Restaurants can mitigate waits with cellphones
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One reason I like Texas Roadhouse is the call-ahead feature. On a busy night you can call them 20 minutes ahead of arriving, and when you arrive you only have to wait a couple minutes. It’s nice to waltz into a restaurant and be seated seemingly ahead of those suckers waiting in the lobby for the last 20 minutes.
If you forget to call ahead, they usually have pagers so you can walk around outside and not be cooped up inside. Unfortunately, their pagers only range a few meters past their door, so you longingly gaze at all the shopping centers surrounding you. They are so close, yet so out of reach because if you go too far you miss your page and miss your spot to eat.
Someone told me a Boise Red Lobster restaurant will take your cell phone number and call you when you are within about five or ten minutes of getting a table. This allows you to shop around a little at the local stores. If they call you and you delay in getting back, it’s expected you lost your spot and get bumped back.
This seems like a great solution to restaurant waits, and the local stores always appreciate more shoppers. One of my personality flaws is I hate to wait at restaurants. I am patient with people, in traffic, and in shopping lines, but for some reason restaurant waiting burns me up. Maybe it’s because I’m hungry, or because I know there’s better ways I could spend my time and still ‘wait in line’.
Do any Idaho Falls restaurants do this? Why or why not?
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Comments
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0 I’ve used the call ahead service offered by a few local eateries. A couple were OK, one in particular was horrible. I won’t mention which. I’m a little perplexed that more restaurants don’t take reservations anymore. Especially places near Edwards on the weekends. I’m sure there would be plenty of people in the lobby area if the reservation party didn’t show or didn’t show on time. You could even charge me to take the reservation to make it worth your while. Add it to the total ticket.
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0 0 C’mon, JR let us know who has these services and who does and doesn’t do a good job for you. That’s part of the point. At least who do you know that offers this?
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0 0 Texas Roadhouse offers it, Chillis, Applebees, Johnny Carinos, Outback Steakouse do to. Those are the ones I have used. The Roadhouse was the worst. I called ahead for 4 people and they said to be there in 1/2 hour. We were there after about 20 minutes and still had to wait for another 45. Haven’t been back since.
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0 0 That stinks, JR. I empathize, because I hate waiting. You know how a place can be generally great but you get one bad experience and don’t go back?
I had a regular hair stylist make me wait 40 minutes for an appointment because the customer before me suddenly wanted more work, even though she hadn’t made the appointment for it. I never went back.
Bubba’s half-cooked my steak and refused to credit me that one piece. Haven’t been back in 2.5 years.
Each time I’ve been to Texas Roadhouse the call-ahead has worked excellently for me. I think you just had a fluke, a mistake that can happen anywhere.
You try Roadhouse again and I’ll try Bubba’s again. Let’s see if we can put their few mistakes behind us.
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0 0 Thanks for the info JR hopefully other businesses will catch wind of this. A little competition usually breeds improvement.
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0 0 I agree, but I’m afraid that there isn’t much competition here. There have been rumors about the Olive Garden coming here for 10 years. It’s alright, but I would rather eat at the Bistro off Brodway any night of the week! Their chicken alfredo is awesome. And, I’ve never had to worry about call ahead seating!
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0 0 Great call JR! 
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Good luck not waiting at the (much anticipated/awaited) Olive Garden. Any time I’ve visited one, I’ve had to wait 20 minutes, even with tables available.
Now, I’ve had a hostess friend explain that her restaurant may do that if the kitchen is backed up, but I would think that rarer at a place like Olive Garden, especially on busy weekends.