connect the form to a system that creates a contact and fires an automatic reply the moment someone submits. For a catering inquiry that means an instant acknowledgement that you have the request and will quote shortly, plus an internal alert so a real person follows up fast. For a loyalty signup it means the welcome message and the promised perk send themselves. Automating the first touch is what stops warm enquiries going cold during a dinner rush, when manual follow-up is the first thing to slip.

Where should the form live besides my website?

Give it a home on your website, then link to it from everywhere a diner meets your restaurant — the website button on your Google Business Profile, a QR code on the table and check, the link in your Instagram and Facebook bios, and the landing page for any ad you run. Each placement catches a different moment: the site for someone researching, the profile for someone who just searched your name, the table QR for a diner mid-visit, and social for a follower. One form, many doorways, so no interested diner has to hunt for it.

Should I ask for dietary requirements on the form?

On a catering or private-event inquiry, yes — a single dietary-needs field is worth including because allergies and preferences shape the menu and catching them early avoids a scramble later. On a quick loyalty signup, leave it off; it is not needed to add someone to your list and it lengthens a form that should take seconds. The rule across every restaurant form is the same: ask a question only if the answer changes what you do next, and move everything else to the follow-up conversation.

About the author

Farhad

Founder, GHL Spark

Farhad is the founder of GHL Spark, where he builds and white-labels GoHighLevel SaaS platforms for agencies and SaaS operators. He writes about the parts of GoHighLevel that actually break in production — A2P registration, onboarding, support load and automation.