Nigeria
Restaurant template set
WhatsApp templates for orders and tables
Ten messages a kitchen in Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt can copy today: the menu list, the order summary, the payment link, the rider dispatch note, the table confirmation and the review request. Change the items and prices to match your own.
Copy and edit
Menu to review
Approval notes
Variables filled in
Before you paste
How to use this set
Two kinds of message live in here and WhatsApp treats them very differently. Ten minutes on this section saves you a rejected template and a week of waiting.
APPROVAL
Anything you send first needs approval
If he has not messaged you, or his last message is older than 24 hours, you can only open the chat with a template Meta has reviewed. The reservation reminder, the review request and the Friday special all sit here.
REPLIES
Inside 24 hours, write freely
Once he messages you, everything you send back for the next 24 hours is an ordinary service reply. No approval to wait for and no Meta charge. The menu, the order summary, the payment link and the dispatch note usually all land inside that window.
COST
What each kind costs you
Service replies inside the window are free. Utility templates like a reservation reminder are from ₦11 each and marketing templates like the Friday special are about ₦30 each, billed by Meta at the Nigeria rate with nothing added by DMly.
VARIABLES
Fill the curly braces, keep the rest
{name}, {order}, {amount}, {time}, {rider} and {link} are placeholders. In DMly they fill themselves from the order, so the message is right for every customer and every branch. Keep a word or two before the first curly brace.
Stage one
Taking the order
Five messages that take a hungry customer from what do you have today to money in the account. He messaged you first, so these are free replies inside the 24 hour window.
Menu list, sent when someone asks what you have today (free reply inside the window)
Good afternoon {name} 🍲 Here is today's menu.
{item1} ₦{price1}
{item2} ₦{price2}
{item3} ₦{price3}
Delivery to {area} is ₦{delivery} and takes about {eta}. Tap an item, or type what you want and the quantity.
Order summary, read back before he pays (free reply inside the window)
Let me read it back to you, {name}:
{order}
Delivery to {address}
Total ₦{amount}
Is that correct? Reply YES and I will send the payment link.
Payment link, sent as soon as the order is confirmed (free reply inside the window)
Thank you {name}. Pay ₦{amount} here and the kitchen starts straight away: {link}
Card, bank transfer or USSD all work. We hold your order for {minutes} minutes while you pay.
Payment received, sent the moment the money lands (free reply, or an approved utility template if he paid hours later)
Payment received ✅ Order {order_id} is with the kitchen now, {name}. It leaves us around {time} and should reach {address} by {eta}.
Item finished, sent when the kitchen runs out (free reply inside the window)
{name}, I am sorry, {item} has finished for today. We still have {alternative1} and {alternative2} at the same price, or I can send the ₦{amount} back to the account you paid from. Which would you prefer?
In use
Four of these, in one real order
A customer asks about delivery at lunchtime, orders, pays and knows exactly where his food is. Nobody left the kitchen to answer him.
Four templates, one thread
The menu, the summary, the payment link and the dispatch note all come from this set. Only the items, the amounts and the rider changed.
The money clears before the kitchen moves
The Paystack or Flutterwave link is generated inside the chat and the receipt posts back into the same thread, so no food goes out unpaid.
All of it is free to send
He messaged first, so every reply here sits inside the 24 hour window. The templates you pay for are the ones that start a chat, like tomorrow's reservation reminder.
Stage two and three
Delivery, the table and after the meal
These go out hours or days after the last message, so each one has to be submitted and approved before it can send. Set the trigger once and they run on their own.
Rider dispatched, sent when the food leaves the kitchen (approved utility template)
Your order {order_id} has left us, {name}.
Rider: {rider}, {phone}
He should be at {address} in about {eta}. Please keep your phone close, traffic can move him by a few minutes.
Delivered, sent once the rider drops the food (approved utility template)
Delivered at {time} ✅ Enjoy it, {name}. If anything is wrong with the order, reply here within the hour and we will sort it out.
Table confirmed, sent when a reservation is booked (approved utility template)
Booked ✅ {name}, a table for {guests} on {date} at {time} at our {branch} branch.
We hold the table for 20 minutes past your time. Reply MOVE if your plans change.
Reservation reminder, sent on the morning of the booking (approved utility template)
Good morning {name}, we are looking forward to seeing you today at {time}, table for {guests} at {branch}.
{address}
Reply 1 to confirm, 2 to change the time, 3 to cancel.
Review request, sent the evening after the meal (approved template)
Thank you for eating with us today, {name}. If the food was good, a line on Google helps people in {area} find us: {link} It takes 30 seconds and we read every one.
Putting them to work
Where these run in DMly
PAYMENTS
The link and the receipt come off the order
Paystack and Flutterwave links are generated inside the chat for card, bank transfer or USSD, and the receipt posts back into the same thread so the kitchen knows the money landed.
RESTAURANTS
The rest of the food playbook
Tappable menus, branch routing, table reservations and the Friday broadcast that fills a quiet night.
SETUP
We will load them with you
On the seven day free trial our Abuja team gets on a call, submits your templates for review and connects each one to its trigger. Setup help and Meta business verification help cost nothing.
Questions
Using the set in your own kitchen
Can I change the wording?
Please do. Keep the variables and the shape, then swap in your own items, your delivery areas and the way your staff actually greet people, pidgin included. Templates are reviewed on the final text, so submit the version you will really send.
What if a template is rejected?
Edit it and submit again. The two causes we see most often are a promotional line sitting inside a utility template, and a message that opens with a variable, so put a word or two before the first curly brace.
Do these need opt-in?
Anything marketing does, and that includes the Friday special. A customer who messaged your number or ordered from you counts, and DMly records when and where each opt-in happened. Anyone who replies STOP comes off the list.
How do I send them automatically?
Paste each one into DMly and give it a trigger: payment confirmed, rider assigned, the morning of a reservation, the evening after the meal. The variables map to your order and booking fields once and stay mapped.
Do I need a separate set for each branch?
No. Keep {branch}, {address} and {delivery} as variables and one set covers every location, with the order and the rider details routed to the branch that is cooking it.
Let the kitchen stop typing
Paste the set into DMly, connect it to your orders and your reservations, and every customer gets the same message at the same moment without anybody picking up a phone.