Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with reservations

Help me get into the French Laundry

geoff. — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:09:28 -0800

How do I best go about making reservations for dinner at the French Laundry? Is there a trick here? Can I get in easier if it I'm flying solo or with friends? I'm a food nerd and have been pining after the French Laundry for a long time. I've decided to make a trip to the Napa Valley for the sole purpose of eating there. Problem: I can't even get into the reservation line. Always busy. Wikipedia confirms this.

So what's the trick here? Keep trying? Is there an off-season to this? What if I show up by myself with a puppy dog face and try to convinced the maitre d' to let me eat in the back?

Also any recommendations for what to try when I actually get a reservation are also welcome.

Fine dining with no reservations?

jon_kill — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:58:06 -0800

I'm looking for examples of fine dining restaurants that do not take reservations. They can be anywhere in the world. If they take reservations for lunch, that's fine, but they should have a policy of not taking reservations for dinner service. If you know what system they use instead, a little bit about that would be appreciated. Thanks!

Are fully booked hotels holding back?

andraste — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:30:56 -0800

Do hotels keep rooms in reserve even when they claim to be fully booked? I arrived at midnight in a strange city and went to my hotel only to be told that I'd been booked in as arriving the next evening (this is what happens when you don't book your own travel!) The people in front of me had been told the hotel was fully booked and had no rooms available. However, the guy on the desk said to me "Ahh, you've got a function with us, don't you? OK, we can work around it." Hey presto, a room was found in the fully booked hotel, for which I was profoundly grateful. But now I'm curious; Mefites who've worked in hotels; is this a common thing? Do hotels keep a room or two in reserve as a matter of course?

How can I have an airline let me use my wife's ticket?

jeremias — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:02:11 -0800

How can I have an airline let me use my wife's ticket? Tommorrow my wife and 5 year old son are booked on a flight on American Airlines. I would like to take her place, but AA tells me they cannot change names on the ticket.

Surely someone out there has had success doing something like this. I'm sure they feel there good reasons that one person can't use someone else's ticket, but I need to make this happen.

An extra layer of bureaucratic nightmare is that the trip was booked through Travelocity and American Airlines is claiming that because of this they couldn't change the names even if they wanted to. (Which reeks to me of passing the buck). Calls to Travelocity resulted in the same answer.

Oh woe, no haggis!

cior — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:22:04 -0800

What are some good options for Thanksgiving Dinner in Seattle? The lad and I are now celebrating holidays together, Thanksgiving up in Seattle.

What are some good restaurants to consider for our Thanksgiving meal? We're not bent on having the traditional fare, but would like to end up someplace pleasing -- if not impressive.

Bonus points for any lonely/foodie Seattle MeFites who want to join in on the reservation. My address is in my profile.

Has someone stolen a restaurant reservation from you?

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Mon, 29 May 2006 15:48:55 -0800

Restaurant reservation poaching? Witnesses? Perpetrators? I was reading restaurant critic Michael Bauer's blog where he shares a jaw-dropping story about very bad manners in a restaurant.

Good lord! Does this happen a lot? Has this happened to you? Have you done it?

Why is it that some restaurants don't take reservations?

jdroth — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 09:09:53 -0800

Why is it that some restaurants don't take reservations? What purpose does this serve?

Restaurant Reservations

kenko — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:20:26 -0800

Are some times of the day or week better for calling restaurants for reservations? I'm trying to get through to Babbo but am getting only busy signals.