I like the place but nowhere near as much as Noodle Pudding. The menu is way more limited (maybe, other than pasta choices) & I really think that the cooking at NP is better. Of course, recommending NP is as close to shilling as I can get, since we’ve eaten there for 25 years and are there at least once/week. They’re friends and it’s no longer just about the food (although others might weigh in on the food since I’ve brought most of the NYC posters there over the course of the past year.
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Not sure that it is the advent of “celeb chefs” that makes a difference to those of us who take an opportunity to sit by the kitchen, but point well-taken~
If you are a mega repeater, would you stop going if you got a crappy table on your 25th visit. If anyone would be ok with a table as such, I would think it would be someone who comes so often he’s now a friend.
All considering, with the arguments I hear so far from the jury here, I dont see a problem with giving you the best available table at any given time. Besides the fact that clearly crappy tables should possibly be available for walk-ins only, or not exist in the first place, I dont see the advantages of giving it to someone very early. Or at least the pros outweighing the cons to the business. As I said, at least you have some sort of an ambiance when the room is full.
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not uncommonly, the newest waitstaff / least senior get the early shift and as tables are often ‘area’ assigned . . . the front desk seats you in their area . . which is also commonly the least desirable tables in the joint .
I’m not shy about requesting a ‘different’ location/table, and I have been known to simply walk out when everything is “reserved”
people lies expand to fit the need . . .
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So many times when we visit one of our (decreasingly) favorite restaurants we get the:
• “Sorry, we can’t take reservations for 2.” Plenty of 2 person tables that seemingly walk right in and get seated
• “Where are you folks from?” We live here. Do we really look like out-of- towners? Such a constant turnover of waitstaff, we’ve not had the same waitperson or host/hostess in over 5 years.
• When we’ve had a big group (7 or so of us), and have made reservations way ahead and have stated when making said reservations that we do not want to sit in the rear section, we are ushered to the back area. On protest, we’re told the table we see that we’d like to dine at, is reserved. Usually we get our way, but one time we didn’t and we walked. The back area that they prefer to put us in is so noisy and crowded that no conversation at the table is possible, and other’s are in our face. Wah. We choose elsewhere to dine out, more often on our own property.
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Based on the vulgar language from many of the posters in this thread I think I would put them in a remote back corner as well. If you want to be respected you should show respect to others.
Are you referencing the use of phrases such as “a shit table” or “fucking irritated”?
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Almost every restaurant has “shit tables” because they’re cramming in seats wherever they can. That doesn’t mean we, as diners, paying our hard-earned money for a nice dinner out, should have to automatically accept the crappiest table offered.
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I would be just as “fucking irritated” to be seating at a shit table when there were plenty of other tables available upon walking in with my OWN reservation.
Just because someone used those phrases here doesn’t mean they did so while being seated at a restaurant that chose to treat them like crap.
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Fly By poster.
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On one occasion, when eating at a restaurant where my wife and I were regulars, the table of 6 next to ours got extremely loud. After a few minutes of this my wife said to me, “Stand up; we’re moving.” We were then moved to another, quieter room. What had happened was that through eye contact and head gestures, the waiter asked my wife if we wanted to move; I had my back to him, so couldn’t see this. We tipped him better than usual that evening.
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My days of taking reservations are long past and fuzzy, but IIRC your table is assigned when you make the reservation so it’s kind of luck of the draw. You can certainly request a particular table or area. Some people want the window, some want a quiet corner, some like to watch the action in the kitchen, some want a high top in the bar, etc.
But I would not be at all surprised if there is some look-ism or age-ism when it comes to seating walk-ins. Agree with the ‘target market’ statements above.
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There’s always going to be some crappy table when they’re maximizing space. Also, one person ‘s crappy table may not bother another (see kitchen view comments).
For places that are saving some of their tables for walk-ins because reservations go nuts sometimes (especially “neighborhood” aspirational places), it wouldn’t help to seat walk-ins at crappy tables either.
Sigh. Yeah, I don’t want a crappy table when the restaurant is empty. They just shouldn’t do that.
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This is not a NY-specific issue and should be moved to the General Discussions board.
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Right. in some situations the crappiness level is debatable. Most of us here see the appeal of kitchen views. But I recently saw a Paris review where the diner gave a bad mark due to the table location. He posted a picture of the table, and pointed out the kitchen views. I couldnt see anything wrong there, and the manager responded that this table is one of the more desired ones because of the kitchen view.
But then there are the very clear ones, like the lone table in the sun, or the one right by the bathroom, and tables that just dont feel right.
My wife has her own spin on this… “Sometimes its just stupidity”
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Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity.
Not that I follow this advice or anything, but it’s out there.
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Indeed. At a favorite restaurant in Paris, we were shown to a quiet table in the rear of the room by a new receptionist. When I asked if we could have table #9, she looked surprised and said, “Well, yes, but it’s right in front of the kitchen…” Right! So we sat at table #9 and played with the brigade as they turned out plate after plate. A ballet, for sure.
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Yes. Indeed. At El marisqueria which I mentioned above, I turned, looked at the empty room, and smiled at the hostess before I requested the move, to highlight the daftness of where she wanted to seat us. No further discussion needed.
However there are plenty of situations of persistent stupidity like the person then responding with “but those are reserved” (like someone mentioned upthread) 
But those mystery reserved tables may well be filled by diners within the next half hour, hour or so, i.e., inside the timeframe of your meal service.
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My point was - I also have a reservation 
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Aha!!! No excuse.
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just another reason we’ve pretty much given up “fine dining”. Other reasons are unmet expectations for food vs price, supercilious service, difficulty of getting reservations, loud rooms loud conversations and, when we took our wall st clients out, conspicuous but uneducated wine consumption. having said that, i’m in complete awe of people who manage to treat that stuff as noise and enjoy the experience.
so, no one has mentioned the possibility of bribing the host/hostess, something we did more than once over the course of running our business. if you’re paying $400+ for dinner, is it worth another $50 (or whatever the going rate is) for a great table?
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