A common need is to accept online reservations for dinner only (or lunch only). This is often confused with “blocking” reservations — but blocks are the wrong tool for a permanent schedule.
The right approach is to control each shift’s visibility: whether customers can see and book it, or whether it exists for staff only.
Blocks are temporary, visibility is permanent. Use Block Reservations for one-off closures (holidays, private events, emergencies). Use the visibility settings on this page for your ongoing schedule — e.g. “we never take online lunch bookings.”
Shift States
Every shift has two independent switches that, together, determine who can book it.
| State | Active shift | Internal-only shift | Who can book |
|---|
| Active + Public | On | Off | Customers (online) and staff. The normal, bookable shift. |
| Active + Internal | On | On | Staff only. Customers don’t see it and can’t book it online. |
| Inactive | Off | — | No one. The shift exists but is disabled and accepts no bookings. |
- Active shift (
is_active) — turns the shift on or off entirely. An inactive shift accepts no bookings from anyone.
- Internal-only shift (
is_internal) — when on, the shift is hidden from your online booking portal. Staff can still create reservations on it manually; customers never see it.
There’s also a third option: simply don’t create the shift at all. If a time period has no shift, there is nothing to book — no blocking and no internal shift required.
Where to Find These Settings
- Go to Settings → Availability → Shifts
- Click an existing shift to edit it, or + New shift to create one
- Active shift is in the General tab, under General information
- Internal-only shift is in the Advanced tab, under Shift settings
Choosing an Approach
To offer online booking for one service but not another, you have two clean options:
Option A — Only create the public shift
Create the shift you want customers to book, and simply don’t create the other one.
- Best when the other service has no relevance to your reservation flow — you never seat or track those bookings in EatNow.
- Example: a fine-dining restaurant that only opens for dinner creates a Dinner shift and nothing for lunch.
Option B — Make the other shift internal-only
Create both shifts, but mark the one you don’t want online as Internal-only.
- Best when staff still need to record reservations for that service (phone bookings, walk-ins, internal events) even though customers can’t book it online.
- Example: a café serves lunch to walk-ins; staff occasionally log a phone reservation, but the lunch shift never appears on the online portal.
Both options give customers the same experience — they only ever see the public shift online. The difference is purely whether your staff can book the hidden service internally.
Step-by-Step: Evening-Only Dinner Service
You want customers to book dinner online, with no online lunch bookings.
If you don’t track lunch reservations at all (Option A)
- Go to Settings → Availability → Shifts
- Open (or create) your Dinner shift
- In the General tab, make sure Active shift is on
- In the Advanced tab, make sure Internal-only shift is off
- Save
- Do not create a Lunch shift
Customers now only see dinner slots online.
If staff still book lunch by phone (Option B)
- Go to Settings → Availability → Shifts
- Open (or create) your Dinner shift — Active: on, Internal-only: off, then Save
- Open (or create) your Lunch shift
- In the General tab, keep Active shift on
- In the Advanced tab, turn Internal-only shift on
- Save
Customers see only dinner online; staff can still log lunch reservations manually.
Step-by-Step: Lunch-Only Service
You want customers to book lunch online, with no online dinner bookings (e.g. a lunch-only café).
- Go to Settings → Availability → Shifts
- Open (or create) your Lunch shift
- General tab → Active shift: on
- Advanced tab → Internal-only shift: off
- Save
- For dinner, choose one:
- Don’t create a Dinner shift if you never serve or track dinner reservations, or
- Create the Dinner shift with Active: on and Internal-only: on if staff still need to record dinner bookings manually
Customers now only see lunch slots online.
More Use Cases
| Scenario | Configuration |
|---|
| Evening-only fine dining (no lunch) | Dinner: Active + Public. No Lunch shift (or Lunch: Active + Internal). |
| Lunch-only café (closes for dinner) | Lunch: Active + Public. No Dinner shift (or Dinner: Active + Internal). |
| Bar — table service in the evening only | Evening: Active + Public. Daytime drinks/lunch: Active + Internal so staff can still book. |
| Special service on weekends only | Keep the shift Active + Public, but schedule it only on the relevant days of the week. |
| Pause a shift for the season | Set the shift to Inactive — it stops taking bookings but keeps its full configuration. |
When to Use Each Approach
| You want to… | Use |
|---|
| Permanently stop online bookings for a service | Internal-only shift (or don’t create it) |
| Let staff keep booking a service customers can’t see | Internal-only shift |
| Temporarily close for a holiday, private event, or emergency | Block Reservations |
| Disable a shift entirely (no one books it) but keep its setup | Inactive shift |
| Remove a service that’s no longer relevant | Don’t create it (or archive an existing one) |
FAQ
Should I block lunch every day to stop online lunch bookings?
No. Blocks are meant for temporary, dated closures. For a permanent “no online lunch” rule, make the Lunch shift Internal-only or don’t create it.
If a shift is Internal-only, can my staff still add reservations to it?
Yes. Internal-only only hides the shift from customers. Staff can create reservations on it as usual.
What’s the difference between Inactive and Internal-only?
An Inactive shift accepts no bookings from anyone — it’s switched off. An Internal-only shift is still active and bookable, just not visible to customers online.
Will existing reservations disappear if I make a shift internal-only?
No. Changing visibility affects only new online bookings. Existing reservations are kept. 
