WhatsApp food ordering system.
Take orders for free.

Customers already message restaurants on WhatsApp to order. The question is what happens next: who replies, who checks the order against the menu, and where it ends up so the kitchen sees it. There are three setups:

Most small kitchens start with the first and outgrow it at dinner rush, when replies pile up and orders get lost in chats. This post covers all three, then builds the third step by step: an AI agent that takes orders in plain conversation and writes each one to a Google Sheet.

The WhatsApp Business app has a built-in menu, called the catalog, and a cart:

1. Add your dishes to the catalog in the app’s business tools, each with a photo, price, and a line on what’s in it.
2. Check that carts are on in the catalog settings. WhatsApp turns them on by default, and a change can take up to 24 hours to show.
3. Customers order by tapping the shopping button in your chat, adding dishes to the cart, and sending it to you.
4. You confirm the order in the chat, with the total, delivery time, and how to pay. WhatsApp says an order isn’t final until the seller confirms it.

Quick replies save typing the same confirmation every time, and labels (New order, Paid, Out for delivery) help you keep track. The catch: you still answer every question and confirm every order by hand, which is the part that breaks at 8 pm on a Friday.

Dedicated ordering platforms run on Meta’s WhatsApp Business API. They send menus with buttons, carts, and payment links, and push orders into a dashboard or POS. They suit chains and high volumes.

The trade-offs are cost and setup: a monthly plan, Meta’s per-message fees on top (see WhatsApp Business API pricing), and a number moved onto the API. Many still answer free-text questions like “can you make it less spicy?” with a menu or a person.

The third way keeps ordering conversational. Customers type the way they always have, and an AI chat agent handles the order:

1. A customer writes: “2 paneer rolls, extra spicy, and a lime soda to Baner.”
2. The agent checks the dishes and the delivery area against your menu, and asks for anything missing: name, address, contact number, how they’ll pay.
3. It reads the order back with the total and waits for a “yes”.
4. It sends the order to your sheet with a tool and replies with the order number and the time it’ll be ready.

With Wapzen, this runs on the number customers already use, linked by QR code, with no Business API. Setting it up takes four steps.

In Wapzen, open Knowledge Base, click New, and add your menu as text, a PDF, or a Word file. The agent can only be as accurate as this document, so include:

• Every dish with its price, sizes, and options (spice level, add-ons).
• Veg, vegan, and allergen notes, written plainly.
• Delivery areas, fees, minimum order, and typical delivery times.
• Opening hours and when the kitchen stops taking orders.
• Payment options you accept.

Update it when a dish sells out or a price changes: a two-line “Sold out today” section at the top works.

The agent needs somewhere to send each order. A Google Sheet is free, and the kitchen can keep it open on a tablet:

1. Create a sheet, rename the tab Orders, and add headers: Time, Name, Contact, Items, Address, Total, Payment, Notes, Status.
2. Open Extensions › Apps Script and paste the script below. Change KEY to a long random word.
3. Click Deploy › New deployment, choose Web app, set Execute as: Me and Who has access: Anyone, and authorise it.
4. Copy the web app URL and add ?key= plus your key to the end.

// In your Orders sheet: Extensions › Apps Script. Paste this, change KEY,
// then Deploy › New deployment › Web app (Execute as: Me, Who has access: Anyone).
const KEY = "replace-with-a-long-random-word";

function doPost(e) {
  if (e.parameter.key !== KEY) return reply({ ok: false, error: "wrong key" });
  const order = JSON.parse(e.postData.contents);
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName("Orders");
  const lock = LockService.getScriptLock();
  lock.waitLock(10000);
  try {
    sheet.appendRow([new Date(), order.customer_name, order.contact_number, order.items,
      order.address, order.total, order.payment, order.notes || "", "New"].map(safe));
    return reply({ ok: true, order_number: sheet.getLastRow() - 1 });
  } finally {
    lock.releaseLock();
  }
}

// Customers type this text: never let it start a formula.
function safe(value) {
  return typeof value === "string" && /^[=+\-@]/.test(value) ? "'" + value : value;
}

function reply(data) {
  return ContentService.createTextOutput(JSON.stringify(data))
    .setMimeType(ContentService.MimeType.JSON);
}

Each order becomes a row with the status New; change it to Cooking or Sent as you go. The key in the URL keeps strangers from adding rows. Zapier, Make, n8n, or your POS’s own API work the same way if you prefer them: anything with a URL that accepts JSON.

Open Tools, click Create Tool, and choose API Request:

• Name: save_order
• Description: “Save a confirmed food order. Use only after the customer has confirmed the items and total.”
• Method: POST, and URL: your web app URL with ?key=…
• Parameters: add these, each marked required except notes:

The agent fills each parameter from the conversation, and Wapzen sends them to your URL as JSON. The sheet’s reply, with the order number, goes back to the agent so it can tell the customer.

The agent doesn’t see the customer’s WhatsApp number, which is why it asks for a contact number. The rider needs one anyway, and it may not be the number they’re chatting from.

With the dashboard in Chat mode, open Chat Agents, click New chat agent, and paste instructions like these into its system prompt, filling in the brackets:

You are the WhatsApp ordering assistant for [Restaurant], a [cuisine] kitchen in [area]. You take delivery and pickup orders and answer questions about the menu.

Use only the menu, prices, and delivery rules in your knowledge base. If something isn't there, say a person will reply shortly.

To take an order:
1. Ask what they'd like. Check every dish and option against the menu, and say so if a dish is sold out.
2. Ask: delivery or pickup? For delivery, get the full address and check it's in our delivery area.
3. Ask for their name and a contact number for the rider.
4. Ask how they'll pay: [cash or UPI on delivery].
5. Read the order back with the total, including any delivery fee, and ask them to confirm.
6. Only after they confirm, use save_order. Then give them the order number from its response and say it will be ready in [35–45 minutes].

Rules: short replies, one question at a time. Never invent dishes, prices, or discounts. Complaints, refunds, and catering go to a person: say [Name] will reply shortly.

Attach the menu knowledge base and the save_order tool. Then open Phone Numbers, click New Number, scan the QR code from WhatsApp’s Linked devices screen, and pick this agent for the number. The chatbot guide shows that step with screenshots.

Test with five real orders from another phone, including a dish that doesn’t exist, an address outside your area, and a change of mind halfway through. Check each row in the sheet.

Customers who’d rather call can order by voice too: a Wapzen voice agent with the same save_order tool answers WhatsApp calls and takes the order out loud.

• Always read the order back with the total before saving. Most mistakes are caught right there.
• Put the delivery area and minimum order early in the conversation, not after the customer has chosen five dishes.
• Give a time range (35–45 minutes), not a promise.
• Hand over complaints and refunds. A short apology and “the owner will reply” beats an AI arguing about a cold pizza.
• Read the day’s chats for a week and add every unanswered question to the knowledge base.
• Keep an eye on carts. The chat agent answers text messages, not voice notes or images, so if you also use the catalog, check carts yourself.

Selling products rather than meals? The same pattern works for stores, and COD order confirmation calls cut fake cash-on-delivery orders. For bookings instead of orders, see WhatsApp appointment booking.

Wapzen is an independent product, not made by Meta or WhatsApp. It links your number as a device. Use it to answer customers who message you, never to send bulk messages: WhatsApp restricts numbers that do.