KrAzY Posted February 20, 2019 Share #1 Posted February 20, 2019 On Sunday I have a reservation for the DFW Guatemalan adoptive children and parents group at a Guatemalan restaurant. We had such a great turnout for people wanting to go that I had to change the head count from 26 people to 45 people.. the hostess did not sound too excited, but also informed me that we are the last group they are taking reservations for. Yup.. that's right.. plan a group that big and it will end all future opportunities for our future gatherings... I can't believe that they would shut down like that knowing the money it could bring in for them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #2 Posted February 20, 2019 Try to make a reservation at lunch for 10 - heck, 8 - folks in DC. Prepare to use your credit card to "hold" the spot - at best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrAzY Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share #3 Posted February 20, 2019 3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said: Try to make a reservation at lunch for 10 - heck, 8 - folks in DC. Prepare to use your credit card to "hold" the spot - at best! I would never do that... I don't like DC all that much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkpow Posted February 20, 2019 Share #4 Posted February 20, 2019 They have to alienate a lot of customers and potential customers when they segregate a large portion of their space for one group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #5 Posted February 20, 2019 2 minutes ago, KrAzY said: I would never do that... I don't like DC all that much So a restaurant should hold 45 seats for you and hope you show up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkpow Posted February 20, 2019 Share #6 Posted February 20, 2019 4 minutes ago, Razors Edge said: So a restaurant should hold 45 seats for you and hope you show up? He said with a Jewish accent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #7 Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, KrAzY said: On Sunday I have a reservation for the DFW Guatemalan adoptive children and parents group at a Guatemalan restaurant. We had such a great turnout for people wanting to go that I had to change the head count from 26 people to 45 people.. the hostess did not sound too excited, but also informed me that we are the last group they are taking reservations for. Yup.. that's right.. plan a group that big and it will end all future opportunities for our future gatherings... I can't believe that they would shut down like that knowing the money it could bring in for them. Are Guatemalans known to be good tippers? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #8 Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, KrAzY said: On Sunday I have a reservation for the DFW Guatemalan adoptive children and parents group at a Guatemalan restaurant. We had such a great turnout for people wanting to go that I had to change the head count from 26 people to 45 people.. the hostess did not sound too excited, but also informed me that we are the last group they are taking reservations for. Yup.. that's right.. plan a group that big and it will end all future opportunities for our future gatherings... I can't believe that they would shut down like that knowing the money it could bring in for them. 1 hour ago, Razors Edge said: Try to make a reservation at lunch for 10 - heck, 8 - folks in DC. Prepare to use your credit card to "hold" the spot - at best! 1 hour ago, KrAzY said: I would never do that... I don't like DC all that much 1 hour ago, donkpow said: They have to alienate a lot of customers and potential customers when they segregate a large portion of their space for one group. 1 hour ago, Razors Edge said: So a restaurant should hold 45 seats for you and hope you show up? 1 hour ago, donkpow said: He said with a Jewish accent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #9 Posted February 20, 2019 I'm amazed they don't appreciate the big group. When I coached high school indoor track, we competed at a National Guard center on the North side of Baltimore - our school was south of the city - during winter and we often didn't finish competing until after 8 pm - the kids did homework between events. We arranged with a local Pizza Hut to stay open for us after their normal 9 pm weekday close and told the parents to give their kids enough to buy a sub, pizza, etc. We had about 30 kids on the team the manager of the Pizza Hut made it clear he didn't want to lose our business. Whenever we traveled to a track or cross country meet a few hours from home, we called ahead and arranged with some place like Cracker Barrel Old Country Store or a cheap Ma-Pa place recommended to us and let them know approximately when we'd be coming in with 30-50 kids. NONE of them ever turned us away even though we'd sometimes give them a 3 hour range as to when we'd arrive after a meet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #10 Posted February 20, 2019 2 hours ago, donkpow said: They have to alienate a lot of customers and potential customers when they segregate a large portion of their space for one group. Large groups can be VERY annoying to be near. It seems like invariably there is some cackling lady or multiples thereof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #11 Posted February 20, 2019 Large groups tie up the kitchen as they try to make 48 dishes at once, so lots of complaints, slow orders, returns for cold food, etc. This in turn leads to bad reviews, small tips or no tips. Other customers are upset due to no seating, or repurcussions of incidents above. Unless a place is set up to cater to a large group, or there is a pre agreed meal and serving time, I could see why they would not like this to happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrAzY Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share #12 Posted February 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Razors Edge said: So a restaurant should hold 45 seats for you and hope you show up? Nope.. they should have 45seats for us so we can eat... I called 2 weeks ago and gave an estimated head count.. they could have said no way back then. 16 minutes ago, jsharr said: Large groups tie up the kitchen as they try to make 48 dishes at once, so lots of complaints, slow orders, returns for cold food, etc. This in turn leads to bad reviews, small tips or no tips. Other customers are upset due to no seating, or repurcussions of incidents above. Unless a place is set up to cater to a large group, or there is a pre agreed meal and serving time, I could see why they would not like this to happen. That might be true, but this is the first time our group will be here. The last few times we got together the restaurant loved us . Well behaved kids, nice tips, and so on.. could be a loss for the restaurant since we try to do this monthly. It's a buffet style brunch.. can't be that hard for the kitchen to keep up.. but then again.. I haven't worked in the restaurant business for over 20 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #13 Posted February 20, 2019 18 minutes ago, KrAzY said: Nope.. they should have 45seats for us so we can eat... I called 2 weeks ago and gave an estimated head count.. they could have said no way back then. That might be true, but this is the first time our group will be here. The last few times we got together the restaurant loved us . Well behaved kids, nice tips, and so on.. could be a loss for the restaurant since we try to do this monthly. It's a buffet style brunch.. can't be that hard for the kitchen to keep up.. but then again.. I haven't worked in the restaurant business for over 20 years. Buffet style should be able to accomodate this kind of group. You might also call and speak with a manager to see if they have issues with your group? Perhaps something is going on that you don't know about? Maybe poor tipping or maybe sneaking food without paying? Stuff happens. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted February 20, 2019 Share #14 Posted February 20, 2019 Just tell them that the group is 45 respected restaurant reviewers out for their annual shindig together......they didn't plan on working while on holiday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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