The Pub Curmudgeon - Reservations about reservations
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I’m always slightly annoyed when I see tables in pubs with “Reserved” signs on them. It suggests both an excessive concentration on food and a somewhat snooty, exclusive attitude. Surely a “public house” should be just that – open to all comers, and first come, first served for the available seating.
If pubs want to reserve tables for diners, then it’s quite simple, they should have a separate restaurant, distinct from their public bars. Indeed, twenty years ago there was quite a vogue for pubs opening up restaurants, as it was seen as something bringing a bit of extra cachet. I can think of at least one where the former public bar was turned into a restaurant.
But more recently the tide has been running the other way, with the separate restaurants being stripped out and in effect colonising the rest of the pub with their place settings, pricey food and table reservations. It is more true than ever before that many pubs have, to all intents and purposes, turned themselves into restaurants and left behind their original purpose in life. Very often, there isn’t any attempt at providing even a small area with the “feel” of a drinkers’ bar.
And “Please Wait Here to be Seated” is a notice that really should never be seen in anywhere that lays claim to the title of “pub”.
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