Gentle reminder to all: if you want to discuss the food, atmosphere, menu, etc., of a particular restaurant, there is likely a thread devoted to that restaurant or restaurant chain. (The one for Olive Garden, e.g., is HERE). Let's focus, please, on the question/topic that the op asks.

Thanks,

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, Dining Buzz

To be clear, if a half-empty restaurant has an ancillary revenue opportunity (bar, gift shop, etc) and makes you wait, it is probably part of their strategy to get more revenue out of you. If they don't then it's probably because they were not in a position to serve you efficiently. In either case they're trying to balance their profitability and your satisfaction.

Exactly. The point of the investor presentation is that false waits were hurting Olive Garden's business, not helping as apparently it is not a place for which people were willing to wait. (Snide comment regarding OG's atmosphere and menu redacted per moderator request... )

Most likely the false waits are due to a server not being available because they are late. Olive Garden has been trying to push wine on customers for years. It is just as easy to do it at the table as the bar. When the customer eats at the bar and then goes to the dining room they usually continue the bill that was
started so the cocktail waitress in the bar doesn't really have a lot of incentive to ring up a huge bill.

Remember, selling alcohol is more profitable than food. Thus, if you can get the customer to buy a few drinks s/he may otherwise not have done, you've only added to the bottom line.

I often find a 20 minute wait for a table turns into 5 minutes when I stand by the reception and don't go to the bar.
Once they realize there is no additonal income from my waiting, I am provided a table!

brilliant language here - could be down a couple percent, and extremely high

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.

I can understand that for Michelin starred restaurants doing 32 course tasting menus, but are service levels at the Olive Garden really so demanding? Maybe they only have a limited number of microwaves?

Former insider speaking:

Service staff capacity or kitchen capacity(facility or staffing).
Once a customer is seated at a table there will be expectation of service. Better to wait at a bar lounge area where it is normal to wait.

Peter Lugar's has been doing this for 100 years. I've always been directed to the bar for 1.5 drinks before the table is ready. They don't want you dawdling an extra 15-20 mins enjoying that drink at the table if they can get you seated and ready to order. Good business for them if they plan on turning that table more than two or three times an evening.

When I see empty tables and they want me to wait more than a few minutes, I'm going somewhere else.

If they are that understaffed, then I'm probably not getting good service once seated. Poor management on their part does not get my business.

false waits can also be used to discourage certain customers. i recall once being given a long wait time at a trendy restaurant because my friends and i didn't look like the restaurant's target demographic (we had just come from the beach, and they clearly were catering to suits or clubwear). and i've suspected it a number of times as a member of a mixed-race couple.

In that case, they usually ask if you have a reservation.

A restaurant is a hard business to run. For the types of places where you get lineups (aka low end chains feeding the masses) they can't keep the places fully staffed at all times. Unlike airlines, they can't just raise their prices when they're unusually busy to deal with the capacity demand. They'll sometimes slow down the pace of people seating. Better to make a few wait and have everyone have a good experience vs sit everyone and have it be a disaster.

That said, why not just get fast food and save up to eat a real dining room instead of eating at a place like this. Cheesecake Factory? Really?

Are you all serious?

I have never experienced a "false wait" myself, but in case of being asked to wait while there are clearly empty tables, I would leave immediately. This whole "wait to be seated" thing is very American. In Europe, it's common at higher-end places that operate on a by-reservation only basis. In a low-to-mid range place, you would just look for an empty table and sit down by yourself (maybe making eye contact with a waiter to check if that particularly table is free).

This doesn't mean service in Europe is universally better - long waits before being served are not uncommon, but restaurants would make you sit down, bring you drinks, maybe some bread and snacks, and take your food order. So at least you can wait in comfort, plus you cannot just get up and leave because they might have already started preparing your food.