Restaurant no-shows are killing my trade
Owner says he may have to close as so many book tables and never turn up
TWO restaurant owners say their businesses are being hit by customers who book tables weeks in advance but then fail to turn up.
Si Toft, head chef at The Dining Room, Abersoch, said he could be forced to close due to a recent spate of no-shows.
He took to Twitter on Sunday night after a whole evening’s worth of business was lost in the space of a week by potential diners not showing up to honour bookings.
He claims the real problem is people booking multiple restaurants so they can decide on the night where to go.
In a statement he said: “This week I’ve been told by a no show, ‘it’s the Abersoch way, you’ll never change it’.”
Mr Toft, who even received the same booking twice from a woman who thought she had called two separate businesses, added: “Bookings are made under maiden/assumed/ second cousin’s dog’s name, which generally come to light when guests arrive but can’t remember which one they used.
“I realise there’s a football tournament on and we know as restaurants that’s going to hit us – but the fixtures were probably out before bookings were made.
“So instead of that, let’s imagine for a second you arriving for your table to find us shut because I’d gone out to watch a match.”
The chef, from Manchester, has mooted three solutions to the problem – taking deposits on bookings, not taking advance bookings, or closing.
However taking deposits has issues as Mr Toft “is generally taking bookings with the phone on my shoulder while elbow deep in fish”.
The father of two thinks he probably loses a table a day when he calls people who have booked to confirm the reservation – only to find they “haven’t come down in the end”.
As for closing, he said: “I love this restaurant, I love our team and we have made some great friends.
“But the fact is I love my wife and girls more and I need to support them.”
His feelings were echoed by Marco Filippi, chef at nearby Venetia. He said: “It is definitely getting worse and something absolutely needs to be done.
“If I have 48 covers, I buy food fresh that day accordingly and if people then don’t show the food is ruined. It is a real problem.”