How to build a restaurant reservation system in Bubble

A simple restaurant reservation system in Bubble is built by creating a Reservation data type, letting users pick a date/time and party size, checking availability with a Do a search for condition, and saving the reservation if the slot is free. The core idea is: store reservations, prevent double‑booking, and let staff view/manage them. Everything else (notifications, limits, table assignments) is optional layering on top.

Data Structure

You only need three main data types: User, Reservation, and Table. Bubble’s “Thing” is the same as a database record.

• User: built‑in. Add fields like phone (text).
• Table: fields: name (text), capacity (number).
• Reservation: fields: user (User), table (Table), date (date), party\_size (number).

Creating Reservations

On the page, use a Date/Time Picker for arrival time and an Input for party size. When the user clicks “Reserve,” check availability:

• Use Do a search for Reservation with constraints: date = selected date/time AND table = selected table.
• If the search count is 0, create the reservation. If not, show an alert.

// Backend workflow example for creating a reservation
// Triggered via "Schedule API workflow" from the page

Create a new Reservation:
  user = This workflow's user
  table = This workflow's table
  date = This workflow's date
  party_size = This workflow's party_size

Preventing Double‑Booking

You can block a time slot by checking if a reservation already exists for that table and time. Use a Conditional on the “Create Reservation” step like: “Only when Search for Reservation:first item is empty”.

• This prevents two users from saving at the same moment.
• For restaurants using fixed time blocks (e.g., every 30 minutes), store the exact slot timestamp.

Staff View

Create an admin page with a Repeating Group showing reservations filtered by “date = Date Picker’s value.” Staff can click into a reservation to change the table or cancel it using a simple “Make changes to a thing” workflow.

Optional Add‑Ons

• Email/SMS confirmations: use Bubble’s built‑in email action or API Connector for Twilio.
• Capacity logic: show only tables where table.capacity ≥ party\_size.
• Privacy rules: allow users to see only their own reservations; allow staff roles to see all.