bothersome fatback: 5 Restaurants Poised To Sell Tickets In Lieu Of Phone Reservations

Friday, April 26th, 2013

Restaurants sell tickets in lieu of phone reservations

The restaurant trend to?sell?tickets in lieu of phone reservations?continues widespread acceptance. As such, here?s a look at the next potential five restaurants to follow the lead set by Next restaurant in Chicago.

Next After Next

A previous post looked at some eyebrow-raising research that?indicates?restaurant owners are poised to embraced every available technology to improve their bottom line. That data, gathered?by?National Restaurant Association,?shows that?54% of restaurant owners say they?ll invest more in technology in 2013.

An excellent example of a investing in technology is Next restaurant in Chicago. Next?restaurant?sells tickets that are purchased in advance. As described on?the?restaurant?s?website, ticket sales benefit both the business and the diner. The diner is assured a table no matter how busy it is and the business gets all the revenue up front.

The tickets to Next restaurant are so sought after, an entire secondary market has?cropped?up, just like concert tickets. That?s proof of just well the public is prepared to abandon old fashioned telephone reservations and go ?all in? for buying tickets in advance.

The question is, knowing what hyper-competitive industry the restaurant business is, ?who will be next to follow Next??

The Furious Five

With Next in Chicago doing so well, it is a good time to wonder which brand new restaurants will follow their lead and be poised to sell?tickets in lieu of phone reservations. A quick look at an authoritative source shows five very likely candidates.

Jessica Dupuy has written a list of the most anticipated restaurant openings for Austin this summer in Culture Map. The list is a veritable who?s who of culinary arts in the state capitol. If you own a restaurant any where in the country, Dupuy?s list is?highly?recommended reading, but here?s a condensed version of the list:

Arro

Chef Curren will apply his highly trained culinary skills to team up with his equally talented pastry chef wife, Mary Catherine, to their own modern take on a French restaurant?The menu will abound with French classics available in single-item selections as well as in arrangements of three-course prix fixe options.

Benji?s Cantina

The venture is the latest endeavor from the group behind Kung Fu Saloon and the Brew Exchange and operating partner Geoff Freeman, formerly of Eddie V?s Prime Seafood. Perhaps the best feature will be the upstairs al fresco patio boasting some of the best views of Austin?s downtown skyline.

Jeffrey?s

We?ll soon see how the approach to classic French technique and an inspirational nod to American icons Chez Panisse and the French Laundry pays off.

Mettle

Executive Chef Andrew Francisco ? formerly of Olivia ? will take the helm of his first kitchen drawing on his classic French technique and inspirations from some of his favorite cuisines including French, Asian and Modern American.

Qui

It?s a good thing Paul Qui has the skills to back it up. Menu details have yet to be officially released, but there?s no question we?ll see Qui?s quirky and innovative takes on an array of Asian cuisines.

3 Reasons To Sell Tickets In Lieu Of Phone Reservations

Note that last, but certainly not least, on the list is Qui, a restaurant that has already committed to selling tickets in lieu of phone reservations.

The top three reasons restaurants should switch from telephone reservations to selling ticket in advance?begins?with that old nemesis the dreaded no-show. No-shows are a very costly?hazard?of the restaurant business. No-shows are a double whammy in that there?s no money made from the diner(s) that didn?t show up, and the table could have gone to other diners, but they were told the evening was booked.

Second is the tremendous advantage of all the cash up front. Restaurants roll the dice each week by buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of food and supplies all on an assumption. Even the savviest owner at the hottest restaurant ends up wasting some food, or worse, not buying enough. By selling tickets in advance, the owner knows precisely?how much to buy, days, even weeks before the diners walk through the door.

The?third?reason is rather obvious. No?meaningful?customer?data can be gather from telephone reservations. Online ticket software generates a?dazzling?array of data about the customer (name, address, email,?preferences, payment types, etc.) which can be?cultivated?into a lucrative marketing?database. A new customer is great, but a frequently?returning one,?bringing?all their friends is event better.

Prompt to sell tickets for any kind of event ThunderTix can help you start?selling tickets online?in as?little?as one business day with no long-term contract commitments. We also make?nightly deposits?of your sales dollars directly into your bank?account, giving you the liquidity to buy only what you need for the menu ??no waste. Best of all we do not charge you per-ticket fees!