Choices - Deciding on where to celebrate birthday

I posted a while ago about going to Avenues or Alinea for my birthday. But I now have reservations at a few places and I am trying to decide and I thought I would give you all a chance to weigh in. Here is my list:
Avenues (never been)
North Pond (never been)
RL (I love steak diane and steak tartare)
Scylla (never been)
Alinea (never been, but reservations not until 9:30 not so sure I am up for such an "event")
Just thought this might be a good topic for discusion...

If you're not up for Alinea at 9:30, I would highly highly recommend Avenues. My girlfriend and I went in March for our anniversary and had a wonderful meal. If you go, I would recommend doing the "Chef's Pallate". It's something like 9 courses, which are all left up to the Chef (the very talented Graham Elliot Bowles).

GinaO wrote:I posted a while ago about going to Avenues or Alinea for my birthday. But I now have reservations at a few places and I am trying to decide and I thought I would give you all a chance to weigh in. Here is my list:
Avenues (never been)
North Pond (never been)
RL (I love steak diane and steak tartare)
Scylla (never been)
Alinea (never been, but reservations not until 9:30 not so sure I am up for such an "event")
Just thought this might be a good topic for discusion...

Information on Scylla is here. I think it would be a lovely birthday dinner if you like seafood.

Please do remember to cancel the reservations at the places you decide against in a timely fashion. Most Chicago places do not require a credit card to hold reservations except on holidays, and I'd hate for anyone to encourage them to start.

I am certainly aware of reservation ettiquette. I have worked in restaurants for many years and I am currently a concierge at a hotel, so reservations are my business! I just like to make multiple reservations for myself, and my guests, so that I can have choices and still be guaranteed a table.

GinaO wrote:I am certainly aware of reservation ettiquette. I have worked in restaurants for many years and I am currently a concierge at a hotel, so reservations are my business! I just like to make multiple reservations for myself, and my guests, so that I can have choices and still be guaranteed a table.

I'll bet your hotel requires a credit card or deposit to hold a room reservation. Why do you suppose they do that?

If the 1,000+ members of this board each began to make five reservations for every Saturday night, canceling them even as soon as Thursday, how long do you think it would take before local restaurants started requiring credit cards to hold reservations?

What if the reason you couldn't get 7 p.m. reservations at Alinea was because of people who'd made them on "spec" although they weren't necessarily planning to use them?

Then I'd be excited to end up with a 7 pm reservation after all.

This practice is, of course, why restaurants, hotels, and airlines (especially airlines) overbook. The airlines assume something like 20% of people will miss their reservation, so oversell the cabin by 20%. As we know, they're sometimes wrong.

Would people accept a "sorry" and a voucher for 25% off your next meal if a restaurant doesn't have room for you, but you've got a reservation? I probably would.

I definitely would.

gleam wrote:Would people accept a "sorry" and a voucher for 25% off your next meal if a restaurant doesn't have room for you, but you've got a reservation? I probably would.

For me, it would depend. For a local place, maybe. If I'm away from home in a city that I may not re-visit for years, probably not.

But I think the bigger issue is the one of making multiple reservations with the intention of cancelling the majority of them. I assume that Gina, being a professional concierge, makes restaurant reservations all the time, so I'll also assume that she knows that the restaurants she mentioned are aware of the practice and don't mind. Obviously, if they did mind, she wouldn't have much luck at getting decent reservations in the long run.

BTW - go to North Pond - excellent, though not necessarily the best food on your list, but a location/view/ambiance that's tough to beat.

Of course, that might require you either paying $X for a reservation or $X*Y for a refundable reservation, just like the airlines...

GinaO wrote:I am certainly aware of reservation ettiquette. I have worked in restaurants for many years and I am currently a concierge at a hotel, so reservations are my business! I just like to make multiple reservations for myself, and my guests, so that I can have choices and still be guaranteed a table.

GinaO,

This strikes me as impolite. I also wonder how many times, in the rush to get out the door when you've decided on a restaurant, you neglect/forget to cancel all of the unused reservations.

I will, occasionally, make a reservation at two restaurants for the same time period when we are kicking around where to go for a special occasion, but I'm talking 2-3 weeks out and I always cancel at least 3-4 days in advance of the date.

As an aside, ever wonder why the host/hostess always asks, even when the place is 3/4 empty, if you have a reservation. They are not being snarky, it's simply an effort to check-mark those who make reservations.

Enjoy,
Gary

This strikes me as impolite.

I disagree. In fact I think it's pretty smart. I think it crosses the discourteous line when you don't cancel far enough in advance. How far in advance that should be might be the better question. A couple days seems rude; a week or two out seems alright.

--JON

I remember years ago at Moe's Deli behind the Marriott downtown, people used to come in, look at the line, and put their coats down on a table before entering the line, even as others were coming from the line with full trays. I would find myself one of these tables, sit down with my food, and hang their coats up for them. The look of panic when they thought their coats had been stolen, followed by the look when they realized that they had just been silently told off for their rudeness, was priceless. I of course always denied that I had anything to do with it, and said the staff had probably hung it up for them, as a courtesy.

HI,

Gina's multiple reservations are simply place-keeping, which screws the plans of others who are more focussed. Though she probably reasons through her job she can grace her clients with a hard-to-get reservation for a consideration.

Long time ago, I read in the Wall Street Journal restaurants keep track of those who don't attend or cancel reservations at the last minute. Where reservations are especially dear, I believe it was NY, restaurants informally exchange this information between themselves. Eventually those taking a multi-reservation approach may simply find it hard to obtain any reservation once they land on the watch list.

Regards,