A fine-dining restaurant is open two days a week, Friday and Saturday, from 5 PM to 9 PM. Nearly all seating is by reservation. They've always unlocked the door at 5 PM sharp. It's been proposed to unlock the door 5 or 10 minutes before 5 PM so early arrivers can come in. Staff is sharply divided on this question. Owners are also divided.
So I thought I'd get some opinions from people who are not personally involved. Feel free to express your opinion / boost. I'm looking for input.
If you were a customer with a 5 PM reservation, would you expect the door to be unlocked:
@shuttersparks if I had a reservation at 5pm, I would expect to be seated at 5pm. That said, there is nothing stopping the restaurant from making my booking 5:05pm to give us time to be seated. Also, it depends on the customer turnover. It's easier and more acceptable to run late than it is to run early. Closing late vs opening early, I know which I'd choose. Closing later means you can spend more time building customer relationships, and in turn more loyal customers.
@mntle Except on nights like New Years Eve and Valentines Day, customers are encouraged to go slow and spend as much time as they like. A lot of our food is cooked to order so it takes a while. We lock the door at 9 PM but anyone already in can stay. We'll stay as long as necessary to serve them. Last week we had a party of 15 spend 4 hours in the restaurant. Hah.
