Only restaurants that do high volume don't take reservations so it isn't really a trend.

Reservations will slow down a restaurant that is high volume.

We were in Cambridge, near Boston, and wanted to eat at Legal Sea Foods. Our oldest daughter was about 2 1/2 in a stroller. We got there around 5:30 p.m. and were told the wait was 30 minutes. When we checked back at 6:00, we were told another 20 minutes. Checked again. This time the hostess claimed they didn't have our name. We looked and looked and sure enough no name. We asked for the manager. Everyone remembered us as having been there a long time because of the baby. We didn't sit down till about 8:00, but they were very kind, they brought some fried clams and FF for the baby right away. We weren't seated till about 8 p.m. but our 2 lobster dinners including dessert were comped (on the house) and they gave us a cook book, which I still use today.

Mclaurie, Red Bank has lots of good restaurants - the ones that don't take reservations generally would always have a long wait on a Saturday night.

We generally tend to avoid the problem by going out on weeknights and either making reservations somewhere good or staying home for weekend dinners.

Worst waits here in NJ? - Cheesecake Factory - any location, Jose Tejas in Woodbridge - 1.5 hours on average, Houston's in Paramus 1.5 hours + even on a weeknight!

I'm pretty compulsive, so I make reservations most everywhere world wide. If a restaurant doesn't accept reservations, I'll pass.
If I arrive "on time" - that concept has some elasticity here in SMdA - I expect to be seated within a few minutes and NOT shuffled off to the bar or...
I have walked out of more than a few who could not honor my reservations - none here.
Many of the restaurants (and experiences) mentioned on this post make me realize that I'm not only in a better place, but maybe also on another planet.
M

Please explain, GoTravel, your last post. I say this respectfully- I have found your restaurant posts a learning experience and wish you had your own thread.

Here's an unusual twist to the waiting saga. We went to the PF Changs in Naples FL this past Sunday. We were told that the wait for a table of three was 80 mins. at around 5:30. Because we had no other restaurant that we wanted to try we decided to stay. In TWENTY mins. we were buzzed that our table was ready! We feel that many parties must have left after signing in or eles the hostess was really bad at estimating the wait time!

There is a restaurant in Baltimore where the wait is so long, people order their famous cheesecake and eat dessert while waiting to be seated for dinner. I've heard over 2 hr. wait. Don't know for sure because I'll never experience that kind of wait.

Part of the problem with restaurants taking reservations is that a restaurant is entitled to giving away a table to a group EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT ALL THERE!!! So, you have a reservation for 8 at 6pm - 4 of them show. 6:15 - still only 4, 6:30, 6 out of 8 are there.

In the meantime a party of 8 show up and all tables are taken...but you can't seat the party of 8 because the other party STILL HASN'T SHOWN!!!!

My experience managing restaurants is; most busy restaurants do not take reservations AND you cannot be seated unless your entire party is present.

Now, most pedestrians don't get this...even GoTravel with all of her knowledge will probably pooh-pooh this, but it works.

Over an hour at the Cheesecake Factory. Honestly, I don't know what the rave is about that place -- I don't get it.

A couple of years ago on Valentine's day my wife and I had reservations at Marina Jack Restaurant in Sarasota. Our reservation was for 7 pm and we arrived on time. When we got there we were told that there would be a wait of at least 30 minutes. We had no other options since on Valentine's Day most places are booked so we waited. We were not seated for nearly an hour. The food was alright but definitely not worth an hour wait. We never found out whether the restaurant overbooked or if diners with earlier reservations simply chose to linger after dinner.
To be fair, we have been there on other occassions and have never had a wait of more than a very few minutes.

Ah, for the Parthenon in Chicago which used to give out a free shot of ouzo while you waited on line. I guess those days are gone.

Seems like many restaurants in my area (So. Ca) these days do not take reservations and the wait is commonly 30 min to 1 hr on a Fri or Sat night. Some will take reservations for parties of 8 or more. I was happy to see that PF Changs, after not taking reservations for years, finally started. They are definitely in the minority. That's why I don't eat out much on weekend nights!

We waited three hours at Vij's in Vancouver, BC once. Yes, it was worth it. That was unusual, though, because it was Valentine's Day, and they don't take reservations, and we got there a bit late. Every other time we've gone there it's been maybe half an hour.

And since most restaurants started taking your cell number so you don't have to wait right there in the lobby, it's not such a problem. Go off and look around the neighborhood a little.

Of course, if you're going to Cheesecake Factory or some other chain place, there probably isn't a neighborhood, just a vast parking lot. But I have no interest in such places; C.F. isn't known for the quality of their food, only the obscene QUANTITY of it (triple portions, basically).

I'm in the 10 minute wait group. We always have a backup plan. If place A is too busy, we go to place B.

The worst wait ever was after 45 minutes, the server slammed down my glass of soda -- and it was only half a glass. (This is a place Fodor's recommended .)

Since I'm a Type A, I don't wait.
So I signed up for www.opentable.com
a few years ago and don't recall
ever waiting. This service is great for the restaurants as it frees up phones, no personnel are required
to answer phones & if the party
does NOT show up, they're banned
from using this gratis service. A win-win situation for all.

The restaurants in our booming area are doing exactly as xyzxyz detailed. Lots used to take reservations, no longer do and the service is better, actually everything is better. They do insist on seating ALL MEMBERS OF THE PARTY at once, so the people waiting are 90% partial parties, not a whole bunch of "you'll have to wait 20 to 30 minutes for a table" crowd.

One of the best and busiest is one that sticks to the "seating all members" strickly and on game days or whatever- you do get in much faster now WITHOUT reservations. Actually think of how much time the reservation process itself takes/tolls on the staff.

There are some in Chicago (Febo's my favorite was one) where if you had to wait on busy Friday nights etc. you got free pizza bread and wine while you waited. Those days are gone.

I'm way too A and have at least 30 good top drawer restaurants within 5 miles of my home; I don't and wouldn't wait more than 30 minutes for anything.

There was a feature on TV this morning that in Chicago and suburbs 1 out of every 7 homes will order their favorite pizza this Sunday (SuperBowl). Made me realize that we have at least 4 totally different types of pizza that are "best" choices that can be delivered within an hour. My MN friends say I live in pizza heaven. Sushi, steak, Indian, Brazilian, etc. etc. so many choices, why would you put up with a 2 hour wait.
I would not on vacation or travel either. We have walked in LV and in SF over this issue.

GeorgeW, xyzxyz123 explained it perfectly and yes, I do get it xyz.

High volume restaurants must turn or flip the table 3 1/2 - 4 times per night and if you have reservations, that slows your flip times down to 2 1/2 - 3 times per night.

In other words, it costs restaurants money to take reservations. Which is why they will not seat you until the entire party has arrived.

It's obvious there is a major difference between how the "chain" and high volume restaurants handle their customers vs. the smaller upscale restaurants. At peak times there are always long waits at places like Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and to me the food at most high volume places is never worth waiting more than 20 or 30 minutes. Those who wait longer are just wasting time and not getting anything extra for it.

As for dining on holidays, I learned long ago that even the most upscale restaurants are often overbooked, have a limited menue selection and the food is usually not up to regular standards. It's best to avoid dining out on those days, if at all possible as it is just not worth it.

The only acceptable "long wait" is when you have to make reservations a month in advance in order to dine at the abosolute best 4* restaurant in Paris but even then I would expect to be seated within a few moments of my arrival at the restaurant - after all I already "waited" for 30 days.

Flawless logic, GoTravel. Thanks for the explanation.

I wonder how many people make reservations at numerous places on the same night and don't bother to call and cancel the ones they aren't using. I think it's this type of abuse that caused the restaurants to stop taking them in the first place. If I know I'm not going to be able to make it, I always call to cancel the reservation. My call is invariably met with surprise and a courteous response. One of my favorite restaurants takes your credit card number when you make your reservations and you get charged a set amount if you don't show.