How to run the floor, from cutting no-shows to choosing reservation software, and the rules that actually reach a restaurant, cafe, bar or hotel. Each regulatory guide is grounded in the regulation it describes rather than in someone else’s blog post, and where a rule probably does not apply to an independent venue, it says so at the top instead of at the bottom.
Most no-shows are not people who meant to let you down. They forgot, or their plans changed and cancelling felt harder than not turning up.
Read the guideReservation software looks alike until you ask what it costs when you are busy, who owns the guest data and how you get out.
Read the guideTable management is deciding, before the night and again during it, which party sits where and for how long. Software should make that visible, not decide it for you.
Read the guideA reservation is personal data the moment it has a name on it. What you may keep, for how long, and why "we might need it later" is not a reason.
Read the guideFourteen allergens, declared for every unpackaged dish you serve. The rule is EU-wide; the way you are allowed to present it is set by your own country.
Read the guideAlmost every restaurant website is non-compliant in the same three ways, and all three are fixable in an afternoon.
Read the guideCharging for a no-show is generally lawful. Charging in a way the guest never clearly agreed to is where it comes apart.
Read the guideIn force since June 2025, and most independent restaurants are exempt. Here is how to tell whether you are one of them.
Read the guideIf you sell through a booking or delivery platform, it may already be reporting your earnings. Here is what gets sent and why the number can look wrong.
Read the guideThe EU package is mostly about cross-border business-to-business trade. The thing that will affect your venue is your own country’s domestic system, and in Poland it already has.
Read the guideAlready compulsory for most businesses since 1 April 2026. There is a genuine exemption for the smallest invoicers, and it runs out at the end of the year.
Read the guideThe food-safety obligation is EU law and applies to every venue. The registration you file, and who you file it with, is Polish.
Read the guideThis is not legal, tax or accounting advice. Served is a software company, and this page describes rules we have read in the sources listed above on the date shown. Rules change, they apply differently depending on your venue’s circumstances, and only a qualified adviser in your country can tell you what yours mean for you. Check anything here before you act on it.
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