Terms of Service

1. The platform

Makan is a discovery and reservation platform for bars and restaurants, currently focused on Baku. Guests can find venues, view menus, and request a table in the app or by chatting with our assistant. Venues can publish a profile and menu, run the floor, take reservations, message guests, and collect post-visit feedback.

Makan is not a restaurant, not a delivery service, and not a party to the meal. The hospitality relationship (food, drink, service, house rules, and what happens in the room) is between the guest and the venue. We provide software and messaging to request and manage tables.

2. Who may use Makan

You must be able to enter a binding contract. The guest app and assistant are not directed at children under 16. A venue account may only be opened or used by someone authorised to represent that restaurant or bar. Owners are responsible for everyone they invite (managers, hosts, analysts) and for keeping access limited to people who still work there.

3. Guest accounts

Guests sign in with a phone number. We send a one-time code on WhatsApp or, if you already have a Telegram chat with us, on Telegram. You must give a name and number you actually use. You are responsible for that device and number. Do not book under someone else’s number unless they asked you to.

4. Venue accounts

Venue staff sign in with email and a one-time code (no password). Owners can invite staff and assign roles with different permissions (for example a host may run the floor but not change billing-level settings). If you lose access to the email, contact studio@makan.rest. We may suspend an account that looks compromised or that is used to harm guests or the platform.

Going live on Makan makes your venue discoverable to guests (profile, photos, hours, menu, and booking, depending on what you enable). You must keep hours, address, capacity, and booking rules accurate. You grant Makan a licence to host and display the content you upload (name, description, photos, menu, layout as needed to run reservations) on the guest app, in the assistant, and in operational tools.

5. Bookings

A request is not a guaranteed table until it is confirmed under that venue’s rules. Availability comes from the venue’s layout, sessions, and settings. Those settings can include a minimum and maximum time in advance (many venues sit around a few hours minimum and about 72 hours maximum), party size limits, and whether diner-app booking is on.

• We (or the venue) may ask you to confirm before the reservation. Confirmation usually opens a set number of hours before the booking (the venue chooses this; four hours is a common default). We send confirm and cancel links on WhatsApp or Telegram. If you do not confirm by the deadline, the table may be released.
• We may send reminders around 24 hours and around 2 hours before the booking when it is still waiting on confirmation.
• You may cancel with the cancel link, by writing to the assistant, or by contacting the venue.
• Venues may also create or change reservations by hand in the dashboard.
• If you do not arrive within the venue’s grace period after the booked time (often about 30 minutes), the booking may be marked no-show and the table released.
• We may send a short meetup code so the host can match you at the door.

The venue may refuse or change a booking for legitimate operational reasons (capacity, closing, force majeure). Makan does not guarantee that a venue will honour a table, and the venue does not guarantee that Makan’s software will always be available. If something goes wrong, contact the venue and studio@makan.rest.

6. Deposits

Some venues require a deposit in Azerbaijani manat before a booking can proceed. Payment is processed by ePoint. We record payment status and a reference on the booking; we do not store full card numbers. Completing payment does not by itself finish confirmation if the venue still requires you to confirm closer to the time.

Refunds, if any, follow the venue’s policy and applicable law. Makan does not automatically refund deposits when you cancel or no-show. Write to the venue and to studio@makan.rest if you believe a charge was made in error.

7. Messages and the assistant

By giving a phone number you agree to receive service messages about bookings: codes, holds, confirm and cancel links, reminders, meetup codes, and (unless you opt out) a short post-visit feedback chat. Staff receive operational email (sign-in codes, invitations, urgent guest feedback).

The assistant uses automated systems, including AI models, to understand your messages, propose times, remember preferences, and summarise feedback for the venue. It may hand the conversation to the venue’s WhatsApp when a human should continue. Do not treat the assistant as legal, medical, or financial advice. Slot times can change if the venue updates the floor or another booking takes the table.

8. Feedback

After a visit we may ask how it went. Your reply is shared with that venue so they can follow up. We may flag urgent issues to the venue. You can opt out of these messages. Do not use feedback to harass staff. Venues must use feedback to improve service, not to retaliate against a guest.

9. Venue content and Instagram

You must have the rights to photos, logos, and menu copy you upload, and they must not be unlawful or misleading. Public profiles and menus may appear on makan.rest and in the assistant. Connecting Instagram and WhatsApp means we may verify the account or number (including an automated check that the Instagram account looks like the same venue) and show the handle to guests once it is approved.

Makan may hide, delist, or refuse a venue that is inaccurate, inactive, unlawful, or harmful to guests. We may also remove guest-facing booking if you turn it off in settings.

10. Guest data held by venues

Venues see guests who book with them. Venues may import existing customer lists (phone, name, notes) and add private notes. That data must be used only to host and serve those guests, in line with Azerbaijani law and our Privacy Policy. Do not sell, scrape, or share guest data with unrelated third parties. If a guest asks to be forgotten, help us process that request for records you control.

11. Acceptable use

• Do not place fake or abusive bookings, or no-show as a pattern.
• Do not impersonate a venue or a guest, scrape the service, probe for vulnerabilities, or interfere with other users.
• Do not upload malware or content you do not have rights to.
• Do not use Makan to send spam or to process payments unrelated to a table deposit the venue actually requires.

12. Intellectual property

Makan owns the platform, the Makan wordmark and dot, and our editorial lists and copy. Venues keep ownership of their own names, photos, and menus, subject to the licence in section 4. You may not copy the product, reverse engineer it except where the law allows, or use our brand in a way that suggests we operate your restaurant.

13. Third-party services

WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Google Maps and Places, ePoint, OpenStreetMap, and similar tools have their own terms. When a chat moves onto WhatsApp or Telegram, those services’ rules also apply. Map data may come from Google or OpenStreetMap.

14. Disclaimers

The service is provided as available. We do not control kitchens, door policy, allergens, or whether a venue has a good night. Availability, photos, and menus can be out of date if a venue has not updated them. We do not warrant uninterrupted access, error-free software, or that the assistant will always understand every message.

15. Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Makan is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profits, or for a venue’s failure to honour a booking, serve food, or treat a guest well. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law (including liability for wilful misconduct where mandatory rules apply).

Our total liability to you for a claim arising from a particular booking is limited to the amount of fees you paid to Makan for that booking (a venue deposit paid via ePoint is not a Makan platform fee). For venue staff, our total liability is limited to AZN 100 unless mandatory law says otherwise.

16. Suspension and ending use

You may stop using Makan at any time and ask us to delete your guest or staff account as described in the Privacy Policy. We may suspend or end access if you materially breach these Terms, if required by law, or if we shut down a feature or the service. Live reservations should still be honoured or cancelled in good faith.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. The new version applies from the “Last updated” date on this page. If you continue to use Makan after that date, you accept the update. For a material change we will try to notice you in the product or by message.

18. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Courts in Baku have jurisdiction, except where mandatory consumer rules give you the right to sue elsewhere. If a provision is unenforceable, the rest still applies.

Contact: studio@makan.rest — Baku, Azerbaijan.