In some smaller establishments just a handful of no-show reservations can lead to a table sitting empty and thereby wipe out an evening's profit.
Mother's Day, the busiest day of the year, is just around the corner, and with it comes one of a restaurant owner's biggest headaches -- "no show" reservations.
On major holidays -- and many weekends -- most fine-dine eateries are fully booked and may even end up turning customers away at the door.
Imagine, then, how maddening it must be to have a party not show up for a table they've reserved. In some smaller establishments just a handful of no-show reservations can lead to a table sitting empty and thereby wipe out an evening's profit.
What then, are restaurants doing to combat no-shows?
Some don't take reservations at all, or limit them to weeknights when the restaurant's not likely to be full. Such a policy is easiest to implement when a restaurant is perennially popular, or in locations where lots of other dining alternatives exist, as in Northampton.
A few operators have experimented with taking credit card numbers and levying cancellation fees for no-shows. The downside to such a policy is that it produces hard feelings on the part of those who are charged the penalty.
Overbooking's another less-than-ideal solution. If a restaurant guesses wrong and overbooks excessively, those who show for reservations they think are confirmed can end up waiting -- or even being turned away.
With the growing popularity of social media, some chefs and owners have started publically shaming those who don't show, tweeting or posting on Facebook the names of repeat offenders.
Reservations systems like OpenTable will even deactivate the account of chronic restaurant no-shows who book through them.
Those who make restaurant reservations and subsequently fail to use them need to remember that they're not just picking the restaurant's pocket; they're also denying someone else the chance to enjoy that dining out experience.
Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College's hospitality and culinary arts program and has over 35 years of restaurant and educational experience. Please send items of interest to Off the Menu at the Republican, P.O. Box 2350, Springfield, MA 01102; Robert can also be reached at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com