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.

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.