We have 23 seats at the bar.

It’s horseshoe shaped.

When I started, seating the bar was kind of a free for all. Reservations all over the place. People just showing up.

I implemented change when I started.

We reserve all the stools. We seat them in pairs. Odd numbers first. 1, 2. 3, 4. 5, 6.

We don’t take reservations for more than 4 people. And I try to push them to tables.

We’ve gone from about 30 or so reservations a night to most weekends night this time of year around 50.

Most of these reservations are made day of.

The system we’ve implemented is that we only release 7 pairs of stools each shift. The others can only be reserved by me.

So when someone calls, even day of I can usually get people in.

So along the way the bartenders have realized they are busier. They also know why.

And.

They started telling people the secret to bar reservations. Just call Jeff. Leave a message. He’ll call you back. And just like that you have seats for the night.

But.

What scares me.

Is they’ve told people this. Lots and lots of people this. Since last summer.

We are approaching busy season. And I’m starting to get worried that I’m going to get a 100 phone calls a day.

I’ll keep you posted.

But I really hope that I don’t spend the summer disappointing people.