Are restaurants flexible with number of guests?

[Allyf31]

Hi
I'm new to the reservations and saw someone posted a tip that you can tab a reservation for 4 and still use if you have a party of five,etc? Are they at all flexible if you show up with an extra adult or child?

 

[Gracie09]

It depends on the restaurant, time of year and time of reservation. It hard to know if you will be seated with extra people until you arrive. Four to five means you need a 6 person table instead of a four. There may not be any available. Three to fouray not be as hard. Also there are fire code limits on howanynpeoplw can be in a space at once .
If you think you will have more than you reserved for your better off trying to modify the reservation.

 

[LilyWDW]

There is no guarantee that they will seat the extra person.

Odd number reservations seem to be harder to get. The one trick I have seen is to book the even number GREATER then what you need, not less then. So if you can't get a table for 5 look for a table for 6... NOT 4.

 

[AlexisMaxMommy]

I think it is easier for them to go down in size than to add a person. I worked in restaurants for years, and it isn't always easy to add a person because it may require an additional table. We had some reservations that were larger than what we ended up needing, and they had no problem with that.

 

[purple figment]

Everybody who will be at the table, including infants and non-eaters need to be included in the reservation because of fire code regulations. If you show up with extra people, the CMs will do their best to seat them, but there is always the possibility that anyone not included in the res will not be seated. If your extra person can't be seated and your whole group decides not to eat there, expect to be charged the $10 per person penalty. We were at a DW restaurant that was running far behind schedule so they were turning away walk ups, latecomers and anyone not on a reservation so it can happen.

If you have extra people and the restaurant will seat you, be prepared for a longer wait, especially if you require a larger sized table (e.g. going from 4 to 5 would require a 6 top instead of a 4 top.)

If you are an odd numbered group try adding 1 person. The online website has a glitch that makes it harder for odd numbered groups to find tables because a party of 5 typically will be seated at a 6 top, but the system wants to fill every seat at the table. If you make your party a group of 6, you might find more availability. When you get to the restaurant let the CMs at the podium know there are 5 of you. As long as at least one person shows up for the reservation you will not be charged for the "missing" person. The only time I would book for the exact number is for the pre-paid reservations such as CRT and the dinner shows since you'll be required to pay for everyone when you make the reservation.

 

[maxiesmom]

Hi
I'm new to the reservations and saw someone posted a tip that you can tab a reservation for 4 and still use if you have a party of five,etc? Are they at all flexible if you show up with an extra adult or child?

First off,

Second, I hate to tell you, but that is a horrible tip. You need to count every person for your reservation, no matter how small. If you show up with more people than you have booked for, they will seat you if they can. But there are no guarantees.