You are about to collect phone numbers at the host stand, on a QR code and in your online ordering flow. Before that list grows, get the restaurant SMS marketing consent wording and the proof behind it right. That is the part owners skip, and it is the hardest to fix after the fact. This post covers sign-up wording, what to record, how opt-out should work, and what to take to your lawyer. It sits inside our guide to restaurant loyalty program software and guest data for South Jersey restaurants. One thing up front: we build software, and this is not legal advice.
What this post is, and what it is not
We are a custom software and marketing shop in Medford, New Jersey. We are not lawyers. Nothing here tells you what the law requires of your restaurant or bar. What we can do is describe how consent gets captured, stored and honored in the systems we build, so you walk into your lawyer's office with specific questions.
The rules around texting are federal, they have changed during 2026, and they are still being adjusted. We also tried to confirm whether New Jersey adds anything on top of the federal rules for text and email marketing. We could not confirm that this round. Treat New Jersey as an open question for your lawyer, not as a gap that means nothing applies.
Email and text are different channels, and different laws govern them. Your lawyer can say how each applies, so we keep the two sign-ups separate below.
Where the federal rules stand as of October 29, 2026
The main federal law for texting is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) writes the rules under it. In 2026 the rules for revoking consent, meaning how a guest says "stop," were moving.
In January, the FCC's consumer bureau issued an order pushing one piece, the so-called "revoke all" requirement, out to January 31, 2027. That is posted by the Federal Communications Commission, dated January 6, 2026. That date has since been overtaken.
According to a summary from the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, the FCC released a new order on October 1, 2026, and the new revocation rules take effect November 25, 2026. That summary says the order drops the old revoke-all approach. It also describes a provision that lets a caller designate a website or phone number for opt-outs, as long as the method is clearly disclosed in the call or text.
A second law-firm summary from Troutman describes the change as letting an opt-out from an informational message apply only to that category of message. Informational means no advertising or marketing content. A marketing text is a different story, and the summaries we read do not agree on every detail.
That disagreement is why we do not turn this into a checklist of legal duties. The practical read for a restaurant owner: build your system so that a "stop" from a guest ends all your marketing texts to that guest. That is the simplest behavior to explain to staff, and it holds up whichever way the details settle. Your lawyer confirms whether it is enough.
The FCC also has a further proposal open for comment, so rules may move again. We cannot confirm what, if anything, changes after November 25, 2026.
Sign-up wording that keeps text and email separate
Good consent wording has a few jobs. It names who is texting, says what kind of messages the guest will get, says how often, tells them how to stop, and is not buried. It is also separate from the thing the guest came to do, like joining a loyalty program or placing an order.
Four things the sign-up should show on screen
- Who you are. Use the restaurant's name as guests know it, not the name of the software vendor.
- What they get. "Offers, event announcements and reservation openings" is more honest than "updates."
- How to stop. Tell them to reply STOP to the text. For email, a working unsubscribe link in every message.
- What they are not agreeing to. Say plainly that a purchase or an order does not depend on signing up for marketing texts. Your lawyer decides the exact phrasing.
Here is a draft you can hand to your lawyer as a starting point. It is our wording to react to, not approved language:
Text me offers and event news from [Restaurant Name]. Message frequency varies. Reply STOP to opt out. Consent is not required to order or dine with us.
Pair it with an unticked checkbox, so the guest has to act. Put the email version in a second checkbox, with its own line. If both are ticked by default, you cannot tell later what the guest chose.
Collect the number in a field made for it, and do not bundle it into a "join the club" button with no explanation. If your loyalty tool only offers one combined button, that is worth knowing before you sign. Our post on which guest data fields are worth capturing covers how many fields a sign-up can carry before guests stop filling it in.
What to record as proof of consent
If a guest says "I never signed up," you want a record that shows what they saw and when they agreed. Wording on a page you have since edited is not proof. A record that names the exact wording version is.
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Phone number or email address | The thing the consent attaches to |
| Channel (text or email), stored separately | Text consent does not equal email consent |
| Date and time of opt-in | Shows when the guest agreed |
| Source (host stand tablet, QR code, web order, event form) | Tells you which form produced the record |
| Wording version shown | Proves what the guest saw at that time |
| How the sign-up happened (typed by guest, entered by staff) | Staff entry raises questions for your lawyer |
| Opt-out date, method and who recorded it | Shows you honored the request |
Two of those rows deserve a warning. Staff typing a guest's number into a tablet is common at a host stand. Whether that counts as the guest's own consent is a question for your lawyer, and a good reason to prefer a QR code the guest scans on their own phone.
The second is the wording version. Keep a dated copy of every version of your sign-up text. When you change it, the old version stays in the archive with the dates it was live.
We do not know how long your lawyer will want you to keep these records. Ask. Then set the retention period in the system instead of leaving it to memory.
How opt-out should actually work
Opt-out is where consent stops being a form and becomes a daily habit. A guest can opt out in several ways, not just the one you planned for.
- They reply STOP to a text. Your texting tool usually catches that automatically.
- They click unsubscribe in an email.
- They tell a server, a bartender or the host, "take me off your texts."
- They reply in plain words, like "stop texting me," which a keyword filter may miss.
The first two are automated by most tools. The last two are the ones that fail. Give staff one place to log a spoken request, and make a person read the unmatched replies to your marketing texts. A human reviewing those replies each day is cheap insurance.
The other failure is a sync gap. A guest unsubscribes in your email tool, and your loyalty app still texts them because the two do not share a suppression list. That is a design problem. Before you buy or build, ask where the single "do not contact" list lives and which tools read from it.
If you run a text tool, an email tool, a loyalty program and delivery-app promotions, you have at least four lists. Our audit of what you can export from your POS, delivery app and loyalty tool shows how to find out which of those lists you actually hold, and in what form.
Where the records should live
Consent records belong in a system you control, tied to the guest profile, not scattered across vendor dashboards. If a vendor holds your only proof of consent and you cancel, the proof can leave with the vendor.
Check three things with any tool that texts guests for you:
- Can you export the opt-in timestamp, source and wording version, not just the phone number?
- Does the opt-out list export too, so you can load it into the next system?
- If you cancel, how long does the vendor keep the records, and can you get a copy first?
The third matters most during a switch. When you change POS or loyalty tools, a list with no consent history is a list you may not be able to text. Our winter cutover checklist for switching your POS or loyalty system puts the consent export on the list for that reason. Move the opt-outs first, before a single marketing message goes out from the new system.
This is also where custom software earns its place. In a custom CRM built around how you run the restaurant, consent is a field on the guest record, with a timestamp and a source. Every tool that sends messages checks it before sending. Under our project agreements the client owns the system and its data. Hosting, texting and email subscriptions and ongoing support are scoped separately in the proposal. A subscription tool can do some of this too, if its export is complete. Check that before you rely on it.
What to ask your lawyer
Bring a printout of your actual sign-up screens and a sample of your records. Specific questions get specific answers. Start with these:
- Does my current wording meet the federal consent standard for marketing texts, and does New Jersey add anything for text or email?
- Is a QR code scan enough, and is a number typed in by staff acceptable?
- What must the opt-out message say, and which ways of saying "stop" must I honor?
- How quickly must I stop texting after an opt-out, given the changes taking effect November 25, 2026?
- How long do I keep consent records, and in what form?
- If I buy or build a new system, who is responsible if the vendor's tool sends a message to someone who opted out?
- Do my delivery-app and online-ordering partners' terms limit how I can use the numbers they pass me?
Also ask about the older list you already have. Numbers collected years ago, with no record of what the guest agreed to, are a separate question. Your lawyer may tell you to re-ask those guests, or to stop texting them. Either answer is easier to act on if you can pull the list by source and date.
If your texts and emails are tied to a loyalty offer, ask about the offer's terms too. Our restaurant email marketing ideas post covers what to send once the permission side is settled.
A short setup plan before spring
You have a few quiet winter weeks. A sensible order: get your lawyer's answers, then fix the sign-up wording, then fix the records, then test opt-out end to end. To test, sign up with your own phone, reply STOP, and confirm every tool shows you as unsubscribed. Do the same with an email address.
Do that before Easter and Mother's Day booking lists start filling. If you want us to build the sign-up and the do-not-contact logic into the guest system for a restaurant or bar, see what custom software for restaurants and bars looks like on our side.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need written consent to text restaurant guests marketing messages?
Marketing texts generally call for stronger consent than a plain service message, and an electronic sign-up is the usual way to capture it. The exact standard, and whether New Jersey adds to it, is a legal question we do not answer. Show your lawyer your sign-up screen and ask whether it meets the current federal rule.
What should restaurant SMS marketing consent wording say?
It should name your restaurant, describe the kinds of messages, say frequency varies, explain how to stop by replying STOP, and say that consent is not required to order or dine. Keep text and email in separate checkboxes, unticked by default. Treat any wording we draft as a starting point your lawyer edits.
What happens when a guest replies STOP?
Your texting tool should log the opt-out and stop marketing messages to that number. The FCC's revised consent-revocation rules, as Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck reported in 2026, take effect November 25, 2026. Confirm with your lawyer how quickly you must honor it, and make sure every tool sees the opt-out.
Where should I store proof that a guest agreed to texts?
Store it on the guest record in a system you control: number, channel, date and time, source, wording version shown, and any opt-out with its date. Make sure you can export it. If only a vendor holds the proof, you may lose it when you cancel or switch tools.
If you are planning the guest list this winter, we can walk through your sign-up flow and records with you, and show where consent would sit in a guest system built for your restaurant. Email campaigns that read the same consent record are part of our email marketing automation work. Take any wording we draft to your own lawyer for the final say.
Sources
Every outside claim in this article links to where it came from. These open in a new tab.
- Federal Communications Commissionfcc.gov
- Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreckbhfs.com
- Troutmantroutman.com