It can be pretty upsetting when you arrive at a restaurant that has empty tables and the host or manager represents that they cannot accommodate you at this time? Yup, time to Yelp that restaurant!
An open table is probably the least important consideration when a Manager makes a decision about whether or not to seat additional guests. Restaurants staff based on reservations and on historical data about attendance. To stay in business, a restaurant cannot have spare staff available hoping for surge in reservations so the Restaurant staffs based on reservations and a number of anticipated walk-ins. When a Servers tells a manager that he or she cannot take any additional tables or when a Chef tells a manager that she or he cannot take any additional orders, the Manager has to respect the the request of the team.
A smart manager balances revenue with overall customer satisfaction. I have seen many restaurants seat people because they have an empty table and then the servers or kitchen are unable to accommodate the table. After a period of time, depending on the patience level of the customer, the customer flags down a server or walks out because they have waited too long. Did the manager help or hurt the restaurant?
Think about timing in a restaurant. In the perfect world, everyone is seated, a server shows up at the table immediately, the customer orders quickly and the kitchen executes flawlessly. Restaurants base the number of reservations they can handle based on the number of staff scheduled for the evening. We have spaced reservations so that the kitchen gets orders timed perfectly spaced until a reservation shows up a half hour late and another reservation decides they want to have a couple of drinks before ordering. The perfect schedule starts to get altered until the Chef tells the manager not to take any additional people until they get back in balance as now they are getting 10 orders every 15 minutes instead of the 4 orders anticipated. Alternatively, think of a restaurant that has 50 tables but only has 15 reservations for lunch. Should they staff for 50 tables or 15 tables? The answer probably is to staff for 20 tables but what happens when you are the 20th, 21sr or 22nd group to show up? When you manage your restaurant and how does it look to a customer who sees 25 empty tables and yet is told that we cannot seat them. When is it time to protect the experience over the satisfaciton of the customer? Think about a driving over the holidays when highway traffic is proceeding at 10 mph when the speed limit is 65 mph. Should the state expand the highway system for a couple of
1) If it is a restaurant that takes reservations, they could be holding it because of the reservations that are about to arrive. Remember, that if the average time for dining is 90 minutes, a table might be vacant and stay vacant for 60 minutes until the reservation shows up. The customer does not appreciate that we have to have that table ready for the customer with a reservation and we cannot tell a customer that we can seat them and then tell th
em to hurry up because the reservation is arrriving. Restauranteers look even worst when the people that we have reserved the table for either show up late or no-show. Imaging the unjustified frustration of a customer that watches the table that he or she was denied and then it is 2 hours later before someone shows up. Did you have a reservation? If not, the people who did have a reservation will have priority to receive that table. This is similar to a Doctor’s office not canceling your appointment because someone else who didn’t have an appointment demanded to see a Doctor.
I sat down to write this after reading a one star restaurant review on one of the big review sites that began with, “we were told we would have to wait for a table even though we could see an open table in the dining room. After asking to speak to a manager, we were seated right away….” They then proceeded to explain how the server took too long to get them drinks, the kitchen took too long to make their food, and how they would never return. I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they would have received the experience the restaurant wanted them to have by waiting for that table. I also wonder how many other tables had their experience ruined because this extra table was added to an already overworked kitchen and wait staff.
I know some of you are ready to comment about how the restaurant should have been more prepared. I will address this at length in the next post.
Read More http://www.foodieknowledge.com/why-do-i-have-to-wait-for-a-table-at-a-restaurant/2012/05/24/