"Is it alright if we brought in...."

Ok, so for those of you that do a dine-in like we do, how do you handle the folks that set up a reservation for say 15+, then surprise you when they come in hauling their own balloons and deserts?

I’m all over the fence on this issue. We strive to be that “family friendly” place, we’re a full menu place from pizza to burgers, salads, pastas & steaks. But it gripes me a bit to have them be bringing in their own birthday,baby shower, whatever occasion, cake…usually taking up a “table in the back” to set it on so it’s not in their way, and then we get stuck with cleaning up the mess, or worse providing all the plates and fresh forks for free. I don’t even take into account the number of cake slices we don’t serve from our own menu when they bring theirs in.

Who else lets folks bring in outside cakes etc? If not, how do you handle it if they show up with them unannounced?

If you bring your own wine “they” charge the “corkage fee”

Deacon I think as a family establishment it goes with the game. Yes it costs a little for supplies but you should make up for it in other sales. You should ask when taking a reservation for any group over 8 if it is for a party and do they need an extra table for gifts or cake. Also let them know you can provide deserts for different occasions. Problem is a lot will have high demands for what they want. It is probably easier to just bite the bullet and let them bring their own. Also look at it this way…treat them well and they will come back without the party next time.

Part of our reservation policy is explaining can’s and cannot’s. We permit cake, however we promote our desserts. We also permit ballons and such, as long as they clean-up. We do not permit beverages or items of food, whether or not an equal is on our menu. There are certain times we do not accept reservations, strictly first come first served.

Reservations and those policies are important and can lead to establishing and building excellent community relationships. We currently have a reservation list up to 18 months in the future.

Without a doubt we would love to have the party. I don’t care if they bring a cake…i expect it and have knife, forks and plates available. I expect nothing less than a mess when they leave but to clean up a huge mess.

If you are having an issue with it why not have a party package and they can order the cake, decorations and supplies from you that way “they don’t have to deal with it”

If you are not willing to do this don’t worry I am sure there is another restaurant in town who will.

Stay focused, appreciate your customers and their celebrations. A five yr. old who wants his birthday at your shop every year is your future paying customer and all their friends, their future kids and family.

I think it is funny we are willing to coupon, give food away and bend over backward but then when we get them in the door it is like we forget how much it took to get them in. ???

Good point Kris about the kids that will come back for years!

Dang Kris…is that a size 13 you just booted my backside with? :roll:

All good points. I have to admit I tossed this one out there after our last episode where a family of 15 turned into a party of 28 meaning a total disruption in our Friday evening dinner service, moving extra tables around etc… The entire 28 party ticket was under $50 on which they left a get this…$2.14 tip! The resulting cake ground into the carpet took 2 staff another 15 minutes to clean up before we could set another table there so yeah…it torks me a bit but yes Kris et.al. ya’ll is right. We might just have to come up with a solid policy we can “sell” on the reservation. This one though was stealth, there was zero mention of a cake, party or anything to suggest it was something besides a large gathering for supper.

How the heck do 28 people only spend $50? That I would not allow. A minimum per person is a perfectly reasonable thing to require. Just lay it out when people ask about parties. Even as low as $5.00 it would protect against the kind of nonsense you describe.

Ok… now Deacon I think we are all with you hearing the amount they spent. Either we need to talk about Obama style price increase or something else is really off here. I agree with a minimum fee if they bring in everything. Party room rental fees that are waived when equal amount spent on food & drink. Minimum tip of $XX per person. Having 28 and spending nothing is just a real kick to your ass. I agree with the letting of people bring personal cakes and the party stuff…but too take up a couple hours of your space and spend nothing in reality. The lost tips the server had too live with. I would seriously have had a talk with whomever set that reservation and explained you gladly offer space for these parties…but you are a business and they really too advantage of you. Not nice party people! :evil:

Cmon…that is a total rare occassion. To make some sort of policy based on one idiot is, in my opinion, crazy. Most parties we get come in and it is great. The tables around get excited…it is a good vibe in the restaurant.

Our family went out to dinners for birthdays for years (not so much anymore) but back in the day that was what we did and never and I mean not once did a regular establishment ever engage in rules. The only “other” establishment we have gone to that did do that is a skating rink or chuck e chz.

By all means if it has come to the point that it is warrented (which in my case would be never) go for it.

Like I said there are MANY other restaurants which do not do this. You have to realize it will without a doubt come up in conversation among the guests at some point…and what a shame could have been a great opportunity for them to say “they went all out. Even decorated a little with some ballons and table cloth.”

And the reason you feel like ya got kicked is cuz you did. Be thankful truly that ya got a party coming in. As the owner I would have noticed they were not ordering food and perhaps pushed for a bigger sale. I would have definately added gratuity in solving one of the two issues. I would have had a server standing guard picking up cake if it was so obnoxious it was jammed into the floors. I may have made them feel somewhat rushed. But I would not change my policy based on one party.

Yup. Please don’t “read” me wrong…I’m agreeing with you. What this showed more than anything else was the fact we need to sit down and draft a “formal policy” to govern this type of thing. The low table tab was due to the majority using up a “Free 8” single topping with purchase" coupon we’d provided for a school promotion. Most of the actual sales were limited to a couple of sandwiches for the adults with them and some sodas.

Over all, understand I’m completely in harmony with most of what’s been posted here. It’s mostly a wake up call to myself to get these little irritants thought through. We’ve discussed prior about mandatory tipping for large groups. i.e. the lovely little “Red Hat” ladies that come in 20 at a time, but haven’t made the time to sit down and firm up a policy.

I LOVE what we’re doing here. I’d love it more if we could make it profitable, but we’re getting there! I’m sure this next year will be just as chock full of learning opportunities for me as the last was!

:shock: RED HATS = MANDATORY $100 per HAT!!!

Where we live there is an annual easter egg hunt and people drive for miles to come to it. Thousands of kids. Anyway, one year we decided to donate 500 kid pizza coupons. The day of the hunt we got slammed…I was so irritated when a mom would come in and order 1 soda and 3 waters and use the coupon. But then I said to myself…she was a small handful. The promotion worked we had tons of the coupons redeemed over the next few weeks, with some nice size orders.

The next year we added with a purchase of soft drink. One per table. Then a few people would put their kids at the other tables. it would be very frustrating but I kept telling myself it was still raising sales over all. But for me it is about getting them in the door. Giving them great service and food and coming back.

we had a buffet at our former location. people would neg. a buffet discount for their party based on X number of people. then, when the party arrived it was always less people many of which did not purchase buffet. so we basically became a low rent location.

this was frustrating, but as kris said it was usually the kid with the birthday that wanted to be with us. how can you get angry about that?

We have in place a cake cutting & Serving fee which is a 1.50 Per Person. Our staff automatically puts on 20% Gratuity on there check this is before the Coupons and discounts are put on. We don’t mind if people bring in ballons and decorations for the table. if they bring in Confetti and put on the tables it’s a 50.00 clean up fee(by they way only one person has done this and they actually gave us 100.00 for the clean up of the confetti). NO one has ever complained or said anything about these rules they are posted when you walk in and also told to the customers when a large reservation is place. We get a lot of big parties so when you call no make reservations for 15 & show up with 28 on a busy night it’s your own falt for not calling in to change the reservations. We also have when you walk in a sign saying you will be seated once your complete party show up if they show up to be less then there reservations we can change tables around to accomadate other walk ins. Any parties more then 15 minutes past there reservation time will be put on the waiting list. This seems to be a lot of rules but before we had these in place some people would really take advantage. Once these rules were in place it took a while for customers to really follow but know it is all good and organized and flows great.

Shoot, let them come into our shop. I’ll work something out of them, and shoot again, $50 is $50. I’ll take it. That will buy me a case of sauce and some breadsticks. :lol: