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Free printable waitlist template

Choose the restaurant layout (party size, quoted wait, seated or left) or the walk-in layout for any counter, add your business name, and print. You can also download it as a CSV for Excel or Google Sheets.

Your sheet

Layout

Prints landscape on letter or A4. Choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialog to keep a copy. The CSV opens in Excel or Google Sheets. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Waitlist

Date:

#NameParty sizePhoneTime inQuoted waitNotifiedSeated / left
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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15
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20

How to use the sheet

  • Write the time in, not the time due. The join time keeps the order fair when a large party is waiting for a bigger table.
  • Quote a wait and write it down. Comparing the quote with the seated time is the fastest way to learn whether your estimates run long or short.
  • Tick the notified column when you call someone. It stops two hosts from calling the same party and shows who has been called but has not come back.
  • Mark every outcome. Seated, served, or left. The parties who left are the ones worth counting at the end of the night.

When paper stops working

A clipboard works until guests have to stand at the host stand to hear their name, or until you need to call someone who stepped outside. At that point the list belongs on their phone. MakeTheQueue's free waitlist app keeps the same columns (name, party size, time in) but guests add themselves by scanning a QR code, see their place in line, and get an email when it is their turn. The free plan covers one location with a tablet kiosk and a TV display, and it stays free. Text alerts come with the paid plans. For the host-stand version with party-size quoting, see the restaurant waitlist app page.

Frequently asked questions

At minimum: the guest's name, party size, a phone number, the time they joined, and the wait you quoted. A notified column and a seated or left column turn the sheet into a record, so at the end of the night you can count how many parties walked away and how long the quotes really were.

Yes. Print as many copies as you like, change the layout, or download the CSV and edit it in Excel or Google Sheets. There is no sign-up, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Pick the row count that fits your busiest hour on one page. Fewer rows leave more room to write, which matters at a busy host stand. If a single rush regularly fills more than one page, a paper sheet is probably costing you more time than it saves.

The time they joined. Quoted waits change as tables turn, but the join time never does, so it keeps the list fair and shows how long each party actually waited. Write the quote in its own column so you can compare the two later.

Yes. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets, fill in rows as guests arrive, and sort by the time-in column. A spreadsheet keeps the order, but it cannot text guests or show them their place in line, which is where a waitlist app takes over.

Ready to put the list on their phones?

Guests join by QR code and see their place in line. It starts free, and setup takes under 15 minutes.

Start free