The New Orleans Menu

Favorite Table: Why Can't I Reserve It?

Brian asks:

Whenever I call a certain restaurant for a reservation, if I ask for my favorite table, they tell me that they can't promise it to me. I am a regular customer. We eat there three or four times a year. Sometimes I get the table, but I usually don't. I've tried calling a long time in advance, but nothing seems to work. What's the trick?

Tom sez:

There isn't one. You hold two beliefs which are widely held, but at variance with reality.

The first is that restaurants reserve tables. Very few actually do so. Instead, they track the number of people who want to come in at each time, according to how many seats and servers will be available. The assignment of the actual table doesn't happen until you arrive. And that involves not just open tables, but balancing the customers each server had to take care of.

The reason for this is that it's already a tricky matter figuring out how much room a restaurant has at a certain time--particularly after the first seating. The length of time the first customers stay is impossible to predict. To do that on a table-by-table basis would be a nightmare. The only restaurants that can have more seats than customers. Antoine's, for example, is vastly larger than it needs to be, so they can reserve specific tables with placards.

However, even in busy restaurants, there are people who can command a certain table. And that's where the second misapprehension comes in. While four times a year may seem like a ritual to you, in fact that's only an occasional customer for most restaurants. Special favors start clicking in when they see you once a month or more often. Or if every time you come in you spend a lot of money. So what else is new?

Actually, there is a trick that works. Show up right as the restaurant opens. Unless a VIP is competing with you for the table, you should be able to request and get it.

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