I don’t see a thread specifically devoted to this, but we’re having quite a discussion about this over on the NJ board, thanks to a local spot that gives you a table for 90 minutes. Curious to know how others feel in general about being told up front that you have ____ time to eat as many or as few courses as you choose. I have some friends who would love to get in/out and others who prefer to linger at a decent restaurant. Your thoughts?
I see you posted this after finding a restaurant in NYC doing the same thing. From my personal experience most small BYOB restaurants all have unwritten policies of this nature. It’s generally called their reservation book and ALL restaurants book back to back reservations if they have the demand for it. There isn’t one restaurant big or small, liquor or not, that you look at their reservation book and there are only 7pm reservations for a table. You will normally have a table for 5 - 7 - 9. That is the optimal situation.
In smaller restaurants and without a liquor license they can condense that a bit since people won’t be having a cocktail before and after dinners, drinks/booze tend to slow things down a bit. So the only surprise might be the fact that restaurant are actually quoting the unwritten policy now probably because too many people get upset when they “over stay” their welcome.
(larger restaurants can generally move tables/reservations around more easily and if you have a liquor license and a client like me, you will make more money by letting me sit and drink than you will on the next tables dinner)
We are very used to this situation in the hot little restaurants we haunt in Paris. 90 minutes is standard for any place that turns tables. You are told when reserving. Often, if the rhythm of tables and reservations works in your favor, you will not be hassled, but there is a formal understanding that others will probably be looking for your seats in 90 minutes.
If we are dining out with friends and look forward to a long social evening, we will book at a different kind of place. But 90 minutes works for an apero, starter and main with wine service. Dessert if you must, but I don’t require it.
Service in places who enforce this restriction usually is well paced to conform to the time allotted. That means a partnership with the diners who should also be able to order within a reasonable time, planning their wine as well as food needs.
If I’m notified at the time I make the reservation, I’m fine with it. A better solution, if the restaurant can swing it, is to bribe you with a free drink or dessert in order to lure you away from your table and over to the bar area, once your 90:00 is up.
Like @NotJrvedivici I’ve worked places where our reservation slots were 90 minutes, large parties would get 2 hours. The ‘time limit’ was not announced up front unless someone was really trying to squeeze in and they’d have less than 90 minutes. Drinks or dessert at the bar is exactly how you free up tables.
If it’s just the man and I a time limit isn’t generally a problem because we will be together after dinner as well and our conversation can be continued elsewhere- but we don’t like to be rushed or feel rushed so it would never be our first choice place. With a group or a special occasion I would most definitely choose another place.
And something I should have noted in my first comment is that when I’m dining with one other person, as I usually am, the chances of us needing more than 90:00 are pretty slim, unless the kitchen/service is really slow. So it’s kind of a non-issue 90% of the time. We did have a situation a few months ago when we started conversing with the people at the next table, and in that instance we were in fact bribed with beverages and scraped into the lounge, and we were fine with it.
If it’s just my wife and I, then 90 minutes or two hours is fine. However, don’t tell me I have 90 minutes, and then rush the appetizers and entrees out within 45 minutes to get rid of me sooner. I hate it when the entrees come out immediately after you just finished your appetizer, and have no time to digest it or enjoy your wine. That’s why I hate to give my entree order at the same time as I give my appetizer order, even though they always assure you it will be paced accordingly. Some places won’t even fire up your appetizer before you decide what you want for a main course. Sometimes I like to order a few appetizers to get a taste of everything, and might be too full to order a heavier entree after I finish my appetizers, but then it is too late to change your mind, since they are already firing up your entree, while you are eating your appetizers. 90 minutes or two hours is plenty of time if the courses are paced accordingly, and you don’t have a gun to your head to leave sooner. Dining is supposed to be a pleasurable experience, and not stressful.
A wise attitude. Restaurants with this kind of requirement are usually hot destination restaurants. Places where you are more interested in what they are doing, their culinary vision, fireworks/surprises. This kind of food exploration is diametrically opposite of dining as a relaxed, evening out. Occasionally these qualities overlap, but it sure isn’t a given.
With this excellent description of your dining preferences, I do understand your frustration with this evening. To be honest, I have never dined in a restaurant that allows the flexibility you propose. Possibly the difference between suburban and city restaurants. Whether NY’s Le Coucou or Paris’ ERH or SF’s State Bird, it really has become “their way or the highway”. The big deal is whether the diner knows in advance what he should expect so that he can make the good choice of dining room.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
14
I find its the mid-range places in the city that say they have time limits. It’s not going to fly in the high end Michelin starred place, not is it going to fly in the cosy neighbourhood bistro.
Personally, I don’t mind them setting a limit. If they can serve me three courses followed by coffee without me feeling I’m being unduly rushed, then I’m fine. Rush me and I’m simply not coming back. All that said, I cannot recall ever overhearing a conversation suggesting that a customer had reached their time limit - so perhaps it’s one of those rules that isnt really a rule at all.
We ate at a restaurant in Paris last year that pursued these rules to a vengeance, in that reservations were only accepted for the start of the alloted time periods. Our reservation was for 9:15 pm. Our table was not yet free, nor were several others. So we and the other diners were forced to wait on the street. They did not have a bar or any other seating area. I do not criticize the restaurant for not hurrying the diners who had not yet finished their evening. I do criticize them for having such a wretched reservation system.
To be honest, several of our now regular monthly restaurants initially asked us to order everything up front. However, once they got to know us, and realize that we order our entrees in a timely manner, and don’t abuse the privilege, they have made an exception for us going forward. It also doesn’t hurt that we dine at a very early hour as to not inconvenience the restaurant by causing them to get backed up during a busier time. It’s also nice to dine early when it is more civilized, and you are not rushed, and we can sit next to each other at a larger 4 top, and not feel cramped. I usually bring my own wine and wine glasses so we need the extra space to put all of the bags We also get to catch up with our favorite servers and talk to the chef / owner when they are not overwhelmed.
Unlike @paryzer, I seldom go back to the same restaurant to become a regular, I just can’t, Paris has so many interesting restaurants I want to try. I don’t work in an office, so I have no lunch places that I can be a regular either.
I do have my fair share of restricted reservations, it seems this is more popular some years ago than now. Many restaurants that did that system ditch that after reaching a certain popularity and raise their price and you can sit as long as you want. My last meal with a time frame was a Michelin 1* place. Initially, I had reserved. Problem I had a medical appointment just next to this place, and I wasn’t sure when I could leave the clinic, I just cancelled the appointment half an hour before the reserved time. I popped up at the restaurant at the time I had reserved without the appointment, they told me that I could have my lunch there, but only for 55 minutes. Since I was alone, it was fine, I really want to try their “bargain” lunch tasting menu. They seated me promptly, dishes were brought out in an evenly pace. It was more a challenge for them than mine, as there were many tiny dishes. I finished the meal 5 minutes before my allotted time ended. They thanked me again politely when I paid the bill for the “help”. You can read it here:
Many I know, they have a 2 hour slot, which makes things more comfortable.
Although many years ago, I reserved a place for a dinner for several with a limited time slot in Paris 14e or 15e, it was a young chef that has worked for Frédéric Anton, but I forgot the name of the restaurant, it was a new hot place. I had a meal some months before, and found the place really interesting. It was a dinner for 4, one friend had trouble arriving on time, we had to wait half an hour to order together since she needed to find a baby sitter or something like that. The waiters put a lot of pressure in emphasising that we need to leave at a certain time etc. I remember the meal was very rush, with the bill arrived on the table without our asking. A bit tactless, I would say, but we got the message, we paid and never went back and the restaurant vanished a year or 2 later.
After this meal, I understand if dining with friends, it’s better to choose a relaxed place rather than too “foodie” oriented.
This. If your intention is to spend a long evening socializing, choose a place that’s conducive to that, rather than one where food is the primary focus.
This is why a lot of New York restaurants won’t seat you 'til your party is complete.
We also get to catch up with our favorite servers and talk to the chef / owner when they are not overwhelmed.
