The deposit question divides operators more than almost any other, and the reason is that both extremes are wrong. Ask for a deposit on every table and you will quietly lose bookings from good people who simply will not give card details to a place they have never been. Ask for nothing and you carry the full cost of no-shows on exactly the nights you can least afford them. The right answer is neither rule. It is judgement, applied booking by booking.
This is how to think about that judgement. For the wider picture of booking systems, the booking systems guide is the place to start.
What a deposit is actually for
Be clear about the job before deciding the policy. A deposit is not a revenue stream and it is not a punishment. It is a way of making a no-show cost the guest something, so that the risk of an empty table on a valuable service does not sit entirely with you. That is the whole purpose, and it tells you exactly when a deposit is worth asking for: when a no-show would genuinely hurt.
It also tells you when it is not worth it. On a quiet midweek booking for two, a no-show is mildly annoying and easily absorbed. Asking those guests for a deposit to protect against a small risk costs you more in lost bookings and goodwill than the risk itself. You are using a heavy tool on a light problem.
The bookings worth protecting
So which bookings justify a deposit? The ones where a no-show is expensive. The large party on a Saturday, where an empty table you held all night is a real hole in the takings and covers you turned away to keep it. The whole-venue event or private hire, where the entire night is riding on people turning up. Peak services where demand is high and a no-show means a table you could easily have filled sat empty. New Year, Valentine's, Mother's Day, the dates everyone wants and you cannot afford to waste.
On those, a deposit is sensible, and most reasonable guests understand it. Booking a big table on a peak night and being asked to secure it is normal and not off-putting, because the guest can see why.
The bookings worth trusting
And which should you let go? The everyday ones, and above all your regulars. A guest who has been in a dozen times and always turns up does not need to be asked for a deposit, and asking them is worse than pointless, it is mildly insulting. It treats a trusted regular like a flight risk and chips at exactly the relationship you most want to protect. The small midweek bookings, the people you know, the low-risk tables, let them go. The cost of the occasional no-show among them is far lower than the cost of making your good guests feel suspected.
This is the crux: a deposit policy is really a statement about who you trust, and a blanket policy says you trust no one. That is the wrong message to send your best guests to protect against your worst.
The middle ground: holding card details
There is an option between a full deposit and nothing, and it is underused. You can hold card details against a clear cancellation policy without charging anything up front. The guest is not out of pocket, so the barrier is lower, but you have protection: if they no-show without cancelling in time, you can charge. For bookings that carry some risk but where a full deposit would feel heavy, this is often the right level of friction, present but light.
What the system needs to let you do
All of this judgement is only possible if your booking system can apply deposits selectively. A system that only offers all-or-nothing, deposit on everything or deposit on nothing, forces you back into one of the two wrong extremes. What you need is per-booking control: require a deposit on this large peak booking, hold card details on that one, waive everything for this known regular. And ideally the system recognises returning guests, so it can help you waive automatically for the people who have earned your trust rather than relying on someone to remember.
If your booking system cannot tell your Saturday twelve-top from your fortnightly regular, it is making you choose between protecting your revenue and respecting your guests, which is a choice you should never have to make.
Where Grace fits
In Grace, deposits are applied per booking, not as a blanket rule, so you can require one on the bookings that can hurt you and waive it for the guests you trust. Because reservations sit on the same guest record as everything else, the system knows who your returning guests are and helps you treat them accordingly, rather than asking your most loyal regular for a deposit as if they were a stranger. Deposits and any prepayments run through the same payments as the rest of the bill, so it all reconciles in one place. You can see how payments work on the Grace Pay page.
It works this way because I have both lost good bookings to an over-zealous deposit policy and lost real money to having none, and the answer was never a rule. It was the ability to decide, booking by booking.
FAQ
Should a restaurant take deposits on bookings?
Selectively, yes. A deposit makes sense on the bookings that can genuinely hurt you, large parties, peak services, events, where a no-show is expensive. It rarely makes sense on every table, because it costs you bookings from good guests who will not give card details to a venue they do not know. - q: "Do deposits put customers off?" a: >- A blanket deposit can, especially for first-time or smaller bookings. Many perfectly good guests will not hand over a card to a venue they have not been to. The way to avoid losing them is to ask for deposits only where the risk justifies it and waive them everywhere else. - q: "How big should a booking deposit be?" a: >- Large enough to make a no-show matter to the guest, small enough not to feel like a barrier. The exact figure depends on your venue and the booking, but the principle is that it should deter no-shows without deterring bookings. - q: "Should I take a deposit or just hold card details?" a: >- Holding card details, with a clear cancellation policy, is a lighter-touch option that still gives you protection without charging up front. It can be a good middle ground for bookings that carry some risk but where a full deposit would feel heavy.