“Yelp Guest Manager with Yelp Kiosk has been a game changer for our operations. The user-friendly interface and automated waitlist quoting system has made the lives of our host staff easier and less stressful. It keeps our hosts on track and seats our guests on time.”Ian Kirkpatrick, Director of Operations at Squeeze-In 

Background

What started as a little restaurant in downtown Truckee, California has grown into a beloved nine-location brand across three states. Squeeze-In is as well known for its friendly servers as for its world-class omelets. The breakfast and brunch chain was even featured on Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay.”

Challenge 

Squeeze-Ins are busy restaurants. And when it comes to breakfast and brunch, it can be tricky to ease the wait for hangry customers who haven’t had their morning coffee. They want (or need) to eat right away. That’s why Squeeze-In’s 90 to 120-minute wait times weren’t ideal. Impatient customers were taking their frustration out on overwhelmed hosts. The wait started to impact operations.

At first, the brand implemented Wisely to help streamline FoH operations. But the system failed to ease the burden of hosts. Reservations didn’t flow into the waitlist queue, creating a disjointed seating flow and guest experience. This was especially true for customers who booked a table ahead of time. And extensive waits were forcing customers to find other restaurant options.

Solution

When Director of Operations, Ian Kirkpatrick, learned about the Yelp Kiosk feature in Yelp Guest Manager, he decided to transition to Yelp’s all-in-one FoH solution. The self-serve waitlist feature automates check-ins and lets walk-ins add themselves to the digital waitlist, view live wait times, and receive “table ready” notifications via text.

Staff love that they no longer need to answer the questions, “How much longer is the wait?” or “Am I next?,” and can focus on providing customers with a seamless dining experience. Yelp Kiosk hasn’t eliminated their host staff, but freed them up to do more important things like running drinks and bussing tables. Ultimately, this has led to faster table turns, happier servers, and improved customer lifetime value. 

Yelp’s predictive wait times and live status updates have helped Squeeze-In set the right expectations with guests. Diners get a best-in-class experience before they’re even seated. Yelp Kiosk has helped reduce no-shows and line-abandonment. The systems that were once disjointed, now work together smoothly. Plus, staff can confidently manage the flow of walk-ins alongside waitlist and reservation parties.

Ian was also excited to learn that the monthly fee includes hardware, something he had to provide on his own before. With a lower monthly rate and savings on host labor costs, he could invest his budget into integrated systems like Grubhub. After a successful implementation, Yelp Guest Manager is now Squeeze-In’s preferred FoH tech platform.

“By switching from Wisely to Yelp Guest Manager, our hosts now enjoy being front and center, greeting and seating customers with accurate and transparent wait times. The overall dining experience for our customers and staff has truly improved.” Ian Kirkpatrick, Director of Operations at Squeeze-In

Results

While Yelp Guest Manager handled the bulk of the workload across six locations, Ian noticed his hosts could spend more time on other FoH tasks. Efficiency improved and throughput skyrocketed¹. In just three months…

• 37% of all diners used Yelp Kiosk to get in line

• Almost 14,000 diners booked a table with the waitlist feature of Yelp Guest Manager

• Yelp Guest Manager quoted wait times 20% more accurately than hosts