How to Stop Spam Calls to Your Restaurant (2026)

To stop spam calls to your restaurant, make every caller do one small thing before the phone rings. On a landline or business internet line, that's a short greeting that says "press 1 to talk to us". On a cell phone, it's call screening, which asks unknown callers for their name first. Robocalls can't do either, so most of them never reach you. Then turn on your carrier's free spam filter, and put your hours, menu, booking and ordering online so fewer real guests need to call.

The calls aren't in your head. YouMail, a US call-blocking company, counted about 4.35 billion robocalls in the US in July 2026, the highest month in a year. A robocall is a call made by a computer, usually with a recorded voice. Blocking them one number at a time can't keep up with that.

What the spam calls cost you each week

Here's one restaurant to work the numbers on: 60 seats, one phone number on Google and on the delivery apps, US prices in 2026. The owner counts calls for one day: 30 calls, 18 of them robots or scams, 12 from real guests. The numbers are made up to show the maths, so count your own for a day.

Each spam call costs about 90 seconds. You walk to the phone, say hello, hear the robot, hang up and get back to work. That's a rule of thumb, and it doesn't count the burger you forgot on the grill.

That's about $2,950 a year for one phone line, before the stress and the real booking you miss in a rush. Every fix below costs less.

Put a "press 1" greeting in front of the phone

An auto attendant is a recorded greeting that answers first and asks the caller to press a key. Phone companies also call it a virtual receptionist or a phone menu. Most robocall systems can't press a key, so they never get through. Owners who use one say about 9 in 10 robocalls stop at the greeting. Treat that as a rule of thumb, and count your calls again a week later.

Keep the greeting under 15 seconds, and give the answer most callers want before the key:

"Thanks for calling [your restaurant]. We're open 11 to 10 today. Book a table or order on our website, [your website]. To talk to us, press 1."

• Make every choice ring the same phone. "Press 1 to order, press 2 to book" works too, as long as both reach a person.
• Send callers who press nothing to voicemail, not to the phone. Many robocalls play their recording to the end, so "or stay on the line" lets them through.
• Change the hours in the greeting on the same day you change them on Google.

In the example, 18 spam calls a day drop to about 2. That gives the owner back about 2 hours 48 minutes a week.

On a business VoIP line, a phone line that runs over the internet, the auto attendant is often already in your plan. Look in the admin settings, or ask your phone company to set it up for you. If your line has none, business VoIP plans with a basic auto attendant start at about $20 per user a month in 2026. Ooma Office Essentials lists $19.95 per user. Google Voice has one only from its Standard plan at $20 per user, and you also need a paid Google Workspace account. Check the price page before you switch, because plans change.

The catch: a few real guests hang up on any recording. Keep the greeting short, and check voicemail after every rush so no booking waits long.

How to stop spam calls to your restaurant on a cell phone

If the restaurant number rings on your own phone, the phone can do the screening for free. This is the closest thing to letting only real people ring.

iPhone

On iOS 26, go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Screen Unknown Callers and pick Ask Reason for Calling. When a number that isn't in your contacts calls, the iPhone answers and asks for a name and a reason. A robot says nothing, so your phone never rings. A guest says "It's Maria, I'd like a table for four tonight", and you read it on the screen before you pick up.

Don't pick Silence on a restaurant phone. It sends every unknown number straight to voicemail, and most new guests are unknown numbers. Apple says calls aren't screened while you're roaming.

Android

On a Google Pixel, open the Phone app, then Settings > Spam and Call Screen > Call Screen. On newer Pixels, set the protection level to Maximum, which screens every unknown number the same way the iPhone does. Menu names change a little between models and updates. On other Android phones with the Google Phone app, turn on Filter spam calls under Caller ID and spam. Google says the screening only works in English in the US, and it won't catch every robocall.

Your carrier's spam filter

Carriers also block known spam numbers before they reach any phone. T-Mobile Scam Shield and AT&T ActiveArmor have free basic versions, and Verizon Call Filter has a free version and a paid one. Turn the free one on in the carrier's app. Business lines aren't always included, so ask the carrier's business support line.

On an old-style landline, ask for anonymous call rejection. It stops calls that hide their number, and on many lines you turn it on by dialing *77. Some phone companies include it, and others charge a few dollars a month. Most robocalls show a fake number instead of hiding it, so this stops only a few.

Why "only answer when a name shows" loses guests

A lot of owners pick up only when caller ID shows a person's name, and let anything showing a city and state ring out. It catches most spam, but it also drops real guests. Most cell phone numbers in the US don't send a caller name at all, so your screen shows the city and state of the number instead. A guest calling from their cell looks exactly like a robocall.

Use the name as a hint in a rush, not as your filter. The "Spam Likely" or "Potential spam" label that cell phones show is safer to trust, because it comes from your carrier's spam data. Let those ring out without a second look.

Fake Google and delivery-app calls

Some spam calls aren't robots dialing every number. They're aimed at restaurants, and they're after your money or your accounts.

"Your Google listing will be removed"

A recorded voice says your Google listing needs to be verified or will be suspended, and asks you to press 1 or pay. Google does call businesses sometimes, for example to check your details on Google Maps or to book a table. Google says those calls never ask you to sign up for a service, pay money or give personal info. Your Google Business Profile is free, and you start any real verification yourself, inside your profile.

Hang up without pressing anything, even when the voice tells you to. Google says pressing buttons can lead to more of these calls. You can report the call on the form in Google's guide to fake Google calls.

"This is DoorDash support"

A real person says they're from DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub, talks about a payment problem, and asks you to read out a code that just came to your phone. That code lets them sign in to your account and send your payouts to their bank. DoorDash's fraud guide for merchants warns about callers pretending to be its Merchant Support. It says DoorDash may call to confirm a recent change, but it never asks for a one-time passcode when it calls you.

• Never read a code out loud to anyone who called you. Tell every staff member who answers the phone the same thing.
• Hang up, then call support yourself from inside the merchant app.
• Turn on two-step sign-in in every delivery app. Check that the payout bank account is still yours and that last week's payout arrived.

Don't call scammers back to waste their time. It wastes yours, it tells them the number works, and the FCC (the US Federal Communications Commission) warns that calling back unknown numbers, especially ones from abroad, can put charges on your phone bill.

Many owners notice more of these calls right after they join a delivery app. There's no public proof the apps share your number. But a new listing puts your number and your restaurant's name on more public pages, and scammers target merchants who are still learning the app. Give the apps the restaurant's number, not the owner's own cell, so those calls hit the line with the greeting.

Move the easy calls online

The fewer real guests need to call, the easier it is to let unknown numbers go to voicemail. In the example, the 12 real calls a day are 4 questions about hours, the menu or parking, 6 bookings and 2 takeout orders.

• Put your hours, holiday hours, a menu link, a booking link and an order link on your Google Business Profile. Guests check it before they call.
• Put the same five things at the top of your website's home page.
• Take orders on your own site. Setting up your own online ordering and delivery moves phone orders to a screen.

If the 4 questions stop and half the bookings move online, real calls fall from 12 to about 5 a day. That's a rule of thumb for a restaurant with good online booking; a place full of regulars who like to phone will see less.

Do Not Call list, "Verified" calls and where to report (US, 2026)

The Do Not Call Registry

The FTC (the US Federal Trade Commission) runs the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov. It's free, but it's for personal numbers, and the FTC says sales calls from one business to another aren't covered. If the restaurant rings on your own cell, register that number. It stops sales calls from real companies, not scammers, who break the law anyway. Some states keep their own do-not-call lists with their own rules, so check with your state attorney general.

The "Verified" check mark

Since 2021, the FCC has made US phone companies check that a caller really owns the number they show. The system is called STIR/SHAKEN. When a call passes, some phones show "Verified" or a check mark. It doesn't tell you if the caller is a person or a robot, because a robocaller that owns its numbers passes too. Many real calls show no check mark at all, because not every network and phone displays it. We found no phone or big US carrier with a switch that rings only for verified calls, and it would cut off real guests. Your carrier's spam filter uses the check as one of its signals, which is why that filter is worth turning on.

Where to report

• Robocalls and scam calls: the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
• Sales calls to a number on the registry: donotcall.gov.
• Fake caller ID and robocalls: the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints.

Give the number that showed on your screen, even if you think it's fake. The FTC shares reported numbers with phone companies every business day to help them block calls. Rules change, so check donotcall.gov and fcc.gov for the latest.

Do this week

• Count your calls for one day: spam, real, and what the real guests asked.
• Ask your phone company to put a short "press 1" greeting with your hours in front of the restaurant line.
• On your cell, turn on Ask Reason for Calling (iPhone) or Call Screen (Pixel), and your carrier's free spam filter.
• Put your hours, menu, booking link and order link on your Google Business Profile.
• Turn on two-step sign-in in every delivery app, and tell your staff never to read out a code.