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cleanshaved

I’m stumped
Well, when it was on Valentines it was 1 hour and 45 minutes...and I had reservations planned a month in advance. I asked the waitress once we got to the table and she said the management let too many patrons sit that did not have reservations.

Now that's a lot of drinks at the bar while waiting........one starts to wonder if that is part of the reasoning. A full house with a busy bar.
I would have protested with my feet, there is no excuse for not honouring your booking. You're a more patient man then me.
 
Now that's a lot of drinks at the bar while waiting........one starts to wonder if that is part of the reasoning. A full house with a busy bar.
I would have protested with my feet, there is no excuse for not honouring your booking. You're a more patient man then me.

+1
 
I would never wait an hour and 45 minutes for a table and that place would never see my custom again.
if I want to eat out in Philly I always make a reservation, either a call or by OpenTable. Never had a problem here, unless some early customers are dawdling longer than they should.
 
I never experienced anything like that. If a restaurant consistently gave away your table in this town they would not be around very long.
 

DoctorShavegood

"A Boy Named Sue"
I would never wait an hour and 45 minutes for a table and that place would never see my custom again.
if I want to eat out in Philly I always make a reservation, either a call or by OpenTable. Never had a problem here, unless some early customers are dawdling longer than they should.
I didn't want to wait either, but we didn't know at the time it would be that long. The place was downtown Austin and finding a place to park is a courageous adventure to say the least. This happened more than 10 years ago and we've learned our lesson...more about the restaurant than the whole reservation thing.
 
One should never go out to eat on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, New Year's Eve, or the 4th of July. You will have a lousy time. The food will not be good. You will pay too much. The service will stink.

Mac
 
We always just pick a Saturday night sometime around the 'date/occasion' if there is such a thing and never have had a problem with any of that.
dave
 
the truly fancy places I've been (Jean George, La Cirque and places like that) reservations have never been an issue. At most 2-4 minutes of wait time. Disney theme parks have a horrid system where you have a block of time to show up and then they might seat you within the hour.

Oh god...don't get me started on Disney. We had a 6:00 Pm character dinner with a 8:20 fastpass to see Mickey after. It was a buffet dinner and we still had to run to see Mickey. After we were seated more than an hour late, we were told it could take up to 90(!) minutes for the characters to circle the room. They did come around before we left, luckily our two year old wouldn't have cared either way.
 

cleanshaved

I’m stumped
Oh god...don't get me started on Disney. We had a 6:00 Pm character dinner with a 8:20 fastpass to see Mickey after. It was a buffet dinner and we still had to run to see Mickey. After we were seated more than an hour late, we were told it could take up to 90(!) minutes for the characters to circle the room. They did come around before we left, luckily our two year old wouldn't have cared either way.

Sounds like a Mickey Mouse outfit......sorry could not resist.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Years ago we took our young child to a restaurant in NYC that was "child friendly". We were early. The place was empty. Two gorgeous women were on duty. We asked for a table. Had no reservations. One took menus. The other whispered to her.....thereupon the first one said I'm sorry we can't seat you .....

I think everyone has a story. Its been a good read so far but in my experience reservations still work rather well. Although that dialogue if oh good evening Mr so and so is fantasy land. No one says anything remotely like that today.

I wish I could reserve a second drink or glass of wine. What happens to me is the wait staff asks if I want another drink early on after the entrée is delivered and it's either forgotten entirely or they attempt to bring it when I'm finished. That ticksme off.
 
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If I go to the trouble of making a reservation and it is not honoured by the restaurant, the manager will get an earful and the shop gets no second chance.
 
I wish I could reserve a second drink or glass of wine. What happens to me is the wait staff asks if I want another drink early on after the entrée is delivered and it's either forgotten entirely or they attempt to bring it when I'm finished. That ticksme off.

Depending on what I'm drinking, occasionally I'll just order two at the beginning of the meal.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
I've never had the experience of reservations being "lost". Certainly it's not a "thing" around these parts that a restaurant can treat reservations as "suggestions" rather than carved in stone.*

Mind you' we're always on time for the reservations.

I never had a problem with that. It seems that whenever I show up at a place, everyone leaves.

I thought our last dinner together went well ...

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Well, when it was on Valentines it was 1 hour and 45 minutes...and I had reservations planned a month in advance. I asked the waitress once we got to the table and she said the management let too many patrons sit that did not have reservations.

Perhaps I misunderstand ... but did you have to wait almost two hours to find out your reservation was gone, or was that the wait for a table after the bad news?

One should never go out to eat on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, New Year's Eve, or the 4th of July. You will have a lousy time. The food will not be good. You will pay too much. The service will stink.

Mac

I agree with the general notion of finding a different date close by and having a much nicer experience. Especially for events with SWMBO that she will find 'significant' ... Valentines, anniversaries, her birthday ... be sure to at least make the plans for the dinner well in advance of the actual day, so she knows this is you planning ahead rather than scrambling after you are told you forgot. If you can have the acutal dinner early ... even better. (Especially for Valentines ... when all her friends are comparing dinner-dates on the 15th, she wants to be able to say how you already took her to Le Gourmet Fancee a week ago and here's the photo of the entree ... not "well, I hear we're going out next weekend".




* One exception. A few years ago, I booked in advance the private room at a local Chinese restaurant for a Xmas dinner. We also ordered a Peking Duck dish ... have to order that in advance as well. There were about 20 of us altogether, including some small kids who ran around loudly all the time, so us being away from the other diners was probably something the restaurant would be grateful for. Anyhow, we had a good time. So when my wife's birthday came around the following fall, we thought we'd go there again.

This time there were a few less of us, but still over a dozen. So I called weeks in advance and made the reservation ... no problem. We got the private room. They 24 hours notice on the Peking Duck, so a couple days before our dinner I call to get the duck. The conversation starts something like this ...
"Hi, I'm the guy who booked the private room for tomorrow at 6 ... I'd like to get a Peking Duck too ..."
"We might be able to put you in the private room. But we can get a duck."
"What do you mean 'might be able'? I booked weeks ago and you said no problem."
"Well, if a larger group wants the room we'll give it to them instead."
Well, I got put through to the manager/owner and we had a discussion. Seems he felt no shame in believing he could bump us out of the private room at any time should he feel like it. Now, we were not talking about the Christmas season when those rooms might be at a premium ... we were talking about late September or early October. Well, we had a "chat" and he ended up agreeing to us having the room "for sure". We had our dinner and it was good food ... but I don't go there anymore.
 

DoctorShavegood

"A Boy Named Sue"
Perhaps I misunderstand ... but did you have to wait almost two hours to find out your reservation was gone, or was that the wait for a table after the bad news?

They had our reservations and showed my name for the time slot we requested. It just took a long time to seat us. The food and service were really good, but the management gets an "F". I've never been back.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
They had our reservations and showed my name for the time slot we requested. It just took a long time to seat us. The food and service were really good, but the management gets an "F". I've never been back.

So you show up at 6pm for your 6pm reservation, they say yes they have your reservation please wait at the bar ... and they come get you at 7.45. Yowza.
 
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