Booking platforms are not the enemy. They put you in front of people who were never going to find you otherwise, and for a new restaurant that is worth paying for. The problem is what happens later, when a good share of the covers they are charging you for are regulars who would have come anyway.
What platforms are genuinely good at
Discovery, and trust by association. Somebody deciding where to eat in a town they do not know will start on a platform, and being absent from it costs you those covers. They also handle the awkward parts, reminders, waitlists, no-show tracking, without you doing anything.
What a cover really costs
Run the sum on a normal month rather than in the abstract. Take the covers booked through the platform, multiply by the per-cover charge, and add the subscription. Then ask honestly how many of those people already knew you. That last number is the one that stings, because it is pure margin handed over for a customer you had already earned.
Shifting the balance
- Put booking on your own site, one tap from every page, working properly on a phone.
- Make sure your Google Business Profile points at your own booking link, since that is where a lot of searches end.
- Mention direct booking where regulars already are: on the table, on the receipt, in your confirmation emails.
- Give people a small reason to book direct, whether that is the best tables, a drink on arrival, or simply being easier.
None of this requires leaving the platforms. It just stops them being the default route for people who already like you. The wider site side is covered in restaurant website design that fills tables.
A realistic split
Most places we work with end up using platforms for discovery and their own booking for everyone else. The platform stays useful, the commission stops applying to the loyal half of the book, and the customer relationship, the email address, the birthday, the usual table, belongs to the restaurant rather than to a middleman.
The short version. Keep the platforms for reach, take your regulars direct. Booking on your own site costs a flat fee rather than a slice of every cover, and the relationship stays yours.
More on the sector on our page for hospitality.