Table & Return helps you write an individual restaurant marketing email. This walkthrough covers the website workflow from a free example to an AI draft and export. You need a separate email platform to send the finished email. You can browse and download templates without an account; new AI drafts require Google sign-in and prepaid credits.
1. Choose a template or an AI draft
Open the Templates page if you want a complete example to adapt without paying. Choose welcome, birthday, new menu, quiet night, seasonal event, or win-back. Open the AI email generator when you want new wording based on your own brief. Use Load example to understand the form before replacing the fictional restaurant details. The examples demonstrate the workflow; they are not customer results.
2. Enter one occasion and confirmed facts
Fill in the restaurant name and style, choose the email occasion and tone, and explain what guests should know. Give the main destination link and sending details where requested. A useful brief is specific: “Olive & Oak is introducing a mushroom ravioli at dinner from November 6. Invite guests to view the updated dinner menu. No discount.” This is an illustrative example; substitute your actual dish and date. Keep guest names, email lists, and private records out of the form.
3. Decide whether to include an offer
The offer field is optional. A new dish or a confirmed event is enough reason to write. If you include a promotion, supply its actual reward, dates, eligible services, minimum spend, and exclusions. Confirm these with the team who will honor the offer. Do not ask the AI to invent scarcity, a discount, or dietary claims. Missing terms should be resolved before sending.
4. Sign in and generate
Sign in with Google and choose a credit pack if your balance is empty. The Pricing page shows $4.90 for 25 credits, $9.90 for 100, and $14.90 for 200, before applicable tax. Each purchase is one-time, with no subscription or scheduled expiry. Generate once to create a subject, preheader, headline, body, and button label. One successful generation uses 1 credit; generating another version uses another credit. Failed generations return the reserved credit.
5. Edit and inspect the preview
Read the subject and preheader together. Confirm that the headline, body, and button describe one invitation. Switch between desktop and mobile preview widths, then use Edit wording to change the text. Manual editing does not cost credits. Check every date, price, offer term, and link against your actual plans. Changing the form details does not automatically rewrite an existing draft.
6. Export and send a test
Copy the email text or download HTML. Import or paste it using the features supported by your email provider; HTML import availability varies by platform and plan. Add platform-specific personalization, a valid sender address, and a working unsubscribe mechanism. Replace visible placeholders. Test through your actual sending platform and review the result on a phone. Save the export before leaving or refreshing: Table & Return does not save drafts as an account library.
Troubleshooting: sign-in, credits, and unfinished drafts
If the form asks for more detail, expand the brief with confirmed facts rather than repeating the same words. For example, name the dish, service, launch date, and intended action. If sign-in does not complete, return to the account page and check whether you are signed into the Google account used for your purchase. A purchase marked pending is waiting for payment verification; check its status before buying again. If a generation fails, review your balance and credit activity. A reserved credit can remain visible temporarily, and abandoned reservations are released after three minutes on the next balance check. Avoid repeatedly generating while you are unsure whether a request completed. Keep a copy of useful wording before leaving the page. A second generated draft may differ from the first, and the account balance is not a saved draft library. Contact the published support email with the order number for payment issues, or the approximate request time for a generation issue; do not send guest records or card details.
Continue with a practical next step.
Read the HTML and text export tutorial, inspect the complete worked menu example, or choose a new-menu email template. For live AI writing, follow the generator walkthrough.
For commercial email requirements, start with the FTC's guidance for US businesses and the official rules relevant to your own audience. Our guides are general information, not legal advice or a promise of results.