[ad_1]
The pent-up demand for a restaurant meal has seen an increase in bookings in recent days with table availability for peak hours between 7 pm and 9 pm extremely limited across the country as the sector begins to reopen after six weeks. to turn off.
According to the OpenTable restaurant booking engine, the restaurants that will be able to seat a table of six for dinner at 8pm on Saturday or even within two hours after that time, were few and far between.
The site said thousands of reservations had been made at hundreds of restaurants in Irish towns and cities in the past 24 hours, suggesting a serious fight for seats had started on Saturday.
The circular restaurants also signaled a huge appetite for a meal this weekend.
Pichet on Trinity St in Dublin said it was completely full. “There has been a mad scramble for seats in recent weeks and we have quite a few groups of six,” they told the Irish Times when it looked for a reservation for Saturday night on Friday morning.
The same thing happened across the river at Winding Stair in Dublin 1. “I’m reserved, pretty much,” said a spokesman.
“I have a table at 9:45 and a couple of the first ones, but everything else is shocking. We’ve been waiting all year for this, it will be a busy couple of weeks, but it will be great. “
Lola’s Tapas on Camden St said it was “booked pretty much every Friday and Saturday from now until Christmas and there are only a few of the 5pm sessions. M. And 9:00 p.m. M. Mid-week available.
Fade St Social was similarly booked for Saturday night with some availability in the following days, while it was the same story at nearby Brasserie 66 on the capital’s South George’s Street.
Ard Bia in Galway said it was “sold out” for Saturday night. “The people were lovely and the moment the restrictions were lifted they started to get in touch,” said a spokeswoman. The same happened at Cava where there was no availability on Saturday night and a limited number of early and late sessions on Sunday.
It was the same story in Cork City, while the demand in Kilkenny was just as high.
Dublin Marker Hotel General Manager Charlie Sheil said he was looking forward to welcoming diners this weekend. Safety will continue to be our priority and we are opening in a very measured way, ”he said.
He said there was “limited availability on Saturday” and that most of the tables were already taken by hotel guests.
“People can go out and sit in a safe environment and be cared for by properly trained people. Everyone is delighted to be back and we are looking forward to the next few weeks, ”he said.
He added that the hotel was taking dinner reservations at its bars and would also host walk-ins. “I think there are a lot of local people who just want to go out and eat. It will not be like last December but it will be a good month, “he said.
‘Not large groups’
Irish Restaurant Association Director Adrian Cummins was equally upbeat ahead of what will likely be the busiest weekend at the hospitality center for nearly a full year.
“This Saturday night was always going to be the best night with all the pent-up demand. The restaurants have been closed for six weeks and longer in Dublin, so the demand was always going to be there, ”he told The Irish Times.
He noted that restaurants could only serve about two-thirds of the diners they would normally serve and restrict parties to groups of six or fewer. “There will be no big groups this year, but I don’t have any appetite for office parties, people are looking forward to hanging out with a close circle of friends, maybe three times before Christmas.”
He said that he had also noticed a certain degree of nervousness. “We want to do the right thing so that we stay open in January and February,” he said.
He noted that the industry has been through this before. “This is not our first rodeo and we know we can do it and we can do it safely. When we opened earlier this year, the staff did not receive Covid and we know that if everyone does what they are supposed to do and customers adhere to the guidelines, we will be fine. “
He suggested that “the finish line for us is the deployment of the vaccine.” That’s when people “can start to get back to normal. This has been traumatic for everyone, people who have lost loved ones, lost their jobs, and had their world turned upside down. Everybody wants to see the end. ”
[ad_2]