How early is too early? And how late is too late?

[TinkerTerry]

How early can we show up for an ADR? We are a party of 8 this year. Do we all have to be present to sit? What if we have a straggler? How late can they be?

 

[mom2rtk]

We've always been told we could not be seated until the entire party is present.

Some will seat you a little early, others will not.

 

[maxiesmom]

How early can we show up for an ADR? We are a party of 8 this year. Do we all have to be present to sit? What if we have a straggler? How late can they be?

It depends on how busy the restaurant is at the time. They ask you to arrive 10 minutes early, and they won't seat you until you are all ready and waiting. There is no hard and fast time that you can be late, they do try to give 10 minutes grace, but it cannot be counted on. If you are too late you may miss your ADR time slot and be treated as a walk up, or not seated at all. And if you are not seated they will consider you a no show and charge you the per person fee.

Plan on no stragglers. In my experience they won't seat anyone until you are all there.