Nervous. Sweaty palms. Watching the clock. Refresh. Refresh. REFRESH.
If you're like me, and if you're reading this blog you unfortunately are, you may be desperate to score an impossible-to-get reservation.
Tock.... Resy... Open Table... It doesn't matter. You've been planning for weeks. You have the table release date circled on your calendar. You practiced the prior month and did a dry run just in case.
Which leads me to the following tip:
If you take reservations for your restaurant, no matter how great the demand, it's always helpful to the guest if you put as much information as possible on your website about table releases.
Let your guests know: what time of day releases occur (and in what time zone), how many days/months can be booked in advance, what guests can do if they are unable to secure a reservation online.
I've seen many restaurants with "confusing" instructions. A declarative statement clears everything up.
From Alinea. Simple and no room for misunderstandings:
When do new bookings become available?
We typically release bookings on the 15th of the month, two months in advance. Bookings are released at 11:00 AM Central Time.
January bookings are released on November 15th. February bookings are released on December 15th. March bookings are released on January 15th. April bookings are released on February 15th. May bookings are released on March 15th. June bookings are released on April 15th. July bookings are released on May 15th. August bookings are released on June 15th. September bookings are released on July 15th. October bookings are released on August 15th. November bookings are released on September 15th. December bookings are released on October 15th.