

Ticket to Dine - Hansi
https://medium.com/backchannel/buying-tickets-to-restaurants-114e5b9c768f

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tptacek
Obligatory: the first thread on HN about Tock, including a writeup from
Patrick McKenzie, wherein Nick Kokonas himself shows up to answer questions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7853786](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7853786)

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jsumrall
The only issue I see with implementing a ticketing system with a restaurant is
how long people stay at the table. If you're having a great time you might
stay at your table for a bit longer and have dessert and a few more drinks,
while if it's bad you might box up your meal and head out pretty soon. I
supposed this is not a huge problem since the only places likely to implement
ticketing are these blockbuster restaurants with reservations months in
advance.

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pavel_lishin
Doesn't the same problem occur with reservations?

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oatmeal_coffee
Right. But a ticketing system doesn't solve this problem either.

A pre-paid ticketing system could make this problem worse because there is no
"cue" as it were. At least a bill being placed on the table, paid, and then
picked up later by the server. Having the bill picked up by the server is,
ostensibly, the last interaction aside from refilling the water.

Of course, tickets could get handled in some special way like being redeemed
at the end of the meal, or the ticket pays for the core meal, and a separate
bill is given for drinks and extras not handled by the ticket.

~~~
pimlottc
At Alinea, it works just like you suggest - the ticket price is just covers
the core meal, with the drinks being extra and settled at the end of the meal.
Interestingly enough, though, the sister restaurant Next does require you to
purchase your drinks option as part of the ticket. But I doubt there is much
problem, as they provide a highly-coordinated service that already requires a
constant awareness of where you are in the meal at all times.

For the non-high-end, non-pre-fixe market, the ticket is normally a deposit on
the meal price, so you'd still have to settle the remainder of the bill when
you're finished.

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johnbenwoo
Great move to address the historically paltry and inconsistent profit margins
of restaurants. Looking forward to seeing what this does for the industry -
I'm hoping it helps push forward other big-kitchen / small-dining-room places
like Achatz's restaurants.

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batrat
Paying to book a restaurant? Probably just for an event. Otherwise I don't see
people paying for it. Also, what is more easy? making a simple call or using
an app/website, enter payment methods, accounts, etc....?

I know there is an app for everything, but making a call is 1000 better than
using any app at the moment.

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kasey_junk
Well to be fair Next and Alinea have been dramatically successful with the
model. And for that class of restaurant, I much prefer the model of "buy
ticket" to "call and be told there is nothing available".

~~~
sync
But how many of those restaurants are there really?

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tptacek
Probably at least 5 in every major metro, and more in NYC, Chicago, and San
Francisco. With the current customer perception, that is: for "destination"
restaurants, like Alinea, Saison, Ko.

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elif
So this addresses a 'need' but that 'need' doesn't have a market. In fact,
that shadow-market is merely a consequence of the failure other markets. The
need for this service is completely dependent upon the failure of the local
restaurant industry to properly manage its demand, which in turn is likely due
to the failure of a real estate market to provide profitable space for
restaurants.

If EITHER of these two markets are disrupted, your market evaporates.
Considering how popular food blogs and food trucks are becoming, I would not
bank on this.

~~~
johnbenwoo
The 'need' is that there are open seats at restaurants that don't have any
open reservations, due to people showing up late or not showing up at all.
This inefficiency can be looked at as unavoidable friction, or as opportunity
for innovation.

Other industries in the hospitality world have their own ways around this.
Most hotels have 24-hour cancellation policies and airlines have dynamic
pricing. This is a new one for the (fine) dining industry, and one that will
likely spawn different models for different types of restaurants.

~~~
ghaff
Some higher-end restaurants do take a deposit when you make a reservation but
it's not common. I find it interesting that there's so much variation among
different types of services (hotels, rental cards, hotels, restaurants,
theater) with respect to cancelation or no show policies. It doesn't obviously
always track to the cost.

