Do you make reservations for restaurants you plan to visit while traveling? I try to, since I'm not familiar with the place, and I don't want to waste a lot of my vacation time waiting around. I also find that it's helpful to check their website (if they have one), to see if there are any good specials or discounts or maybe even coupons. It might even be a good idea to grab a gift card, so you can set it aside and know you don't have to worry about including it with other expenses. This is especially true if you can pick up a discounted gift card or gift certificate. Of course, sometimes it's nice just to do the spontaneous thing as well. I just find that I waste less time (and often save money) if I plan ahead a bit.
I do when it is a new restaurant. I like to use Open Table because I don't have to call it in. I hate calling and then getting things all screwed up because the hostess can't here me because he or she is busy. I prefer to fill out a form online.
I never make reservations unless it is a popular place, because I like to see how busy it is. That's the best way to tell if a place is good. Reviews are one thing, but you can tell if locals go it's good. I only would make a reservation if there was a big party, but never on holiday because I don't want to feel on a schedule.
We have a trip to Hongkong on Saturday and since it is just a 3-day tour, we want to maximize the time. We have to make an online reservation with Tim Howan since they serve the most popular dimsum. However, their website said there is no reservation. It opens at 10am until 10pm so maybe we just have to get there earlier and spend time in the queue.
Very few places in Hong Kong ( or any dim sum places in a China Town) will allow reservations for dim sum because they know they will get constant customers and rather have people in seats than an empty table. The only people who get get a table or reservations are locals who go there or know someone there.
I only do reservations when I’m sure that the restaurant is always packed full. My main problem with restaurant reservations is that they are usually more expensive because you have to pay for some sort of a reservation fee. However, there are exceptions if you are traveling with a group of people. If you make a reservation for, say, 10 people, you might get a discount from the food you eat.
Oh, really? There is no fee for making reservations in advance here. I didn't know that was a thing. I can see why you might avoid it then. How high are the fees? Is this everywhere by you or only applicable to certain restaurants? Oh, cool. I didn't know about Open Table, but I would like that much better. It can be a pain to call, like you said, especially if they are busy. Do you get a confirmation that your reservation has been booked or whatever? I will definitely have to check this out. Thanks. Oh, wait, there's no fee for this service is there?
I think we only ever made restaurant reservations twice. Once my fiancé made the reservation for us to go to a really fancy restaurant in town, and that is where he proposed to me. The second time was to a trendy restaurant, but the reservation wasn't much use because it was not full. So we never really make reservations.... We rarely need them.
