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Why do restaurants take reservations at all? Reservations force tables to remain unoccupied, and even when they're occupied, diners feel no need to rush to mak

by Joeri 12y ago

Why do restaurants take reservations at all? Reservations force tables to remain unoccupied, and even when they're occupied, diners feel no need to rush to make room for the next set of diners since they reserved their time slot. A restaurant that's not popular enough to fill up completely doesn't need reservations, and one popular enough that they have to turn away people is losing money accepting reservations. So, why do so many restaurants do it?

maxerickson 12y ago
I guess there is still room there for the reservations to make the restaurant more popular. "Arrive at 8 and be seated by 8:10" is a different thing than "Maybe you'll get a table".
gress 12y ago
Because diners are not interchangeable components. Some become regular customers.
ObviousScience 12y ago
Because customers are willing to pay higher food prices in exchange for reliably being able to arrive at the establishment at a particular time and be seated. I've been to restaurants that don't take reservations, and instead take a wait-list. It took something like 3 hours of waiting to get a table. I could never go there for a client or investor dinner, because the unreliability of the table timing means I can't schedule it in. Considering a meeting like that is worth tends of thousands of dollars and requires that people with busy schedules all be around at the same time, I don't mind the extra $50-100 a person meals at those places tend to run. tl;dr: They do charge a reservation premium, it just gets mixed in to the food expense rather than being a separate item. Additionally, people scheduling tend to bring large parties or are there for special events, which tend to spend more money.
rainsford 12y ago
Because reservations affect popularity, both in general and with specific, potentially desirable customers. All else being equal, I am more likely to eat at a restaurant that takes reservations than one that does not because I know I'll have a table when I get there, and I doubt I'm the only person who feels that way. This is particularly true for higher end restaurants where the "experience" is a bigger part of meal. And waiting around to sit down is probably not the experience you had in mind. And it's worth noting that a reservation is valuable even if there isn't always a wait. Unless the customer is a regular, he's unlikely to know what the wait would be like in the first place, and things vary depending on the day and time. A reservation removes that uncertainty for the customer, which is valuable even if a reservation wouldn't have been required.
Ryel 12y ago
Because getting hit with unexpected groups of 6 or more can be brutal on restaurants.
dreamfactory2 12y ago
A lot of the more popular and small restaurants don't take bookings for this reason

by Joeri 12y ago

maxerickson 12y ago

I guess there is still room there for the reservations to make the restaurant more popular. "Arrive at 8 and be seated by 8:10" is a different thing than "Maybe you'll get a table".

gress 12y ago

Because diners are not interchangeable components. Some become regular customers.

ObviousScience 12y ago

Because customers are willing to pay higher food prices in exchange for reliably being able to arrive at the establishment at a particular time and be seated. I've been to restaurants that don't take reservations, and instead take a wait-list. It took something like 3 hours of waiting to get a table. I could never go there for a client or investor dinner, because the unreliability of the table timing means I can't schedule it in. Considering a meeting like that is worth tends of thousands of dollars and requires that people with busy schedules all be around at the same time, I don't mind the extra $50-100 a person meals at those places tend to run. tl;dr: They do charge a reservation premium, it just gets mixed in to the food expense rather than being a separate item. Additionally, people scheduling tend to bring large parties or are there for special events, which tend to spend more money.

rainsford 12y ago

Because reservations affect popularity, both in general and with specific, potentially desirable customers. All else being equal, I am more likely to eat at a restaurant that takes reservations than one that does not because I know I'll have a table when I get there, and I doubt I'm the only person who feels that way. This is particularly true for higher end restaurants where the "experience" is a bigger part of meal. And waiting around to sit down is probably not the experience you had in mind. And it's worth noting that a reservation is valuable even if there isn't always a wait. Unless the customer is a regular, he's unlikely to know what the wait would be like in the first place, and things vary depending on the day and time. A reservation removes that uncertainty for the customer, which is valuable even if a reservation wouldn't have been required.

Ryel 12y ago

Because getting hit with unexpected groups of 6 or more can be brutal on restaurants.

dreamfactory2 12y ago

A lot of the more popular and small restaurants don't take bookings for this reason