Restaurant gets 16 no-shows in one night
A TOP Cardiff restaurant had 16 tables not turn up on what should have been one of its busiest nights of the year.
Bar 44 shared its disappointment on social media after being left with lots of Valentine’s Day food that had taken hours to create.
They said: “16 tables no show last night. Yes, 16! On a night where you’re also giving most of your larger tables over to couples.
“Getting ridiculous. Chefs had worked so hard to create new dishes with saltmarsh lamb, razor clams, oysters, octopus and red mullet. Come and enjoy these dishes today!”
If we made a conservative estimate of a table for two spending around £80 each, that would mean the restaurant losing out on a combined £1,280 in table takings. However, adding lost stock and labour costs to that means the losses are far higher.
But a total of 28 tables were noshows across the company’s four restaurants – the largest number was at the Westgate Street branch. Some of these may have been filled by walk-ins on the night.
Owen Morgan, founder and director of Bar 44 Tapas y Copas group, says it has been an issue for his restaurants and others for some time.
“It is indicative of what is happening on a weekly basis,” he said. “On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights we are regularly seeing around six tables a night not turning up and not giving us notice.
“It is annoying because we work very hard to maximise space, organise staff and make sure we have enough food for the bookings that we have.
“Valentine’s night is particularly different because we had a lot more specials on the menu and had provided extra dishes for people to use. There were about 40 man hours put into four dishes including Welsh saltmarsh lamb and oysters. The amount we made was based on the number of bookings. To have 16 tables not turn up meant a lot of money was wasted.”
He says it is a UK-wide problem that is affecting a lot of businesses and it is not the first time restaurants in Cardiff have lost out on what should have been busy events.
Many complained about noshows when Cardiff hosted the Champions League final last May.
Russell Adam Bullimore, owner of Bully’s in Pontcanna, says that customers not turning up meant extra staff being hired for no reason and food going to waste.
Mr Morgan now says it is going to have to look at different policies for bookings, including asking people for a deposit.
It has already introduced a credit card booking system at its nearby Asador restaurant, which is proving sucessful.
“There seems to be an instant culture in the UK, you can book immediately online and the oldfashioned phone system where you actually talk to someone has gone,” he said.
“Lots of people have genuine reasons as to why they can’t make it, but a lot don’t take the time to actually tell you and they don’t seem to realise that it can be the difference between a restaurant surviving and not surviving.
“We have already seen a lot of restaurants in Cardiff close in the last month. It is a business that is getting more and more difficult.”