cfntmpn

Please let me defend my previous posting.

#1 - All I said was no one wants an empty table - meaning, that I don't want to NOT offer someone a table if there is one (i believe a previous poster mentioned that restaurants like to keep people waiting for their table)

#2 Yes, the profit on alcohol is much more than food - but we're talking 400% mark up on 85 cent versus 300% mark up on $7! Huge difference at the end of the day and on the way to the bank....

bgans

Sparks Steakhouse in NYC. We had reservations for 7 and I don't think we were seated until 8:30. I was livid and will never eat there again, nor will I ever recommend that anyone eat there. Unless you are a public figure or a "friend" of management you will wait eternally for a table and there are far too many other outstanding steakhouses in New York for me to be willing to tolerate that kind of treatment.

A_Traveller

A well managed restaurant that takes reservations should never keep its patrons waitng but some trendy restaurant managers can't seem to grasp that concept (for whatever reason - to increase alcohol sales, poor planning, or just plain snobbery). I for one will not wait more than 5 minutes for a reserved seat, after all if I can get to the restaurant on time I expect to be seated on time (and yes I do cann ahead if I am going to be late).

As for restaurants that don't take reservations the longest I've waited was about 1 1/2 hours at Joe's Stone Crab's in Miami. I was a guest at a business related dinner and it would have been an insult to the host if I left before we were seated (he had been raving for weeks how good the restaurant was). The food was good and service was "slap-dash" at best but now that I've been there, done that I don't have to do it again. Other than that one time I have not waited more than 30 minutes at restaurants that don't take reservations and won't even put my name on the waiting list if the host or hostest says the wait is longer than 20 minutes. Those types of places rarely have food that is worth those kind of waits and as others have said unless you are way out in the boonies there's too many other places to go.

A_Traveller

Oops! That should be "call ahead not cann ahead".

GoTravel

You can look on the OSI annual report and they probably list the liquor percentage profit for Cheeseburger. It is a publicly held company.

I know that figure because the CEO of OSI is a good friend of mine and my husband's because my husband's business partner is Paul's best friend.

I think what you aren't getting is that it takes one minute to make and serve a drink. It takes an hour minimum to flip a table. The overhead on alcohol is miniscule compared to an entree.

JJ5

We live in an area that has literally 100s of restaurant choices. We never make reservations- and almost never wait for a table. The longest we have waited is about 10 minutes.

I must say that we do not go out to eat on Saturdays or Sundays, it's almost always on a week day night. I like to cook when I am home, I enjoy it.

These are not chain, nor fast food type restaurants. We were just talking about this at a party over the holidays. I don't know how many restaurants, about 1/3rd are high end, can all stay in business in my area of IL???? I would guess that many, many fewer families are cooking at home now.

We have one chain restaurant that opened in Fall '05 about 3 blocks from my home- called Texas Roadhouse (steak) and that one always has a 45 minute line/wait I'm told. I would never wait that long.

The others that have some wait are also breweries / vineyards and have humongous bar areas. One called CooperHawk always has a wait, even with reservations. We don't go there- but the kids think it is worth the wait. I've never been in a restaurant where I thought a wait of over a half hour was worth it.

When we go with 4 or 6 we usually make reservations. A dinner party of 2 or of 6, I still do not recall any instance with a reservation having any wait at all. No, I do remember one time and it was probably about 2 minutes.

One time we went to one of our most favorite and they told us 30 minutes on a Friday night. My guy immediately turned around, and I agree with him, we have too many choices to be standing around. We aren't bar drinkers.

beachbum

I refuse to wait any more than 45 minutes, but have friends who are MUCH more patient.

A Cheesecake Factory opened in SW Portland a few months ago. It's been jam-packed every time I've been by. Friends talk of their one visit, when they first had to wait 30 minutes in line just to get their name on the waiting list, then another 2.5 hours for a table. I don't get it... no matter how good the food is.

GeorgeW

As a father of five, I can tell you from experience that getting a table at 5:30 is rather easy. Half-past-five is usually too early for most people but when you have five kids you are kind of glad to get home by eight o'clock.

BeachBoi

Back in the mid-80's my TA went to work for a new restaurant, in his neighborhood,very popular Dallas chain.He worked nights and weekends.The waiting area was built as the bar area.Well, the local Baptist Church did not take to this very well.The Preacher approached the eccentric owner of the chain and told him if he didnt redesign the waiting area to be totally removed from the bar area, he would preach from his pulpit for his flock NOT to patronize that restaurant.The owner said he would take into consideration.Several weeks later, the waiting was retooled and protected so the patrons did not have to go thru or be in the bar area....The new waiting area was furnished with, you guessed it: church pews, so the preacher's flock would feel right at home...And yes, the following Sunday, the owners were there, beers in hand to greet the preacher! Only in Texas!!

rkkwan

Wow, I thought I was impatient...

- I remember waiting for over an hour several time at Cheesecake Factories when it first expanded to the E. Coast in the early 90's. If some of you are still waiting long to get into CF, try the one in Providence, RI. Never a line.

- Waited probably over 2 hours for a table at TGIF in Back Bay, Boston one Thanskgiving night about 12 years ago. That was the only restaurant opened...

- Last year, when I went to Hong Kong, I arrived at a popular Chinese restaurant before 6pm, and they gave me the very last queue number for the night. I don't think we get seated until around 8:20pm or so.

- At another popular restaurant in Hong Kong, my friend arrived to get a number first, but we still waited for over an hour. Then after our number was called, they asked if we want to share a table with other people (common in some restaurants). We said no, so it's another 15 or so minute wait. They called again, and we were shown the line to the hostess, with another 2-3 parties in front. So, another 5 minutes before we finally sat down. That was again like 2 hours. But the food was so good it's worth it.

Fodorite018

Beachbum--I have heard those same stories about the Cheesecake Factory.

Our longest wait was at Il Fornio in Seattle the night before the marathon. The manager did not have a handle on the situation at all. Due to the marathon, not many restaurants take reservations that evening. We ended up waiting almost 2 1/2 hours for a table, with children. The marathon was great the next day...we were able to get rid of all that restaurant frustration via exercise But...we will never again eat at Il Fornio due to that experience.

cjackson

Longest wait was 90 mins at Le Kliff in PVR. I hadn't been there for several years and didn't realize you nn a reservation on a weeknight! But we had drinks, watched the sunset and talked to several groups of people who passed through.

MerryTravel

My husband and I and another couple had an 8:30 reservation at Kali's Court in Baltimore and we were seated at 10. They kept apologizing and telling us 10 more minutes, so we figured since it was a Friday we'd have a longer wait anywhere else we went in the area. I think they gave us one round of free drinks for our patience. Never. Again. And I will bash the place to anyone willing to listen to me.

suze

I won't wait long at all. I really don't care for loud or noisy restaurants which often are the type that have 1 hour waits typical. So sure if we haven't made a reservation and they say 15-20 mins. for a table that's OK. More than that, I go elsewhere.

mattydale

Another vote for Joe's Stone Crab in South Beach. We got there at 4:30pm and were in our seats at 8:30pm. Yes, 4 hours. We probably could have shaved that time in half if we were willing to grease some palms, but instead we whiled away the hours at the bar and made conversation with the interesting characters.

Worth it? Not a chance. But it was one of those things where the longer you wait, the more you don't want to leave because you're sure that you HAVE to be called soon. Like Seinfeld and the Chinese restaurant.

rubytwo

If I have a reservation..I will wait 10 minutes..if not I ask how long and if it is over 20 minutes, I go elsewhere. I see no point in eating out, being angry and paying for it. What annoys me is being told it will be 20 minutes and it ends up being an hour. Did that once at Pink House in Savannah..never again.

Maggi

My niece had her heart set on dessert at Serendipity in New York. When we put our names on "the list" they told us the wait would be 3 hours. We went down the street and had a nice dinner then went back to Serendipity just in time for our sweets.

Suzie

Ok let me rephrase what I meant by restaurants “love” having people wait… What I meant was that in our area the trend is that restaurants no longer accept reservations. It’s fair that they give you the pager thing that allows you to step outside if you don’t want to be crammed in the ultra small waiting area. I don’t understand this concept of not taking reservations. As a compromise some restaurants will take your name over the phone and put you on the list in the hope that when you arrive they will be getting close to calling your name. What’s wrong with taking a specific reservation?

JJ5

I do notice a trend toward non-reservation policies by us as well.

And the poster is right about the restaurants with the longest waits usually being the noisy places.

I have rarely found the quality of the food to be highly connected with the length of time waiting for it in my city environment or in my suburban environment. The whole experience is one in which you want to be relaxed too. I never return to a restaurant if I'm kept waiting or if I feeled "rushed" out the door.

We love the Japanese steakhouses, but the way they cook for everyone tableside and how it is served in sequence, oftentimes we feel like we are rushed in eating. We aren't slow eaters either. That's another reason we may not return, even if the food was quite good.

snuggles1

I've waited almost a 1/2 hour for dinner before at Bertucci's and Pizza Hut in my area...it's nuts!!!