The rush doesn't wait.
You know Friday dinner needs four servers and Tuesday lunch needs two. Getting the right trained people onto each one, every week, takes hours.
For restaurants and franchise groups
Staff every rush with the right people.
Tell OnlineScheduling how your restaurant runs: who works which station, who's certified, how many servers a Friday dinner needs. Get schedules built around every rush, at one location or across all of them.
Show me examples for
How your business runs
A restaurant runs in rushes.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch each need a different team at different stations: grill, fry, expo, bar, host and the floor. The rush moves with the weather, the game on TV and the event down the street, and you're the one who knows when it's coming.
Many on your team are part-time, often students, and people come and go all year.
Servers, cooks, hosts and managers Stations on the line Sections, rooms and locations
Where scheduling breaks
Where a good week falls apart.
Most restaurant schedules live in a spreadsheet, a group chat and the manager's head. That works until someone calls out at 9 a.m.
Someone always calls out.
A server texts at 9 for a 10 o'clock brunch. The manager scrolls through contacts, hoping someone with the right training says yes.
Not everyone can work every station or every hour.
Your health code may require a certified food manager on site, the bar needs trained staff, and a 15-year-old can't work past 7 p.m. during the school year.
Scheduling laws keep adding rules.
In some cities and states, laws aimed mostly at larger chains require schedules 14 days ahead, rest or a premium between a close and an open, and open shifts offered to current staff first.
Say how it works
Your rules, in plain words.
Tell OnlineScheduling how your restaurant runs, the way you'd tell a new general manager. It reads each rule back, and nothing changes until you confirm.
Scheduling laws work the same way: 14 days' notice, rest between a close and an open, offering shifts to your own staff first. Write them as rules, and every schedule is checked against them.
Say “always” or “try to,” and it knows which rules can bend.
A rule in plain words
“Every shift needs a certified manager on site.”
Main Street · front and back of house Thu 15 to Mon 19
ThuFriSatSunMon
Manager
Servers
Bar
Grill
Ava · 15
Every shift has a certified manager
Your five building blocks
Five building blocks, in restaurant words.
Every schedule is made of the same five pieces. Here's what they look like for a restaurant.
What you schedule
ServersCooksHostsBartendersManagersGrillFryExpoSectionsPatioPrivate roomEach location
When it's needed
BreakfastLunchDinnerBrunchPrivate partiesCatering ordersHoliday weekends
Who's on it
Maya on bar at Main Street, Saturday 5 to 11 p.m.
When it's not free
ClassesSecond jobsTime offA shift at another location
All of it comes from each person's own calendar.
How it works here
Your rules, in your own words. “Every shift needs a certified manager on site.”
When plans change
Two call-outs for brunch. Cover them your way.
Two servers drop their Saturday brunch shifts, and trained servers who are free pick them up.
Or you say “find two servers for brunch,” and trained people who are free and fit your rules are booked. Every change shows up in each person's own calendar.
Find two servers for brunch.
Done. Sam picked up Section 1, and Kai is booked for Section 2. Both are trained servers, and both had at least 10 hours since their last close. Brunch is covered.
A party of 40 works the same way.
You take a party of 40 in the private room on Thursday. Say “add a server and a bartender for the private room, 6 to 10.” Both shifts are filled from people who are free and trained.
Ask your assistant
Ask between tickets. Staff see it in their calendar.
Connect OnlineScheduling to the AI assistant you already use, like ChatGPT, Claude and Muse, and schedule by asking. Staff connect their own calendar from a phone or computer browser, so their shifts show up where they already look. No app to download.
Your AI assistant Connected to OnlineScheduling
Who can cover a close tonight at Main Street? Lena and Sam are free and trained to close. Sam opens tomorrow at 9, so Lena keeps your 10-hour rule. Book Lena? Yes. And add a second bartender for the game Sunday, 3 to 9. Done. Lena closes tonight, and Jordan is on bar with Maya Sunday from 3 to 9. Which shifts next week still need a certified manager? Two: Tuesday lunch and Thursday close. Priya and Marco are certified and free. Want me to fill them?
OnlineScheduling · nowLena's calendar updated: tonight, close, Main Street, 4 p.m.
OnlineScheduling · nowLena's calendar updated: tonight, close, Main Street, 4 p.m.Google Calendar Apple Calendar Outlook
Questions
Restaurant questions, answered.
Something else on your mind? Ask when you request access. We read every request ourselves.
Does it work for one restaurant and for a franchise group?
Yes, from one location to many. Each franchisee sets its own schedules.
Can each location keep its own rules?
Yes. Each location sets its own rules and who's best at which job, and global rules apply to every location.
Can staff pick up shifts at another location?
Yes, when a rule or the person's details allow it.
How are call-outs covered?
Staff add, drop or swap shifts, or a manager changes the schedule by hand or by asking. Changes show up in each person's own calendar.
Does it help with scheduling laws like 14-day notice and rest between shifts?
Yes. Set them up as rules, like any other. A change that breaks one is named and explained.
Do my staff need to download an app?
No, but each person needs an account. Staff connect their own calendar from a phone or computer browser, and their shifts show up there. They can use the OnlineScheduling site too, if they like.
Request access
Bring us your hardest shift rule.
We're opening access in stages. Tell us how your restaurant runs, and we'll reply within one business day.
1Tell us how you schedule.
2We read every request ourselves.
3We reply within one business day.
Your hardest rule, for example “Every shift needs a certified manager on site.”
Tell us who you are, what you schedule and the rule your current tool can't handle. It's one short form.
Request access