On my first day I was told I’d learn to hate the phone.

It’s true. You all already know this.

But along the way I’ve made it worse for myself by making it better for the business.

We do not hold seats for walk ins. Adam’s restaurant is the opposite. They always hold tables for a certain percent of walkins. Different capacities. Different philosophies.

Neither is right. Neither is wrong.

I will book the restaurant to within in an inch of its capacity.

That being said. Starting the day, we do have tables that we haven’t booked. These tables are saved because one of the chef’s friends is going to text at 2:00 and ask for a table for six at 7:00.

Or.

Mrs. Freeman’s assistant will call me and explain they have had a personal chef emergency and need a place for 8 people for dinner.

Or.

We discover a reservation was made but not assigned to a table and now we have nowhere to put them.

All of these things have happened. We almost always have one or two tables up our sleeve. Until 5:00. Then everything not reserved is filled and off we go.

The bar is its own beast.

We started taking reservations for the bar during COVID. Almost everyone I know did. This happened for a number of reasons.

First.

We no longer allowed guests to hang out or linger around the bar. The seats were distanced so it was easy to reserve two tops. It helped with staffing knowing who and what to expect.

It was so successful that we’ve kept doing it. Most people know this is the case. Occasionally someone comes in and gets angry to find this out. And of course there are always the I need a drink right now people who are waiting for a table.

Most of our guests have come to love it.

Why?

They know they have a seat when they get there with little or no waiting. The key is to make a reservation.

This brings us to tonight’s topic.

Reservations at the bar.

We only release half our bar stools for reservations. We also only release them in groups of two.

All for the same reasons mentioned before. We prefer two tops. They turn faster. And most of our guests don’t even know they are coming till day of.

When I first started, the bar would be about 60% full for the night.

Why?

Because they couldn’t get a reservation. And no one answered the phone. And often their messages weren’t returned.

I changed that.

I don’t always answer the phone. But I ALWAYS return your message. Maybe not tonight. But definitely by the next day.

So after I started, when regulars would complain about not being able to get into the bar I started telling them the following.

Just call.

At which point they’d say no one answers.

I’d explain that if it’s after 4:00 probably not. BUT if you call before 4:00 I’ll call you back same day. And I’ll do my best to get you in.

So they strarted to do this.

Now. Every day I get tons of calls for bar reservations. 10 to 15. If not more. It’s great for business. BUT. When calls should be slowing down as we approach October I’m still getting 25+ a day. Yes it’s less. But not less enough to have time to start other projects.

So now the bar is still full. Keeping the bar busy enough for two bartenders. The restaurant is making money.

But I’d love to not have any messages tomorrow when I get to work.

However, I wouldn’t change a thing. Our guests are very happy knowing they can get in same day at the bar. I’m happy that our numbers are still good. And the staff is happy because they are still making money.

So remember if you want to come in for dinner and don’t have a reservation call around 2:00 and wait for me to call you back!!!

Especially if you’re okay sitting at the bar.