Table reservation

A table reservation is an arrangement made in advance to have a table available at a restaurant. While most restaurants in the vast majority of the world do not require a reservation, and some have no policy or simply any channel for making one, so-called higher-end restaurants mainly in overcrowded cities often require a reservation, and some may have tables booked for weeks in advance. At particularly exclusive venues, it may be impossible to make a reservation on the same day as the planned visit.

"It's always smart to inquire about a restaurant's reservation policy. Some will only reserve for large parties of six or more". In recent times, many restaurants have replaced the traditional pencil and notebook with an online reservation system. Some websites exist which provide this service for multiple venues, such as OpenTable, EZTABLE, Bookatable, eTender, Zomato, Chope, and SeatMe.

Reservations for later dining times may prove problematic, as the restaurant may have a backlog which will require the reservation-holders to wait beyond their stated arrival time. In addition, diners with a late reservation face a higher chance that the restaurant will run out of necessary ingredients for a particularly popular dish. It is generally considered polite to call and cancel a reservation once it is known that the event can not be made.

Most restaurants do not charge a customer who fails to honor their reservations, and courts have tended not to impose substantial penalties on restaurants that fail to honor reservations.

The modern reservation system evolved from the prior practice of arranging catering at a restaurant.

Nowadays it has become common for fine dining restaurants to offer table reservations to their clients. In fact, this service has become an integral part of a restaurant’s operation, because of its multiple benefits. Even though there are still types of restaurants that prefer the modality of first-come, first served, the majority of fine dining and casual restaurants organize their operation through table reservations. As it has become part of restaurants’ service to offer reservations, clients are tending more and more towards making use of this offer, and for some people, it has become mandatory to make a table reservation before going out to a restaurant since there are also benefits for the client in this type of service.

A restaurant will weigh the advantages and the disadvantages of offering the service of table reservations to its customers, and even though there is a cost involved in this service, the benefits it offers will outweigh all the disadvantages one may consider.

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Wikipedia