Why you can't get a restaurant reservation | Hacker News Reader

Why you can't get a restaurant reservation

newyorker.com

17 pointsmycologos21 comments

Does financialization know no bounds? What's next, bots booking up doctor's appointments and reselling the slots? Many restaurants in NYC have started to add a charge for no-shows—I wonder if it were more widespread would it help to dampen the market a bit.

Unfortunately you missed this bit

>Frey launched Appointment Trader, an online marketplace for people to buy and sell reservations—everything from private shopping experiences (the Hermès store in Paris), doctors’ appointments (a hot commodity in Miami and Beverly Hills)

I enjoyed the article, a lot of detailed reporting that was refreshingly nonjudgemental (the substance itself is kind of mortifying though but maybe this is more of a NYC thing?).

Side note, the hosts using the nickname "Eagle" for a bald guy is awesome, never heard that one before.

It's interesting traveling for work and oscillating between the two types of cities:

   - Reservations only
   - No reservation needed

The most fascinating thing is people in each type expect their way is perfectly normal, and everywhere else is like that too.

Mental models are rigid, cultural inertia, etc.

How much does this same problem exist outside of Manhattan? I've had difficulty getting reservations in other major cities, but nowhere near as much as in NYC.

The article is interesting, but doesn't seem to address that the pandemic ruined the illusion of fine dining.

This is especially true for single people. What used to be a red flag is now a litmus test. Inviting people back to your place to entertain is a prime opportunity to flex. It's not even about the cost. Your home says a lot more about you than ever before.

So interesting to read about weird cultures. I'm not a New Yorker, so the world described in this article is so foreign it might as well be a different planet. I would never drop $600 on a restaurant bill, let alone just to reserve a table. If I'm spending that kind of money, I want something tangible in return, not just some vague cachet of having sat down on some "exclusive" restaurant seats. It's so weird that a cottage industry has sprung up to monetize and trade these reservations. People really care about this stuff. SMH

It's a supply and demand thing.

At a certain size, cities seem to tip from "there's always somewhere quality to eat" to "there are more people than places."

And then it's off on the crazy train as to how far down the rabbit hole restaurants want to go.

To be fair, NYC has been doing this a long time (on US timescales).

> At a certain size, cities seem to tip from "there's always somewhere quality to eat" to "there are more people than places."

Nope. There's always somewhere quality to eat. It's just as true in NYC as it is everywhere else.

The reservations described in the article are just there to provide a certain Fine Dining Experience. If you don't want that, go to different restaurants. They are not in short supply.

There's a weird status component where a restaurant needs a certain amount of unavailability to really be considered nice to some demographics.

At some point, it's mostly fashion, rather than being about the food.

What's next - universities competing on their low acceptance rate?

I live in a t10 US metro by size, and we don't have the reservation scramble I've seen in other cities, even at fine dining restaurants.

So it doesn't feel like something inherent to the fine dining enterprise, but rather present or not in certain cities.

I didn't say it was inherent to the fine dining enterprise. I said it was an intentional experience provided for the benefit of the customers.

So you're saying it's driven by city culture, where a certain type of person in that city expects difficult to reserve restaurants?

You see the sibling comment by mattgreenrocks, right?

Yes, but it's not demographic-specific, because it doesn't happen in all cities.

And all large cities have all demographics.

> And all large cities have all demographics.

This is just a misunderstanding on your part of what "demographic" means.

Does your definition of demographic include "the demographic of people who only eat at restaurants that are constantly booked and one has to fight to get a table at"?

In which case, sure, you're right: that doesn't exist in all large cities.

Living in a city is like being in a trance. The experience reminds me of Insomnia.

I'd drop 600 in a bill in a special occasion with a somewhat good wine. But never for a reservation.

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