"The Restaurant Revolution"

[Wilfrid]

Interesting opinion piece in the NYT (but not just about New York, in which a restaurateur explains how he came to adjust and re-adjust his business models as he progressed into and out of the pandemic. 

Quote

Our restaurant is walk-in only, so we don’t pay an online reservation platform or lose money on no-shows.

That's something I have often heard and never quite understood. Okay, it looks like this place is busy, turning tables several times a night with walk-ins. But say it isn't, that it usually has a table or two empty. Do you know whether you are losing more money because people won't take a chance on not getting a table than you would lose on no-shows?

[MitchW]

10 minutes ago, Wilfrid said:

Do you know whether you are losing more money because people won't take a chance on not getting a table than you would lose on no-shows?

You do have to factor in what they have to pay to the platform, no? Here, it's $0.

[Orik]

The average nyc restaurant does 120 covers a night. I think the official price for Resy is $250/month. Do the math.

What he's describing sounds like a fast food operation and there's certainly room for that but it's not a restaurant.

[Steve R.]

I always thought that these platforms cost much more.  For the below, the prices seem quite low and I cant see why a restaurant wouldn't use it.  We only infrequently won't take a chance at walking in when Resy has no availability, & I imagine others do the same, so the loss from walk ins when fully booked on Resy probably is much less than not using Resy.

"ResyOS provides the following pricing plans on monthly subscriptions:
• Platform: $249 per month for online reservations, table management, and waitlist management.
• Platform 360: $399 per month for all of the Platform features plus customizable messaging, post-meal surveys, web booking, and more.
• Full Stack: $899 per month for everything in Platform 360 plus custom reporting and POS integration."

 

[MitchW]

Yes, obviously not a classic sit-down restaurant, so I guess no good reason to use a reservation platform.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C6OPkkyZb6Fq7Arowxbdmp-vAoBMWti6/view

 

 

 

 

[Anthony Bonner]

I thought the whole story with resy was that they were basically giving the service away?  like it was a subsidy from Amex to restos

[Orik]

Yes, the $249 is the list price but the effective rate is much lower. 

[Orik]

 I think the long game is that Resy sells all the data to blackbird.

[Anthony Bonner]

 

53 minutes ago, Orik said:

 I think the long game is that Resy sells all the data to blackbird.

I can't believe that ridiculousness just did a funding round.

[relbbaddoof]

7 hours ago, Orik said:

It's not a restaurant.

Them's fightin' words in these here parts.

[Orik]

8 hours ago, relbbaddoof said:

Them's fightin' words in these here parts.

A place in the US that doesn't take reservations, has a simplified menu of food items meant for rapid consumption, where you don't tip and where you order before sitting down. 
 

[AaronS]

isn't real restaurant the term of art?

[Orik]

One problem with Resy is it's bad for your health - the chances of testing positive for COVID seem to go up dramatically as the cancellation fee window kicks in.

[Wilfrid]

Resy just sent out a mass email intended to show how you dined in 2023. Unfortunately they didn't check it properly and it is full of code rather than info. It's always funny when that happens to someone else.

[The Flon]

On 10/21/2023 at 11:17 PM, Orik said:

One problem with Resy is it's bad for your health - the chances of testing positive for COVID seem to go up dramatically as the cancellation fee window kicks in.

Damn, this is funny!

[Orik]

{{ number_of_days_to_pink_slip }} for someone 

[small h]

What does this even mean?

 

[Sneakeater]

It means you're special!  But you already knew that!

[small h]

I dunno what the bottom 99% are up to, but I made a grand total of 16 reservations this year.

[Wilfrid]

Battle of the wills with Open Table this week. I needed a 7.30 restaurant reservation preceded by a reservation at a cocktail bar that doesn’t permit walk ins.

Open Table wouldn’t allow me two reservations within two hours. I tried Incognito. Nope.

I created a new Open Table account with a different email. That worked.

And this was all supposed to be so easy.

[Mitchell101]

7 hours ago, small h said:

I dunno what the bottom 99% are up to, but I made a grand total of 16 reservations this year.

This is sort of like The Producers. 40% of the people are being told they are in the Top 1%. I think I had 15 reservations. 

[small h]

All the children are above average.

[MitchW]

11 hours ago, Wilfrid said:

a cocktail bar that doesn’t permit walk ins.

This, to me, is a greater issue than that of not being able to double reserve on OT.  Screw these places - probably making many espresso "Martinis."

FWIW, my RESY history shows a minimum of 20 reservations for 2023 - and I got NO props! 

Edited December 13, 2023 by MitchW

[splinky]

30 minutes ago, MitchW said:

This, to me, is a greater issue than that of not being able to double reserve on OT.  Screw these places - probably making many espresso "Martinis."

FWIW, my REST history shows a minimum of 20 reservations for 2023 - and I got NO props! 

i had 2 or 3 reservations and didnt even get a participation trophy. 

[Wilfrid]

Today: "Let’s do this again! Resy’s 2023 Year in Review"

😅