Text message ordering for restaurants: tools, consent rules and a test plan

Text message ordering lets a guest text a restaurant's number and place an order, with an AI or a staff member replying and the order landing in the POS. HostBuddy, Bite Buddy, Kea and SoundHound each say they take orders by text. Before any tool texts your guests, the number has to be registered and the guests have to agree.

This guide covers the text channel alone: the tools, the path from text to ticket, the consent rules and a test. If you are still choosing between chat and voice, start with our chatbot and voice AI guide, which counts a week of requests by channel.

Which ordering tools take orders by text?

Each row describes the vendor only from its own page.

Tool	What its page says about text orders	POS systems it names	Price on the page	Start here if
HostBuddy Text-to-Order	Assigns the restaurant a dedicated text number; its AI answers menu questions, takes the order and payment	Square and Clover	HostBuddy plans: Basic $1/day or $30/month, Core $5/day or $150/month, Premium $10/day or $300/month; 14-day free trial	You run Square or Clover and want to try text orders on a new number
Bite Buddy	Guests text your restaurant number or use a website chat box; each order triggers a text confirmation	Toast, Square, Clover, Olo and more than 20 others	Not on its chatbot page	You want website chat and text orders in one tool
SoundHound Text-to-Order	Announced in a November 2024 post; guests text an AI in everyday words and can pay ahead through SoundHound's Pay App	Square, Toast, Oracle and Olo	Not printed	You already use SoundHound for phone or drive-thru orders; it says one POS integration serves all three
Kea	Says its AI "bridges Voice and Text so guests can order, ask questions, or pay"	Says it connects directly to your POS; no list on the homepage	A form to request your price	Phone orders are your main channel and you want text on the same system
Square AI voice ordering	A phone channel that uses text: callers get the menu and a payment link by text, and order updates by text	Square	Needs Square Plus, Premium or Messages Plus	You run Square and most orders still start as calls

Square's help article says a phone order reaches the POS, Order Manager or kitchen display only after the guest pays through the texted link. That is worth knowing for any tool: ask when the order enters the POS, before payment or after.

How does a text order reach the POS?

1. The guest texts a number. Either your existing number, if your provider can take texts on it, or a new one. HostBuddy's page says it gives you a dedicated number to share on tables, receipts and your Google listing.
2. A messaging provider carries the text. In the US, business texts from an ordinary 10-digit number run on registered 10DLC routes (see below).
3. Software reads the text. An AI replies, or the text lands in a staff inbox. The menu can come from the POS; HostBuddy says it pulls the full menu, prices and item details when you sign in with Square or Clover.
4. The cart comes back for a yes. The guest should see every item, modifier and the total before paying.
5. The guest pays. Usually through a checkout link. Keep card numbers out of the text thread itself.
6. The order enters the POS. It should print or show on the kitchen screen like any other takeout order, with the pickup time.
7. Status texts follow. A confirmation, then "ready", sent to the number that placed the order.

What consent rules apply when a restaurant texts guests?

The Federal Communications Commission's guide to unwanted robocalls and texts says its rules ban texts sent to a mobile phone with an autodialer unless the owner gave consent first. Commercial texts need written consent; for informational texts, consent may be oral. People may opt out of any robotext at any time and in any reasonable way, even after agreeing.

The wireless industry's own rules add detail. CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023) sorts business texts into three kinds:

CTIA message type	Restaurant example	Consent CTIA expects
Conversational: the guest texts first and the business replies	"Can I get a large pepperoni for 6pm?" and your reply with the cart	Implied: no further permission expected if you only answer the request
Informational: the guest gives a number and asks to hear back	"Your order is ready" after the guest gave a number at checkout	Express consent, which may be given by text, on a form, on a website or out loud
Promotional: a sales or marketing message	A weekly deal, or a coupon added to an order-ready text	Express written consent, such as a box the guest ticks

CTIA says adding a coupon to an informational text may make it promotional. It asks senders to honor STOP and ordinary words such as "cancel" or "unsubscribe", send one confirmation, then send nothing more, and keep records of every opt-in and opt-out. This summary is not legal advice. Ask a lawyer before you send marketing texts.

What is 10DLC registration, and who does it?

The Campaign Registry, which runs the 10DLC registry, describes 10DLC as a route for business texting in which brands and their messaging providers are checked before they may send. A restaurant cannot register itself: it has to go through a registered provider, which files the brand and the campaign.

Twilio's help article on A2P 10DLC shows what that involves for one provider. Anyone texting US numbers from a standard 10-digit number needs to register. Brand registration can take a few minutes to 24 hours with an employer ID number ready, or up to 7 days if the details need a manual check. Campaign vetting takes about 7 business days, and the article warns reviews can take up to 10 business days at busy times. A business with no tax ID registers as a sole proprietor, with lower sending limits.

So ask each vendor: whose name the brand is registered under, whether they text from your number or theirs, and how long you should allow before launch.

How should you test text ordering before launch?

1. Text an order with a required choice, a modifier and one change before checkout. Compare the reply, the receipt and the printed ticket line by line.
2. Text in shorthand and with a typo ("lg pep, xtra chz"). Check the tool asks when it is unsure.
3. Order an item you have marked sold out in the POS, and one that is off the menu.
4. Abandon payment halfway. Check whether a ticket prints anyway, and who follows up.
5. Ask an allergen question. Check the answer against your own allergen sheet, and decide which questions go to a person.
6. Ask for a person. Time how long staff take to reply, and note where the request shows up.
7. Text after closing. Check the reply and whether the order can be placed for tomorrow.
8. Reply STOP, then "please stop texting me" from a second phone. Check both numbers stop getting texts and each gets one confirmation.
9. Ask the vendor for its 10DLC campaign approval and a copy of the opt-in wording it will use.
10. Run two weeks. Count text orders finished, handed to staff and not finished, and compare their tickets with phone and online orders.

Maple takes orders by voice. Its Pro plan, $350 a month billed monthly or $220 billed yearly, puts phone orders into supported POS systems and lists order confirmation texts and secure payment over the phone. If most of your orders still arrive as calls, the phone ordering page sets out a trial from call to kitchen.

Published by Maple, which sells AI phone answering and ordering to restaurants. This AI-assisted guide combines vendors' own product and help pages, the FCC's consumer guide, CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices, and The Campaign Registry's and Twilio's pages on 10DLC with an original order path and test plan. It is not legal advice, does not report a test Maple ran, and does not rank the tools.