Montreal chef Constant Mentzas of Garde-Côte and Palomar restaurants saw more than half of his reservations canceled overnight, just before New Year’s celebrations.
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The problem of no-show reservations continues to cause headaches for catering establishments.
As restaurant operators are hit hard by inflation and labor shortages, canceled reservations at short notice are a new threat facing them.
“We were fighting against the no-shows. People made reservations and ultimately they didn’t come. There we have still improved the situation, people cancel, but when they cancel with such little notice and it is not possible to replace the table, it becomes problematic,” he stressed, in an interview with TVA News, from his fish restaurant Palomar.
TVA News
In order to avoid the scourge, his team made the decision shortly before the holidays to limit the number of reservations on New Year’s Eve.
“It’s impossible for us to catch up with them today,” he adds, specifying that the damage is done. Among the 60 reservations made, only 26 remain.
Asked about the “no-show” problem, Maximilien Roy, vice-president of Restaurants Canada, denounced a “scourge” affecting the industry.
“It’s very difficult [pour les restaurateurs] […] We really ask people to be careful and if they decide to book in advance, to show up, at least notify as quickly as possible if there should ever be a cancellation,” he recalls, with a tone convincing.
TVA News