What do Kerbey Lane Café, Snooze an AM Eatery and Pluckers all have in common? Ridiculous wait times on the weekends.

Saturdays are meant for delicious brunch, but at what cost ― a 45-minute wait, an hour wait? The app “Nowait” is the hero Austinites never knew they needed until now.

The app came to life in 2013 when founder, Robb Myer, realized during a 45-minute brunch wait that if guests had more control over how and where they waited for service, restaurants would then operate more efficiently.

Beginning as a text message waitlist system, the Nowait app transitioned into a complete restaurant management solution based in valuing hospitality for users, restaurants and consumers. 

Nowait has proved a force in driving up sales for restaurants, as well as a vital tool saving consumers precious time.

The opening page of the app presents a list of restaurants nearby along with the distance from the user’s current location, a heart icon to save the restaurant as a favorite and the estimated wait time to be seated.

When a restaurant is selected, the hours, address, specific location on a map, phone number and website are all accessible.

The sandwich toolbar on the left opens two additional options for “Map” and “Place in Line.”

The map shows users the variety of restaurants that are nearby, and the “Place in Line” section shows users their place in line once their party is added to the waiting list at the restaurant they’re dining at.

As more parties are seated, the user can see how exactly how many parties are ahead of them. Once the user’s party is up, they receive a text message directing them to the host stand to be seated.

Once the user and their party leave the restaurant, the app will prompt the user to rate their experience.

Nowait logs the total number of visits, the restaurant’s phone number, hours saved and each party’s details on the user’s profile on the app.

Nowait gives consumers the opportunity to regain control during their most anticipated moment of the day: eating. The app minimizes frustration of waiting and maximizes excitement for dining by letting customers know what they’re getting themselves into.

The app alters the dining experience by not only giving consumers control over their waiting time, but by helping restaurants manage crowd control which ultimately promotes a positive dining experience.

An app like Nowait proves especially useful in a denser city like Austin, where waits for restaurants often creep out the door.

Nowait is a smart, efficient and useful tool that creates a streaming line of communication between the restaurant and its consumers.