Originally Posted by darthbimmer

That's exactly why it happens. If a restaurant has, say, 24 tables to handle peak business but only enough staff to serve 16 tables when you arrive, it does nobody any good for them to seat you at table #17 right away. Doing so would overburden the wait staff and slow down service for everybody. Staff would feel run ragged, customers would feel frustrated and complain, tips would be poor, and the restaurant would develop a reputation for slow service. Much better all around to limit the seating so that customers feel well taken care of once they sit down for dinner.