Louisville-centric questions...

Not trying to change topics, I do agree having a good waiting area is critical, but making sure you take walk- ins in order is critical too. Bim taught me long ago to seat all tables, regardless of how small, in the order they walked through the door. It was law with us. Now, when I'm waiting I can't help but notice if & when walk-ins are seated out of order. And when that happens I have to make a decision whether it's worth it to stick around. CD

Depending on the size of the operation and how strong your wait is you can seat that 4 top in front of the 20 top, as long as the accomodations are being arranged to seat the first party ( obviously your quote is going to be longer for the 20, just to create a scenario ), we to have guests that are overseeing and critiquing everything we do, alas when you put a party on a 2 hour wait sometimes the "professionals' kick in

I love a wait. We want a wait.

As far as I see it, if I do not go on a wait, I do not need to be in this business.

I am intrigued about all the talk about not waiting for a table,no matter what
Example; several times New Albanian put me on a small wait ( 20 - 25 minutes ) no big deal, but to drive across the bridge and refuse to wait then go to Buckheads or someplace like that instead makes no sense to me. If we are thinking Hoptimus or Elector and frites and they are on a wait then we are going to hang around for awhile.
You knew where you were going, you knew what your choice of dining and drinks were going to be, but not to wait for even 10 minutes .?

Hostesses get the worst of the worst from the customers, and they get paid the least. But I suppose it's a right of passage.

Am a firm believer that your hostess or host is your first and last human interaction with your guests, if you have an "all star" you might want to find a way to buget your payroll to keep someone strong at the door, it makes your job, your servers and kitchen staff jobs easier. A familiar face greeting repeat business is always a plus also !

Are more places using Call Ahead Seating than reservations in order to alleviate any type of seating problems these days? Or is there really that much of a difference in the discussion since a "reservation" for the time is already established?

On our second year, had minor kinks in the beginning but ironed everything out. We had a lot of guests assuming when you call from the house that when you arrive you automatically had a table waiting for you, we tell each guest the policy of being put on the wait list and when arriving we will issue you a pager. We only use it when we are on a wait, customers will try to call ahead at 11:00 in the morning to be put on a call ahead at 7:00 in the evening when we are full for reservations that evening often.

I am a massive Cards fan, and I love to see UK lose.

SAAAAWWWEEEETTTT !!! My kind of G.M. !!!!

To me, Call Ahead Seating is like a Caog (neither cat or dog). It's not a reservation nor is it going on the list as a walk in 'cause you haven't walked in . I think it complicates things. And it confuses the people who are there waiting. It's not really waiting elsewhere for your table. It's more like an instant reservation.

Jeremy J wrote:I am a massive Cards fan, and I love to see UK lose.

Ah, well. Nobody's perfect.



I don't think Call Ahead Seating is confusing; boiled down, one may say you're bumped up to the top of the waiting list when your party arrives for dinner as planned. Even with Call Ahead Seating, you're not guaranteed to walk straight in the door and sit at the table. Conclusively, If people don't know about Call Ahead Seating and get upset others are passing them up on a Friday night on a 2 hour wait; then I'd like to meet these people who had never heard of Call Ahead.

....nor is it going on the list as a walk in 'cause you haven't walked in . I think it complicates things. And it confuses the people who are there waiting. It's not really waiting elsewhere for your table. It's more like an instant reservation.

Actually, I look at it this same as walking in and putting your name on the waiting list. The only difference is you are someplace else and calling to put your name on the list. It certainly is a better use of your time than sitting around at the restaurant waiting for 2 hours! I don't see how it confuses people are waiting, it's no different than someone waiting at the bar instead of in the waiting area. It's not really like an instant reservation because you don't set the time, instead the restaurant gives you a time based at how many people are ahead of you! While I prefer making a reservation call ahead seating is a viable alternative for midpriced restaurants.

....nor is it going on the list as a walk in 'cause you haven't walked in . I think it complicates things. And it confuses the people who are there waiting. It's not really waiting elsewhere for your table. It's more like an instant reservation.

Actually, I look at it this same as walking in and putting your name on the waiting list. The only difference is you are someplace else and calling to put your name on the list. It certainly is a better use of your time than sitting around at the restaurant waiting for 2 hours! I don't see how it confuses people are waiting, it's no different than someone waiting at the bar instead of in the waiting area. It's not really like an instant reservation because you don't set the time, instead the restaurant gives you a time based at how many people are ahead of you! While I prefer making a reservation call ahead seating is a viable alternative for midpriced restaurants.

Problems with call ahead seating:

1. Being a walk-in and being given a waiting time that does not account for all the call-aheads, but, instead, is calculated on those present at the restaraunt (walk-ins plus call-aheads who have arrived). To me this falls in the "lying about the waiting time" category.

2. Working in call-aheads who do not arrive when their spot on the waiting list comes up but feel they deserve to be sat ASAP

Problems with call ahead seating:

1. Being a walk-in and being given a waiting time that does not account for all the call-aheads, but, instead, is calculated on those present at the restaraunt (walk-ins plus call-aheads who have arrived). To me this falls in the "lying about the waiting time" category.

If this happens it is caused by the hostess. When a person calls in to put their name on the list it should go to the bottom and the time calculated like they were standing there. The next person who walks in with go below them there should be no difference if the correctly.

2. Working in call-aheads who do not arrive when their spot on the waiting list comes up but feel they deserve to be sat ASAP

Again in reality this shouldn't cause a major problem. If they're not there when their name is called the next person on the list will actually get the table a little earlier than expected so will the next and the next until the call in reservation arrives. They're then seated next and then the rest of the list is back to their planned time.

The only time a problem should occur is if the call in reservation is for a large group. In such case they should be told when they call that their place in line will be given away if they're late.

Problems with call ahead seating:

1. Being a walk-in and being given a waiting time that does not account for all the call-aheads, but, instead, is calculated on those present at the restaraunt (walk-ins plus call-aheads who have arrived). To me this falls in the "lying about the waiting time" category.

If this happens it is caused by the hostess. When a person calls in to put their name on the list it should go to the bottom and the time calculated like they were standing there. The next person who walks in with go below them there should be no difference if the correctly.

2. Working in call-aheads who do not arrive when their spot on the waiting list comes up but feel they deserve to be sat ASAP

Again in reality this shouldn't cause a major problem. If they're not there when their name is called the next person on the list will actually get the table a little earlier than expected so will the next and the next until the call in reservation arrives. They're then seated next and then the rest of the list is back to their planned time.

The only time a problem should occur is if the call in reservation is for a large group. In such case they should be told when they call that their place in line will be given away if they're late.

Yeah, it makes sense in theory. And when discussed. But at least one popular local place can't seem to figure it out.