NEW YORK —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Websites such as
“We passionately don’t like the process because, first and foremost, it changes the value equation of our value business,” said Richard Coraine, chief operating officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, which runs such higher-end establishments as Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park and Tabla. “We feel we charge an appropriate amount of money for our food and wine. If something extra is added on—if someone pays $100 for a reservation—then they’re already going in plus 100 in their minds. We want to set the entire value equation, and this totally skews it for us.” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Gabriel Erbst, a former banker who with two partners launched
“When we started, my partners and I were all finance professionals and huge foodies, but more often than not we were still in the office at 10, 11, 12 o’clock at night because work was so hectic,” he said. “We realized there were lots of people in finance who don’t make reservations four days in advance and were completely locked out. I knew if there was a restaurant I wanted to go to that was completely booked, I’d pay $20 bucks [to get in.]” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
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In addition, no reservation sells for more than $40 or less than $10. Prices go up in $5 increments at the seller’s discretion. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
“Lots of times the reservations only sell for $15 or $20,” he said. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Registered users of the site can post their reservations for free, but the site charges a 10-percent commission on sales, which Erbst noted covers his costs. He further indicated that all sellers whose reservations remain unsold are responsible for canceling them. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
“We remind them to notify the restaurant on three separate occasions if they cannot use the reservation,” he said. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Buyers, who can search the database of around 100 restaurants by date, time and name before purchasing a reservation, are obligated to use the name under which the reservation originally was made and cannot make any changes to it. Furthermore, the website expressly states the company is not “affiliated with any of the restaurants…listed.” The web-site also recommends that the buyer does “not mention TableXChange to a restaurant for any reason,” and that it will resolve all issues that may occur as a result of the purchase. Erbst, who, along with his partners, recently was named to BusinessWeek magazine’s “Top 25 Under 25” list, further indicated that buyers are asked to contact the restaurant and confirm their reservations. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
At Peter Luger Steak House, the high-end steakhouse chain based in New York, Jodi Storch, vice president of operations, said she was unaware her restaurants were even listed on the
“It sounds like you’re buying a ticket to a hot concert, like buying from a scalper,” she said. “I don’t think it’s in any restaurant’s best interests. It’s not right. You want to be fair to your customers, and ours really make an effort to call early. People call months in advance for a Friday or Saturday night, and I want my customers to have an equal opportunity to get a reservation without having to pay for one.” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
But while restaurateurs are none too happy about the reservations websites, operators appear to have little recourse. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, brokering restaurant reservations at a price is not illegal. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
“Part of the problem is, what’s the crime?” said Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for the D.A.’s office. “From a law enforcement perspective, the restaurants are not losing any money. [However,] if they feel it’s ticket scalping, that’s something the attorney general’s office has jurisdiction over.” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
The attorney general’s office did not respond to calls by press time. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Chuck Hunt, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association’s New York City chapter, said, “From a standpoint of fairness to the restaurant, I think it’s probably a little questionable but not illegal.” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Some restaurateurs, however, say they have suffered from fallout reportedly resulting from purchases made on reservations websites. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
“Somebody called, I think from New Jersey, and said he had a reservation but didn’t,” said Steven Crane, co-owner and operator of Pó, the popular 35-seat, fine-dining Italian restaurant located in Manhattan’s West Village. “The people showed up and we couldn’t seat them. It breaks my heart. I felt really bad and couldn’t apologize enough, even though in no way am I responsible.” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Erbst, however, is unaware of any recent troubles involving reservations bought on his site. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
“I understand a while back a lady had a problem with a dinner reservation she booked through our competitor PrimeTimeTables, but no one has had an issue with TableXChange,” he said. “In the five months we’ve been operating, this has only happened one time and it was because a seller accidentally posted the wrong date for an actual reservation. Nonetheless, it did inconvenience a buyer and we took [the seller’s] selling privileges away.” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
Still, USHG’s Coraine said purchasing reservations from a website impedes on the good-faith relationships restaurateurs try to build with their guests. —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.
“We’re in a business based on trust,” he said. “You call and make a reservation and trust the table will be ready on time. And we trust you’ll make the reservation in good faith and show up. When it becomes a commodity, it breaks the relationship trust. In somewhat of a parasitic way, someone is profiting off of our good will, and we don’t think that’s fair. The logistics of it is it’s sort of like an eBay experience, kind of like horse trading. There is a substantial amount of people on our wait list and we’d love to give them the opportunity to get in. If [the reservations] go into a brokerage environment, we don’t get to control that either.” —Manhattan restaurateurs are expressing serious reservations over the growing number of Web-based businesses selling access to this city’s hottest restaurants, saying the services devalue the dining experience and have the potential to hinder sales and congest waitlists.