Quote: (07-05-2014 05:35 PM)Basil Ransom Wrote:
Quote: (07-05-2014 05:24 PM)Ensam Wrote:
There are a few notable exceptions - the French Laundry had a notorious one year waiting list a few years ago (not sure what the current status is) but at that point it becomes a novelty in and of itself. Those seatings are coveted because you can't buy them, you have to book and wait. What's so repulsive about what this guy did is that it... cheapen the experience of getting a reservation at the ultra high exclusive places. People like clubs that you can't buy your way into.
A club is different, because the other patrons play a big role in how much you enjoy the club, while at a restaurant, provided the other patrons aren't too noisy, they figure a lot less in your experience of the meal.
People who want to use 'time in line' as a way to ration goods out are fucking lame hipster toolbags who take pride in consuming things that other people make. There's no mastery involved in waiting in line, nor is there for buying a spot in line or paying a hooker for sex. It's better for the restaurant to augment its finances by rationing spots based on fees, and not on devotion.
I mean, I sympathize with some places a little wanting to keep their spots relatively affordable to keep a broader base of customers, but when people insinuate the value of a restaurant is linked to how devoted you have to be get in, I just think of these yelp losers and how they have nothing else to judge a man by except his yuppie slave devotion.
That's kind of my point... most restaurants wouldn't benefit from a spot system. You can have world class dining in most cities with same day reservations - even on a weekend night. The restaurants with limited seatings and ridiculous reservation times are precisely those that are targeted specifically at hipster douchebags so they wouldn't be interested in spot pricing anyway. The quality is good but no better than 10 other restaurants that have open tables every night. The main draw is the fact that it's difficult to get access.