Restaurant Waitlist App NoshList Rebrands As Waitlist Me

NoshList, an app-based restaurant waitlist service, said on Tuesday (Feb. 10) that it’s changing its name to Waitlist Me — in large part because it’s no longer being used just by restaurants.

“Even when Waitlist Me was focused primarily on restaurants, smart businesses in other industries were finding creative ways to utilize the app,” said Brian Hutchins, Waitlist Me Head of Product, in a prepared statement. “We realized there was a much bigger opportunity to improve the customer waiting experience everywhere, and Waitlist Me has evolved to serve a much broader range of needs.”

The primary customer base is still restaurants, where the app has been used since 2012 to serve more than 57 million customers at chains including Red Robin, Buffalo Wild Wings, Blue Line Pizza and Scotty’s Brewhouse. While more impressive systems use beacons to serve a similar purpose, Waitlist Me is simpler and cheaper (at $19.99 per month): The iOS and Android versions of the app track how many people are waiting and wait times, and send text or voice messages to customers to let them know how long it’ll be before they’ll be seated.

But the app is now also being used in situations ranging from child education and bowling to urgent care. To accommodate those users, Noshlist added enhancements for customized notifications and waitlist views. What was previously table management was made more flexible so customers could also be assigned to people or other resources, and reservations and appointments were added.

Perhaps most noticeably, the system was ported from iOS and Android tablets and phones to desktop computers, for businesses that don’t want the risk of a lost or stolen mobile device.

The new cross-platform Waitlist Me also supports web access and provides a more flexible, customizable interface, so businesses can create custom notifications, according to TechCrunch. With the new version, businesses can also use the service to get survey feedback from their customers and let them leave comments about their visit.

The company is also rolling out a programming interface to let third-party services build custom integrations with Waitlist Me. The first major API integration is with Enplug, a company that helps businesses better engage their customers using smart digital signage devices and software.