The Restaurant That Won an Award and Still Couldn't Answer Every Call

Yuan's Garden has been in Richmond for over two decades. Their Nanjing-style salted duck took Critics' Choice at the 2024 Chinese Restaurant Awards. The same year they were nominated for Best Casual Chinese at the Vancouver Restaurant Awards. None of that changes the fact that the phone rings hardest at 6pm — exactly when the host should be at the door.

The phone at 6pm

Six o'clock is when the host should be at the door — greeting a party of eight, walking guests to their seats, working the wait list. It is also the hour the line rings most. And the calls arrive in Mandarin, Cantonese and English — sometimes all three inside one conversation. A booking call that reaches voicemail rarely calls back. That party eats somewhere else, and the table sits empty at 7:30.

A booking is not a voicemail

Anything can record a voicemail. What Yuan's Garden needed was something that could actually complete the transaction: check whether a table was available at 7pm for a party of four, handle the negotiation when the caller asked for 7:30 instead, capture the name and size correctly in either language, confirm it on the call, and write it to the board so the host stand always matched the phone.

DineCall's AI does all of that. It checks real availability — party size against the table mix, how long tables turn, the last seating of the evening — before offering a time. It handles the back-and-forth. And every confirmed booking lands on the reservation board instantly.

What DineCall runs today

Their phone line and everything a guest sees online is DineCall, end to end. The AI answers in English and 中文, takes table reservations and phone food orders on the same call, and their bilingual online menu — built by DineCall — is at yuansgardenrestaurant.ca. The website was designed and built by DineCall, with prices in both languages.

The AI is also briefed on the awards: a caller who asks about the Nanjing salted duck gets an answer. That kind of detail is what makes the conversation feel like talking to someone who knows the restaurant.

What the AI hands off

Private rooms, large banquets, and allergy flags are routed to a person. The AI knows what it should not decide on its own and transfers the call or captures the details and flags them for the team to follow up. The host stand is not interrupted for a straightforward booking; it is only interrupted when it needs to be.

What did not change

Same phone number. Same host stand. Same kitchen. No new hardware and no app for the team to learn. The AI picks up the line the restaurant has always published, and can hold several calls at once when the room is full.

FAQ

Q: Does the AI actually book the table, or just take a message? A: It books the table. It checks live availability against party size, confirms the time on the call, and writes the booking straight to the reservation board.

Q: Can it handle a caller who switches from English to Mandarin mid-call? A: Yes. It follows the language, captures the name and party size correctly either way, and the confirmation is in the caller's language.

Q: Does it know about the awards? A: Yes — the AI is briefed on the restaurant's real facts. A caller who asks about the Nanjing salted duck gets a real answer.

Q: Do large parties and private events go to a person? A: Yes. The AI routes those to the team. Simple bookings it handles end-to-end.