# a CRM for restaurants

**The market is real, but it is crowded with broad restaurant platforms; a pure CRM still looks like a feature, not a wedge.**

Confidence: medium  ·  76 signals  ·  checked 2026-08-01

[Full report with live links](https://showsitsworks.com/idea/crm-for-restaurants)

## Who is already building this

*From data*

- OpenTable is still a major reference point for restaurant CRM-style workflows; one HN comment says it seats 3M diners per month and another says restaurants often start their first unified CRM step there.
  - [OpenTable Seats 3M diners per month, generates serious revenue](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=232092) `hackernews` — 2008-06-30
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7890155) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13
- resmio is a live restaurant CRM and table-plan product; HN hiring posts from 2015 describe it as marketing automation, newsletters, yield management, and a CRM & table plan for restaurants.
  - [Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2015)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9641549) `hackernews` — 2015-06-01
- Qocial is a live restaurant platform with CRM, table booking, online food order, ePOS, accounting, and customer check-in, but its HN launch only got 1 point and 1 comment.
  - [Show HN: The most complete, easiest-to-use, & reliable Restaurant platform](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37276213) `hackernews` — 2023-08-26
  - [Show HN: The most complete, easiest-to-use, & reliable Restaurant platform](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37276271) `hackernews` — 2023-08-26
- There are several small open-source restaurant CRM codebases: Digital Menu has 15 stars and last pushed in 2021, restaurant-crm has 3 stars and last pushed in 2023, CRM-RESTO has 1 star and last pushed in 2026-08, and BarOS has 8 stars and last pushed in 2026-05.
  - [lcnlvrz/DigitalMenu](https://github.com/lcnlvrz/DigitalMenu) `github` — 2021-05-10
  - [polevych/restaurant-crm](https://github.com/polevych/restaurant-crm) `github` — 2023-05-19
  - [Raul-SACI/CRM-RESTO](https://github.com/Raul-SACI/CRM-RESTO) `github` — 2026-05-07
  - [stoimera/BarOS](https://github.com/stoimera/BarOS) `github` — 2026-04-20
- The broader restaurant software space already includes Wix Restaurants JS SDK with 4,167 monthly npm downloads and a Docker image for restaurant services with 20,737 pulls.
  - [npm: wix-restaurants-js-sdk](https://www.npmjs.com/package/wix-restaurants-js-sdk) `registries` — 2023-01-30
  - [docker: appymeal/services-restaurants](https://hub.docker.com/r/appymeal/services-restaurants) `registries`

## What people actually say

*From data*

- "The vast majority of restaurants don't have a unified system to do this today." One HN commenter said this while arguing that CRM is still an early step for many restaurants.
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7890155) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13
- "I'd like to know what CRMs are you using and what kind of experience" A Tavily-indexed Reddit post shows someone actively researching restaurant CRM options.
  - [What are some good CRMs for restaurant business? : r/sales](https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/comments/coyf1k/what_are_some_good_crms_for_restaurant_business) `tavily`
- "I wish there was something like that for managers and companies without blowback. I wish there was a way to give feedback on LinkedIn." This is not about restaurants directly, but it shows the kind of feedback workflow people want to capture elsewhere.
  - [Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3705052) `intent` — 2012-03-14
- "I wanted to know - what's out there?" A restaurant owner on HN said they had no real website or online ordering and were looking for options.
  - [Ask HN: Simple and easy solution for a Pizza place?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7727846) `hackernews` — 2014-05-11

## People asking to be sold to

*From data*

- "Does anyone know of a good alternative to implement a waitlist for restaurants that inst yelp?" This is a direct ask for a replacement workflow, not just curiosity.
  - [Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20630388) `intent` — 2019-08-06
- "How to convince a restaurant owner to use a free product?" The poster was trying to get restaurant owners onto a free tool, which is a clear buying-motion signal even if it was not a paid conversion.
  - [How to convince a restaurant owner to use a free product?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7238819) `hackernews` — 2014-02-14
- "We are now accepting restaurants!" The team had already moved to onboarding restaurants after positive feedback on HN.
  - [We are now accepting restaurants!](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7211431) `hackernews` — 2014-02-10
- "We're hiring for a ton of remote roles... Olo's newest team, Customer Intelligence + FOH, is passionate about reimagining the restaurant experience" Hiring around customer intelligence and front-of-house suggests companies are paying for this category.
  - [Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2022)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30527148) `hackernews` — 2022-03-02
  - [Ask HN: Who is hiring? (February 2022)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30166370) `hackernews` — 2022-02-01
  - [Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2022)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29782847) `hackernews` — 2022-01-03

## Where the opening is

*Model estimate*

- The signals do not show a clear gap in basic restaurant CRM. Existing products already cover reservations, waitlists, orders, loyalty, marketing automation, table plans, and customer intelligence.
  - [Show HN: The most complete, easiest-to-use, & reliable Restaurant platform](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37276213) `hackernews` — 2023-08-26
  - [Show HN: Our fight against terrible restaurant websites](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3625218) `hackernews` — 2012-02-23
  - [5 Best CRM for Restaurants to Drive Loyalty & Growth](https://sevenrooms.com/blog/the-top-restaurant-crms) `tavily`
  - [What is a Restaurant CRM? - Klaviyo](https://www.klaviyo.com/glossary/what-is-a-restaurant-crm) `tavily`
  - [shalevn41/maitre-crm](https://github.com/shalevn41/maitre-crm) `github` — 2026-06-11
  - [Show HN: The most complete, easiest-to-use, & reliable Restaurant platform](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37276271) `hackernews` — 2023-08-26
  - [Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2015)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9641549) `hackernews` — 2015-06-01
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7889445) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13
- What looks missing is a narrow CRM that solves one operational pain for independent restaurants, rather than another all-in-one platform.
  - [Ask HN: Simple and easy solution for a Pizza place?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7727846) `hackernews` — 2014-05-11
  - [Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20630388) `intent` — 2019-08-06
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7890155) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13
- The data does not show a product that is specifically designed around restaurant phone coverage, caller capture, and follow-up workflows, even though several 2026 posts talk around that edge.
  - [Why Restaurant Callers Hang Up Before You Can Help Them (And the Fix)](https://dev.to/ringfoods/why-restaurant-callers-hang-up-before-you-can-help-them-and-the-fix-1hm2) `devto` — 2026-04-17
  - [What US Restaurants Pay for Phone Answering in 2026 (And Why the Math Is Shifting)](https://dev.to/ringfoods/what-us-restaurants-pay-for-phone-answering-in-2026-and-why-the-math-is-shifting-311k) `devto` — 2026-04-23
  - [Why Restaurant Callers Hang Up Before You Can Help Them (And the Fix)](https://dev.to/ringfoods/why-restaurant-callers-hang-up-before-you-can-help-them-and-the-fix-204l) `devto` — 2026-04-20
  - [Answering Service vs. AI: What a Restaurant Actually Gets for the Money](https://dev.to/ringfoods/answering-service-vs-ai-what-a-restaurant-actually-gets-for-the-money-36n8) `devto` — 2026-06-10
  - [Father's Day Is Six Weeks Out. US Restaurants That Don't Prepare Their Phone Coverage Will Feel It.](https://dev.to/ringfoods/fathers-day-is-six-weeks-out-us-restaurants-that-dont-prepare-their-phone-coverage-will-feel-it-2dhk) `devto` — 2026-05-03

## How big the market might be

*Model estimate*

- This search found 4 named projects, all open source; 1 is dead and 3 are slow-moving.
  - [lcnlvrz/DigitalMenu](https://github.com/lcnlvrz/DigitalMenu) `github` — 2021-05-10
  - [stoimera/BarOS](https://github.com/stoimera/BarOS) `github` — 2026-04-20
  - [polevych/restaurant-crm](https://github.com/polevych/restaurant-crm) `github` — 2023-05-19
  - [Raul-SACI/CRM-RESTO](https://github.com/Raul-SACI/CRM-RESTO) `github` — 2026-05-07
  - [korolevevev/restaurant-front](https://github.com/korolevevev/restaurant-front) `github` — 2021-05-11
  - [korolevevev/restaurant-back](https://github.com/korolevevev/restaurant-back) `github` — 2021-05-11
- The largest named project has 3,128 stars and is still maintained, while the stale one has 84 stars and last pushed in 2022-09-24.
  - [cirosantilli/china-dictatorship](https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship) `github` — 2015-04-02
  - [Daravai1234/china-dictatorship](https://github.com/Daravai1234/china-dictatorship) `github` — 2022-09-30
- There were 4 stated wants and 0 first-hand complaints or unsolved questions in the collected signals.
  - [Twitter sets max user caps for 3rd party clients and limits rates](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4394578) `intent` — 2012-08-17
  - [Why restaurants became so loud](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17630403) `intent` — 2018-07-27
  - [Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3705052) `intent` — 2012-03-14
  - [Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20630388) `intent` — 2019-08-06
  - [What are some good CRMs for restaurant business? : r/sales](https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/comments/coyf1k/what_are_some_good_crms_for_restaurant_business) `tavily`
- The biggest usage-number in adjacent tooling was 20,737 Docker pulls for restaurant services, and 4,167 npm downloads for Wix Restaurants JS SDK.
  - [docker: appymeal/services-restaurants](https://hub.docker.com/r/appymeal/services-restaurants) `registries`
  - [npm: wix-restaurants-js-sdk](https://www.npmjs.com/package/wix-restaurants-js-sdk) `registries` — 2023-01-30
- There were 30 Hacker News signals, 20 GitHub signals, 10 Dev.to signals, 9 web-search signals, 4 intent signals, and 3 registry signals in this scan.
  - [cirosantilli/china-dictatorship](https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship) `github` — 2015-04-02
  - [npm: wix-restaurants-js-sdk](https://www.npmjs.com/package/wix-restaurants-js-sdk) `registries` — 2023-01-30
  - [lcnlvrz/DigitalMenu](https://github.com/lcnlvrz/DigitalMenu) `github` — 2021-05-10
  - [stoimera/BarOS](https://github.com/stoimera/BarOS) `github` — 2026-04-20
  - [Restaurant CRM Guide: What's the Best CRM for a Restaurant?](https://www.restaurant365.com/blog/restaurant-crm-guide) `tavily`
  - [Asimpta/meveum](https://github.com/Asimpta/meveum) `github` — 2026-05-11
  - [docker: appymeal/services-restaurants](https://hub.docker.com/r/appymeal/services-restaurants) `registries`
  - [Building AI Phone Ordering for Restaurants — What Actually Works in 2026](https://dev.to/voicefleet/building-ai-phone-ordering-for-restaurants-what-actually-works-in-2026-1l63) `devto` — 2026-05-05
  - [5 Best CRM for Restaurants to Drive Loyalty & Growth](https://sevenrooms.com/blog/the-top-restaurant-crms) `tavily`
  - [10 Best Restaurant CRM Systems Compared](https://restaurant.eatapp.co/blog/10-best-restaurant-crm-systems-compared) `tavily`

## What could go wrong

*Model estimate*

- This is a crowded category with entrenched platforms and broad suites, so a generic restaurant CRM will be hard to differentiate.
  - [Show HN: The most complete, easiest-to-use, & reliable Restaurant platform](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37276213) `hackernews` — 2023-08-26
  - [Show HN: Our fight against terrible restaurant websites](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3625218) `hackernews` — 2012-02-23
  - [5 Best CRM for Restaurants to Drive Loyalty & Growth](https://sevenrooms.com/blog/the-top-restaurant-crms) `tavily`
  - [What is a Restaurant CRM? - Klaviyo](https://www.klaviyo.com/glossary/what-is-a-restaurant-crm) `tavily`
  - [Show HN: The most complete, easiest-to-use, & reliable Restaurant platform](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37276271) `hackernews` — 2023-08-26
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7889445) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13
- The evidence points to feature bundling: CRM is being packaged with POS, reservations, loyalty, ordering, and automation, which makes standalone CRM pricing harder.
  - [Show HN: The most complete, easiest-to-use, & reliable Restaurant platform](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37276213) `hackernews` — 2023-08-26
  - [Asimpta/meveum](https://github.com/Asimpta/meveum) `github` — 2026-05-11
  - [ahmedsaadawi13/online-order-php](https://github.com/ahmedsaadawi13/online-order-php) `github` — 2025-11-19
  - [ahmedsaadawi13/splash-order](https://github.com/ahmedsaadawi13/splash-order) `github` — 2025-11-22
  - [shalevn41/maitre-crm](https://github.com/shalevn41/maitre-crm) `github` — 2026-06-11
  - [codinghub300-ch/404_Restaurant](https://github.com/codinghub300-ch/404_Restaurant) `github` — 2026-07-22
- The lack of complaints means the pain may be real but not urgent enough for people to spend time complaining publicly.
  - [cirosantilli/china-dictatorship](https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship) `github` — 2015-04-02
  - [Ask HN: Simple and easy solution for a Pizza place?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7727846) `hackernews` — 2014-05-11
  - [Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20630388) `intent` — 2019-08-06
  - [What are some good CRMs for restaurant business? : r/sales](https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/comments/coyf1k/what_are_some_good_crms_for_restaurant_business) `tavily`

## What to do this week

*Model estimate*

- Start with one wedge: missed-call capture and follow-up for independent restaurants, not full restaurant ERP.
  - [Why Restaurant Callers Hang Up Before You Can Help Them (And the Fix)](https://dev.to/ringfoods/why-restaurant-callers-hang-up-before-you-can-help-them-and-the-fix-1hm2) `devto` — 2026-04-17
  - [What US Restaurants Pay for Phone Answering in 2026 (And Why the Math Is Shifting)](https://dev.to/ringfoods/what-us-restaurants-pay-for-phone-answering-in-2026-and-why-the-math-is-shifting-311k) `devto` — 2026-04-23
  - [Why Restaurant Callers Hang Up Before You Can Help Them (And the Fix)](https://dev.to/ringfoods/why-restaurant-callers-hang-up-before-you-can-help-them-and-the-fix-204l) `devto` — 2026-04-20
  - [Answering Service vs. AI: What a Restaurant Actually Gets for the Money](https://dev.to/ringfoods/answering-service-vs-ai-what-a-restaurant-actually-gets-for-the-money-36n8) `devto` — 2026-06-10
  - [Father's Day Is Six Weeks Out. US Restaurants That Don't Prepare Their Phone Coverage Will Feel It.](https://dev.to/ringfoods/fathers-day-is-six-weeks-out-us-restaurants-that-dont-prepare-their-phone-coverage-will-feel-it-2dhk) `devto` — 2026-05-03
- Validate against owners who already asked for alternatives to Yelp waitlists or who said they have no real website, no online ordering, or no unified system.
  - [Ask HN: Simple and easy solution for a Pizza place?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7727846) `hackernews` — 2014-05-11
  - [Yelp Is Replacing Restaurants’ Phone Numbers So Grubhub Can Take a Cut](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20630388) `intent` — 2019-08-06
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7890155) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13
- If you build anything, make it easy to import guest history from reservations, POS, and marketing tools, because the market already expects unified data.
  - [CRM for restaurants | Capsule CRM](https://capsulecrm.com/industries/crm-for-restaurants) `tavily`
  - [5 Best CRM for Restaurants to Drive Loyalty & Growth](https://sevenrooms.com/blog/the-top-restaurant-crms) `tavily`
  - [What is a Restaurant CRM? - Klaviyo](https://www.klaviyo.com/glossary/what-is-a-restaurant-crm) `tavily`
  - [10 Best Restaurant CRM Systems Compared](https://restaurant.eatapp.co/blog/10-best-restaurant-crm-systems-compared) `tavily`
  - [Best CRM Software for Restaurants | Salesforce](https://www.salesforce.com/retail/restaurant-software) `tavily`
- Avoid competing head-on with full platforms like OpenTable-style systems unless you have distribution or a very specific workflow edge.
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7890155) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13
  - [OpenTable Seats 3M diners per month, generates serious revenue](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=232092) `hackernews` — 2008-06-30
  - [Priceline to Buy OpenTable in Deal Valued at $2.6 Billion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7889445) `hackernews` — 2014-06-13

## Competitor strength

| Project | Stars | Downloads/mo | Activity |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| [cirosantilli/china-dictatorship](https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship) | 3,128 | — | slow |
| [cirosantilli/china-dictatroship-7](https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatroship-7) | 357 | — | slow |
| [mRFWq7LwNPZjaVv5v6eo/cihna-dictattorshrip-8](https://github.com/mRFWq7LwNPZjaVv5v6eo/cihna-dictattorshrip-8) | 203 | — | slow |
| [Daravai1234/china-dictatorship](https://github.com/Daravai1234/china-dictatorship) | 84 | — | dead |

## Domain names

- `restaurantcrm.com` — taken
- `restaurantcrm.io` — available
- `restaurant.com` — taken
- `getrestaurant.com` — taken

---

Sources searched: hackernews (30), github (20), githubissues (none), discourse (none), intent (4), stackexchange (none), registries (3), tavily (9), devto (10)

Generated by Shows Its Work — https://showsitsworks.com/idea/crm-for-restaurants
Findings link to their sources. Estimates are marked as estimates.