Approximately 1 per each 8 months…
I remember being seated mid-room near the service center at Olives, Charlestown when it was a hot ticket. No res, the lines began some half hour before opening, some in shorts and flip flops hoping to put in their names to return for second seating. The maitre was a real pro. We laughed as he gently denied Johnny Come Latelies who not too subtly tried to grease his not out-stretched hand. He joked with us that he wouldn’t have to work had heen able to seat all those who were willing to pay for table. As it were, he gently told them that if they could see a spot where he could add a table, he would happily seat them.
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As a former server - I think there is something of an assumption, probably misguided, that early bird diners have small appetites or won’t be splashing out and ordering a lot of food and drink. So the “prime” tables are saved in the server’s mind for 7/7:30/8:00 parties who presumably will be there over an hour and ordering multiple courses. Hard to explain but that’s my gut explanation.
We eat at 5:30/6:00 b/c we have a young kiddo, and, no, we’re not making a huge event of dinner out with many rounds of drinks, appetizers, and dessert when we dine with him.
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as a firm believer in capitalism, my response is they werent offering him enough money.
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If that’s the case, early birds will ge gone in time for a 7:30 table setup.
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This makes a lot of sense. For us, with (back then) 4 kids and starting pretty early, it would be clear that despite a family of 6, we wouldn’t have a lot of apps, or drinks added on.
Just feed-n-go for us!
Going with the theme of the thread, though, I’ll say that I’ve only once found a place unwilling to accommodate a reasonable seating change request, so we walked.
But I don’t regularly dine in the sort of upscale places you folks frequent in any event.
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To me, “fine dining,” like “good manners,” is never (ought never?) be equated with boorish, rude behavior. The point of etiquette is to make sure that no one in any social situation feels uncomfortable or “less than.” Flashing one’s sense of superiority is decidedly bad manners, among other things. Can be hurtful to people who already feel insecure in the setting, for example.
I cannot comment on your feeling of dashed expectations of food v. price in a “fine dining” restaurant, but if you feel that you have been treated as a valued human being, made connections with the people working in the restaurant, etc., my guess is that your experience overall would be pretty good (as long as the food was up to snuff).
And no one should ever have to pay “extra” ( bribe!) for equal and humane treatment. Your business experience of taking people with money out for dinner, and them swilling wine with no concept of what they were drinking is, in my opinion, another unfortunate example of bad manners. I suspect you would have minded less the honest expression of your guests of their lack of knowledge, especially if it came with some curiosity about the wines they were drinking. There are, after all, “good” guests as well as hosts.
I love the experience of “haute cuisine,” for example, in a setting where I feel the restaurant staff is presenting their meal with care, pride in what they are doing, and a commitment to my enjoyment of the experience. Hard to define, but definitely has nothing to do with an attitude of superiority!
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Very well said! Fine dining is not fine unless a true feeling of welcome extends to every guest. There will always be boorish guests or restaurants that clearly favor a subset of their patrons. as a newbie or Foreigner there is always a bit of a hump to get across but Goodwill on both sides and a true habit of hospitality make a big difference.
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You’d be surprised. They’re called campers for a reason.
I’ve experienced this. For whatever reasons, it’s a thing.
If it’s a place that takes reservations, I request a nice table when I book it. If I get the least guff at that time, I have the booker notate the request, and that it’s for a special occasion.
In all cases, if I’m given a crap table, I say “Sorry, this table isn’t going to work for us. How about that one?” If the answer comes back that it’s reserved, I ask for when, and say “Oh, good. We’ll be long gone by then.” If they still refuse, we leave.
Life’s too short to tolerate this BS if you have a reservation.
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I once had a reservation at Gramercy Tavern for an early dinner right before our flight back to LA. I was dressed in my “travel overalls” because I was 19 and stupid. When we arrived, I immediately went to the host station and said, “I’m sorry I’m inappropriately dressed but I have a reservation and if you could seat us in the very back where no one will see us, I’d love to eat here.” They sat us in a window seat and service was excellent. There is an art to being a gracious host.
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Thanks for that lightbulb moment/insight! I hadn’t considered it but I’m sure that you’re right. Maybe sometimes it doesn’t matter. But it’s not likely they’ll ever give the best rooms out first, right?
“But it’s not likely they’ll ever give the best rooms out first, right?”
mebbe. we frequently drive places and simply pick a place when ‘it’s time’ - no reservations…
and it is not an unknown event that when we get to the room, the door gets shut and we go back to the desk and demand a non-smelly, decent condition room…
so that supports the ‘worst first’ theory - but that has an issue: when the late comer can’t demand a ‘better’ room because the place is ‘full’ . . . the crappy room gets ‘sold’ anyway.
perhaps it is a question of how much grief the franchisee wishes to put up with?
once upon a time, at an extended stay area, my knee was acting up, so we requested a ground floor room. wonderful. then we found the inn-keeper entire extended(?) family was ‘housed’ on the ground floor and small children spent the entire evening running and screaming through the halls . . . . second night we checked out - basically there’s no guarantees of any kind when picking hotels/motels “on the fly”
Our worst recent hotel experience fell into this too late, all full category. It was last year Christmas eve. We had a long layover 8hrs in Atlanta and made a res to allow us to sleep some. Due to late planes, we didn’t arrive to the hotel until after 12. I’d booked and paid for a room with 2 beds, and they said they only had 1 room left and it had 1 bed. There were 4 of us. They said well one can sleep on the couch and there is a trundle that also pulls out. But they had no extra sheets to give us. That massively sucked. To be in those conditions, on a room pre-paid, on a looong travel day, and the kids on the floor with no sheets or blankets. Better than staying in the terminal I guess. But that would’ve been free.
that’s an easy one. pay the bill, report the reservation and the actual to the credit card company. refuse payment to the credit card, let the idiots fight it out.
they confirmed a level of service, which they did not / could not deliver.
you’ll win - something between 100% and 50%
if the innkeeper demanded payment on no-show - they’re toast.
If I had all the time in the world and these types of situations didn’t cause my blood pressure to rise… sometimes you let annoying things slide because it’s better for your mental health.
Anyway, not trying to complain and then not take the steps toward a resolution. More so agreeing with the statement that sometimes too early is bad and sometimes too late is also bad. There’s a sweet spot somewhere.
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can’t disagree, but kids / adults sleeping on the floor . . . that exceeds my bounds.
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There is an art to being a gracious diner, as well!
Union Square Hospitality earns its reputation.
This is why I keep an Amex card. Let them fight!
Whatever your card, that kind of “service” is completely unacceptable.
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