NEW YORK (PIX11) — Getting a dinner reservation at your favorite restaurant can be a challenge this time of year. It’s even more difficult to get your favorite table.
Now, there’s an app for that. Tablz allows diners to take a 3D tour of participating restaurants and book a specific table, for a price.
The price varies from $5 to $100 depending on the day and time. Among the restaurants using the app are Barbounia, Sea Wolf, Isabelle’s, Parker & Quinn and Winnie’s Jazz Bar.
At Isabelle’s in Gramercy, patron Jeff Flynn told PIX11 News “it would be great to reserve a table, come in, and have your table … especially at the Christmas season when tables are hard to come by.”
Other diners like Neil Shah say there are a couple of factors that would go into whether he would shell out cash for a table. Shah laughed as he said, “It depends what kind of quarter I’ve had to be honest … If it is a first date and you want to make a good impression, otherwise it’s hard to value that.”
Tablz is the brainchild of Frazer Nagy, who worked in the restaurant business for years.
“I’ve had to move guests so many times from this table to that table, so I’m certainly probably not the first person to have this thought. I think the industry is ready for such an important change,” Nagy said.
Michael Schatzberg, the managing partner of the company that owns Isabelle’s, said it’s just like reserving a specific hotel room or a seat on a plane.
“You can pick a seat with more room, in the back, in the front, I want to sit next to a window. I think the idea of choices today is something that I think a lot of consumers and guests expect,” Schatzberg said.
It’s kind of like the modern version of slipping the hostess a $20 bill.