Looking for a restaurant reservation bot? Start with the tools booking sites already give you: Resy Notify, OpenTable alerts and restaurant waitlists. Bots that refresh booking pages break those sites' terms, and reselling tables is now illegal in New York. Sai works around the official tools instead. It tracks release times, watches for alerts and checks each opening against your plans. You book the table yourself.
What a restaurant reservation bot is, and what to use instead
A restaurant reservation bot is software that checks a booking platform automatically and grabs a table as soon as one appears, often many times a minute. Some are built to resell the tables they collect. The fair alternative is an availability alert. The platform tells you when a table matching your date, time and party size opens, and you book it.
Restaurants and platforms push back on bots for a reason. Resy says bots and brokers are no-shows four times as often as other diners. They cancel late twice as often. Resy deactivates rogue accounts, cancels suspicious reservations and blocks bot traffic.
The rules a restaurant reservation bot runs into
- New York law. Governor Hochul signed S.9365A/A.10215A, the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act, on December 19, 2024. A third-party service may not list, advertise, promote or sell a restaurant's reservations without a written agreement with that restaurant. Fines reach $1,000 per violation and add up daily.
- Resy. In September 2026, Resy said it "does not currently permit unapproved third-party bots or agents to independently access or interact with the Resy platform." Diners whose AI assistants searched too often have had their accounts banned. Resy's rules also prohibit selling or trading reservations.
- OpenTable. OpenTable's terms (revised July 22, 2026) prohibit robots, scrapers, generative AI and automated assistants unless OpenTable authorizes them. Reselling reservations or waitlist spots is prohibited, and you may hold only one reservation or waitlist spot per meal time.
- No-shows cost you. OpenTable suspends accounts after four no-shows in 12 months. Many restaurants also take card holds, deposits or prepaid tickets.
In short: one table, for you, booked by you, through the platform's own flow.
How to get reservations at popular restaurants, fairly
This checklist works with or without Sai:
- Learn the release window. Many restaurants open dates a fixed number of days ahead at a set time. The booking page usually says so.
- Set Resy Notify. Resy calls Notify "a virtual wait list". Tap the bell instead of Book Now, choose your time range, and Resy alerts you by push notification and email. An alert is not a booking: you open it and book.
- Set OpenTable alerts. Tap "Notify me" (Set alert on Android) next to the booked times, choose a window, and turn notifications on. Other diners get the same alert, so book quickly.
- Check Tock. Since August 11, 2026, Tock venues can be booked on Resy. Tock restaurants often sell prepaid reservations, and some use Tock's Notify for sold-out dates.
- Be flexible. Earlier or later seatings, weeknights and bar seats open up far more often.
- Cancel what you won't use. Release the table early so the next person on the list gets it.
Booking rules to know before release day
Read these for every restaurant on your list. They decide when you need to be ready and what a booking commits you to.
| Rule | Where to find it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Release window | The restaurant's booking page or its own website | Tells you the day and time new dates open |
| Card hold or no-show fee | The booking page, before you confirm | You are charged if you miss the deadline to cancel |
| Deposit or prepaid reservation | The booking page, often on Tock | Part or all of the bill is paid when you book |
| Cancellation deadline | The confirmation email | The last moment to release the table without a fee |
| Party size limits | The booking page or the restaurant's FAQ | Larger groups often book by email or phone instead |
| Waitlist or Notify option | The bell or "Notify me" next to booked times | Your fair route to tables that open after release |
Example: a three-week table hunt, step by step
| When | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Booking rules gathered for three restaurants into one table | Sai |
| Day 1 | Notify alerts set on Resy and OpenTable for Friday and Saturday, 7:00 to 8:30 PM | You, using Sai's list |
| Before each release | Calendar reminder 10 minutes ahead | Sai adds it, after your approval |
| When an alert email arrives | Checked against your calendar and travel time; the link is sent only if it fits | Sai |
| Within minutes | Table booked and any card hold confirmed | You |
| After booking | Dinner and cancellation deadline on your calendar; reminder to cancel the other alerts | Sai |
Ways to get a hard-to-get table, compared
| Approach | How it finds tables | Within site terms | Who books | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checking the app yourself | You refresh at release time | Yes | You | One restaurant, one date |
| Resy Notify, OpenTable Notify me, Tock Notify | Official alerts when a table opens | Yes | You, from the alert | Anyone; set these first |
| Reservation bots and resale marketplaces | Automated refreshing, or buying a table someone else grabbed | No: Resy and OpenTable prohibit them, and unauthorized resale is illegal in New York | The bot or a broker | Not recommended |
| Sai | Watches the official alerts in your inbox and checks them against your calendar | Yes: it leaves platform booking to you | You, with the link Sai sends | Several restaurants and dates around a busy schedule |
If you want one restaurant on one date and you watch your phone anyway, the platform's own alert is all you need.
How to get a hard-to-get table with Sai
- Name the restaurants and your plan. List them in order, with the dates, times and party size that work. The full prompt is in the Start with a prompt tab above.
- Get the booking rules. Sai reads each restaurant's page and gives you release times, card holds, deposits and cancellation deadlines in one table.
- Set the alerts yourself. Sai tells you exactly which Resy Notify and OpenTable alerts to set, and adds calendar reminders before each release time.
- Let Sai watch. When a Notify or waitlist email arrives in Gmail, Sai checks your calendar and travel time in Google Maps. It sends you the link only if the slot fits.
- Book it and let Sai tidy up. You book on the platform and confirm any card hold. Sai adds the dinner and the cancellation deadline to your calendar and reminds you to cancel the other alerts.
Sai ranks #1 on OSWorld, the public benchmark for agents that complete tasks on a real computer. Once a task is complete, its steps are kept as code that replays the same way, so the next table hunt starts faster. Sai asks before sending any email to a restaurant, submitting a form or holding time on your calendar.
What Sai will and won't do
- Will: read public booking pages at a normal pace, watch your inbox and plan around your calendar. After you approve the message, it can email a restaurant about cancellations.
- Will, with approval: fill in a restaurant's own booking or enquiry form, where its site allows it, and stop before submit for your OK.
- Won't: sign in to or book on Resy or OpenTable for you, or refresh any site in a loop. It won't solve CAPTCHAs, hold two tables per meal time or enter card details.
- Never: resell, transfer or trade a reservation.
Related use cases: compare prices across shopping sites and fill in online forms for you.
Last reviewed October 7, 2026.