How to Set Up WhatsApp Auto-Reply for Your Restaurant in 10 Minutes

Your restaurant's WhatsApp Business number gets messages at 11pm asking about gluten-free options. At 7am asking if you're open. At 7pm on a Friday asking about a 4-top. Your team can't watch the inbox 24/7, and bouncing customers to another channel costs bookings.

This guide walks through every realistic way to set up WhatsApp auto-reply for a restaurant — from WhatsApp Business app's built-in tools (free, basic) to an AI agent that replies from your real menu (also affordable, much smarter). Skip to the section that matches your size and budget.

What "auto-reply" actually means on WhatsApp

WhatsApp gives you three tiers of automation, in increasing power:

1. Greeting message + away message — built into the free WhatsApp Business app. Set a "we're closed, will reply at 9am" message. Useful as a baseline.
2. Quick replies — pre-canned snippets your team taps to send common answers ("Yes, gluten-free options available — see our menu"). Saves typing, still requires a human.
3. AI auto-reply — an AI agent that reads your menu, hours, and policies and actually answers the customer's specific question ("Do you have gluten-free pasta?") with the right answer ("Yes — our truffle linguine uses GF pasta. £14, 30-minute prep").

Tier 1 is fine if you're a one-person operation and you just need a "I'll reply when I'm back" auto-text. Most restaurants outgrow it in a month.

Tier 3 is what this guide focuses on — because the volume of "are you open?" / "do you do GF?" / "any 2-tops tonight?" questions makes everything below tier 3 a waste of human time.

The 10-minute setup (AI auto-reply with Zivvo)

This walks through the fastest production-ready setup for an AI auto-reply that handles real customer questions on WhatsApp Business.

Step 1 — Sign up (1 minute)

Go to zivvo.ai and pick "Start free". Free plan includes 50 messages — enough to test on your real WhatsApp inbox for a week.

Step 2 — Upload your menu and basic info (3 minutes)

Drop in your menu PDF (or paste it as text). Add your opening hours, location, parking notes, and reservation policy. The AI reads all of it.

That's the entire "training". No keywords, no decision trees, no rules. The agent answers from this real content.

Step 3 — Connect WhatsApp Business (5 minutes)

Pick "Connect WhatsApp" → "Use my existing WhatsApp Business number". The connection goes through Meta's Embedded Signup flow — a 5-minute clickthrough that creates a WhatsApp Business API account linked to your phone number.

(You'll be asked for your business name, business category, and a quick phone verification.)

Step 4 — Test (1 minute)

Send a test message to your own number. Try realistic ones:

• "Are you open tonight?"
• "Got any gluten-free mains?"
• "Booking for 4 at 8pm Friday?"

You'll see replies within 30 seconds in your brand voice, from your real menu and hours. If the AI doesn't know something (e.g. "do you do split bills?"), it escalates to you instead of guessing.

You're live.

What to automate vs what to keep human

Auto-reply works brilliantly for the predictable 80%:

• Opening hours and holiday closures
• Booking availability and how to book
• Menu, allergens, dietary questions
• Delivery and takeaway times
• Parking, accessibility, dress code
• Group bookings and private hires
• Wine list and pairings

Keep humans on the other 20%:

• Complaints about a specific visit
• Refund / compensation requests
• Unusual special-occasion logistics (cake delivery, surprise proposal)
• Anything legally sensitive (allergy emergency, accessibility complaint)

A good AI auto-reply handles tier 1 instantly and escalates tier 2 to you with full context. Customers get a fast, accurate answer. You stop typing the same "Yes, we're open" reply 40 times a week.

Why not just use ChatGPT?

You can — sort of. You can build a Custom GPT on top of OpenAI, train it on your menu, embed it on your website. What you CAN'T do is plug it directly into WhatsApp. WhatsApp Business API requires platform-approved integrators (Meta keeps the channel walled). And ChatGPT has no built-in escalation queue, no audit log of who-said-what, no faithfulness check to stop it inventing dishes.

The shortcut is using a tool like Zivvo that's already integrated with WhatsApp Business and built around grounded answers (verified against your menu, escalated when uncertain).

How much does it cost?

Zivvo's pricing for the AI auto-reply path:

• Free — 50 messages, no card needed. Enough to validate on a slow day.
• Pro — £29/mo (£23/mo billed annually) for 1,500 messages and every channel.
• Business — £69/mo for 3,500 messages and dedicated support.

WhatsApp itself charges Meta a per-conversation fee on top (a few pence per conversation, varies by country). Most independent restaurants land at £30–£70 per month all-in.

For comparison: a part-time front-of-house staff member to handle inbound messages costs roughly £14/hour. Three hours a week of message-typing = £170/month. The AI auto-reply pays for itself before lunch.

Common gotchas

• Linked Facebook Page required. WhatsApp Business API needs a verified Facebook Business profile. Spend 10 minutes setting one up first if you don't have one.
• Phone number can't be used on personal WhatsApp. Once you connect it to the API, you'll be logged out of consumer WhatsApp on your phone. Keep your personal WhatsApp on a separate number, or use a dedicated business handset.
• Meta fees are per conversation, not per message. A "conversation" is a 24-hour window starting from the first message. Long back-and-forths cost the same as a single quick "yes we're open".

The 30-second version

1. Sign up at zivvo.ai (free).
2. Upload menu + hours.
3. Connect WhatsApp Business.
4. Send yourself a test.
5. You're done.

If you run a restaurant or café, this is the highest-ROI hour you'll spend on operations this month.

If you also want to handle Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger, web chat, and email from the same brain — same setup covers all of them on Pro and Business plans. One agent, every channel.