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Dinevate Catering Pro

Turn catering inquiries into paid bookings — automatically. Capture requests from your website, get an AI-generated price quote, collect deposits, send invoices, and track every catering job from start to finish.

What Catering Pro Does

Catering is some of the highest-margin, highest-impact business a restaurant can do — but the back-and-forth (quote, deposit, invoice, payment) usually takes hours. Dinevate Catering Pro removes that work.

With Catering Pro:

  • A catering inquiry form lives on your restaurant website.
  • New requests go through a clear stepper workflow: Estimate → Confirm → Invoice → Payment → Complete.
  • An AI estimator can generate a price quote from your menu and the customer's request — in seconds.
  • Customers can pay deposits and invoices online through Stripe-powered payment links.
  • You get a dashboard with totals, charts, and one-click status updates.
  • Every customer-facing email (confirmation, invoice, payment, refund) is handled automatically.

A Quick Note on Pricing

Even without Catering Pro, your restaurant can still receive catering inquiries through the public form — they will just come in as plain emails (with optional SMS) and you handle quoting and invoicing manually.

Catering Pro is a paid add-on at $99/month that unlocks:

  • The full management dashboard
  • AI price estimation
  • Online deposits and invoicing
  • Auto-collect deposits at inquiry time
  • Stats, charts, and the request-by-request workflow

If you do not have it yet, the page shows a "Get Started with Catering Pro" button that walks you through subscribing.

Getting to Catering Pro

  1. Open a browser and go to dinevate.com
  2. Log in with your restaurant account.
  3. Go to your Merchant Dashboard.
  4. In the sidebar on the left, click "Dinevate Catering Pro".

You land on the Dinevate Catering Pro dashboard.

Step 1 — Configure Your Catering Settings

Scroll down to the "Catering Settings" card. Click "Save Settings" at the bottom when you are done with each section.

Turn On Catering Inquiries

  • Enable Catering Requests — Switch on to show the catering link on your website and start accepting inquiries.

Pick Your Operating Mode

This is the most important decision for catering.

  • Auto Mode (recommended) — As soon as a customer submits an inquiry, the AI generates an estimate and (if you enable it) automatically charges a deposit, redirecting the customer to a payment page. You then take over from a confirmed-with-deposit state.
  • Manual Mode — Inquiries come in as NEW and wait for you to review them. You then create estimates and invoices by hand. Only fixed-amount deposits are supported in Manual mode (no percentages).

Tip: Start in Manual if you want to feel out the AI estimates first. Switch to Auto once you trust them — Auto means a customer who finds you on Google at 11 PM can submit, get a quote, and pay a deposit before you wake up.

Deposits

  • Require Deposit — Master switch. When on, deposits are charged or pre-filled on invoices.
  • Deposit Type — Pick Percentage of total (e.g., 25%) or Fixed amount (e.g., $200). Percentages are only available in Auto mode.
  • Payment Deadline — How many days a customer has to pay (1–30). Unpaid invoices are automatically voided after this period.

Notifications

  • Email Notifications — Switch on, then add staff email addresses for new-inquiry alerts. Click "Add email" for more recipients. "Use account email" fills in your account email automatically.
  • SMS Notifications — Switch on, then add staff phone numbers. Click "Add phone number" for more recipients.

Special Instructions for Quotes

  • Special Instructions for Quotes — Free text (up to 500 characters) that you give to the AI to keep in mind when it generates estimates. Examples: "Always include $50 for delivery within 10 miles", "Add 18% gratuity for events over 50 people", "Cannot accommodate gluten-free for events over 100".

Lead Time

  • Minimum Advance Notice — How many days notice you need (0–90). Set to 0 to allow same-day catering. This is enforced on the customer's catering form.

When everything looks right, click "Save Settings".

Step 2 — The Catering Pro Dashboard

The top of the page shows your at-a-glance stats:

  • Total Requests — All inquiries you have ever received
  • Pending — Requests that still need your attention
  • Invoiced — Active invoices waiting on payment
  • Revenue — Total catering revenue collected

Below that, once you have data, you will see charts: Requests Over Time, Status Breakdown, Revenue Over Time, and Popular Event Types.

Then come the two main tabs:

  • Catering Requests — Every inquiry, with the workflow stepper
  • Invoices — All invoices, including a "New Invoice" button to create ad-hoc invoices not tied to an inquiry

Step 3 — The Request Workflow

Each catering request flows through these steps:

Estimate → Confirm → Invoice → Payment → Complete

You can move requests forward using the "Next Step" button on each row, or the row's ⋯ (more) menu.

Estimate

When a new request comes in (status NEW), the first thing to do is generate an estimate.

  • Click "Set Estimate" to open the request detail dialog.
  • Choose "AI Estimate" to let the AI generate a quote from your menu and the customer's request, or "Manual Estimate" to enter prices yourself.
  • You can also trigger this directly from the row menu: "Run AI Estimate".

The customer is automatically emailed the estimate.

Confirm Booking

Once the customer accepts (or you decide to lock the booking in):

  • Click "Confirm" in the Next Step column, or "Confirm Booking" in the row menu.
  • The request status moves to CONFIRMED.

Send Invoice

After confirming:

  • Click "Send Invoice" to send the customer a Stripe-powered payment link.
  • If a deposit was already collected, you will see "Send Final Invoice" for the remainder.

The customer gets an email with the invoice and a one-click pay button.

Payment

The status updates automatically when the customer pays. You will see "Awaiting Payment" while it is open and "Paid" once it clears.

Complete

After the event has happened:

  • Click "Mark Complete" (Next Step column) or "Mark Completed" (row menu).
  • The request status moves to COMPLETED.

Other Actions

From the ⋯ menu on each row:

  • View Details — Open the full detail dialog with the stepper.
  • Refuse & Refund — Use this when a deposit was paid but you cannot fulfill the event. Refunds the customer.
  • Delete — Remove a request from your dashboard.

Step 4 — Invoices Tab

Click the "Invoices" tab to see all your invoices in one place.

  • New Invoice button at the top lets you create a one-off invoice that is not tied to a catering request — useful for private events, gift card purchases, or any custom billing.
  • Each invoice row has actions in its menu:
    • View Details
    • Send Payment Link — Resend the invoice to the customer
    • Print Invoice — Print or save as PDF
    • Delete Invoice or Void Invoice — Depending on its status

Statuses you will see: Open, Paid, Past Due, Void.

What Customers See

Your public catering form lives at yourdomain.com/catering-form (or /restaurants/{your-restaurant-id}/catering-form).

The page is titled "Catering Inquiry Form" with the description "Fill out this form to request catering services. We'll contact you shortly with a quote."

The form asks for:

  • Event type (corporate lunch, wedding, birthday, etc.)
  • Event date and food time
  • Service type (pickup, delivery, setup, full-service)
  • Delivery address (when applicable)
  • Contact info and company name
  • Number of guests
  • Dietary restrictions and allergies
  • Food preferences
  • Budget range
  • Add-ons (utensils, drinks, dessert, etc.)
  • Setup and staff requirements
  • Confirmation preference
  • Day-of contact
  • Notes / special requests

If your menu has a catering section, customers may also see a banner offering "Order Catering Online" for direct online ordering. See the Menu Management guide for setting up a catering menu.

Note: If your restaurant is set to Online Ordering Only mode, the catering form is hidden and visitors are sent to the ordering page.

What Happens After a Customer Submits

The flow depends on your Operating Mode:

Manual Mode

  1. The request appears in your dashboard as NEW.
  2. The customer gets a confirmation email: "Your catering inquiry has been submitted! We'll contact you shortly."
  3. You get an email (and SMS if enabled) with the inquiry details.
  4. You take it from there — set an estimate, confirm, send an invoice, etc.

Auto Mode

  1. The request appears in your dashboard with status ESTIMATED and AI-generated totals already filled in.
  2. The customer gets an estimate by email automatically.
  3. If Require Deposit is on, an invoice is created and the customer is redirected to a payment page — they can pay the deposit immediately.
  4. Once they pay, the request moves to DEPOSIT PAID and you take over from there.

Tip: Auto Mode means customers can self-serve on the front end (quote and deposit) while you focus on running the kitchen. The AI uses your menu, your minimum-advance setting, and your "Special Instructions for Quotes" to keep estimates on-brand.

Email Notifications

Catering Pro sends these emails automatically:

  • New inquiry submitted — Customer (confirmation) + you (notification, plus SMS if enabled)
  • Estimate set or updated — Customer
  • Invoice sent — Customer (with payment link) + you (sent confirmation)
  • Payment received — Customer (receipt)
  • Refund issued — Customer (refund notification)

Quick Tips and Best Practices

  • Start with Manual Mode to get comfortable with the workflow, then switch to Auto to capture more bookings (especially after-hours).
  • Use "Special Instructions for Quotes" to give the AI your real-world rules — gratuity, delivery fees, minimums, blackouts. The estimates get noticeably better.
  • Take a deposit. Even a small fixed deposit ($100–$200) dramatically reduces no-show events and locks in commitment.
  • Set a tight Payment Deadline. A 7-day window keeps invoices fresh; unpaid ones auto-void so your dashboard does not get cluttered.
  • Build a catering menu. A separate Catering menu in Menu Management makes both the AI estimates and the customer experience cleaner.
  • Promote it. Add catering callouts on your homepage, in your email signature, and in your Social Media posts. Catering tends to be the most under-marketed revenue line in any restaurant.

Need Help?

If something is not working or you have a question, head to your Support Center in the dashboard sidebar and create a new case (use the CATERING problem area for fastest routing). Our team will get back to you fast. The full process is covered at the bottom of the Getting Started guide.