NEW BEDFORD — Nothing is worse than an empty table at a restaurant, especially if it was reserved to be full.

"It's 50/50 if I'm going to be able to fill that table," said Dave Custadio, general manager of Merrill's on the Waterfront. "I would definitely like someone to cancel their reservation [if they're not going to be able to make it], whether it's even 10 or 20 minutes."

Like many restaurant owners, Custadio isn't alone when saying that last minute cancelations and no-show reservations hurt restaurants in the long run.

In an industry already recovering from the pandemic and dealing with food prices and staffing issues, every meal counts toward a restaurant's survival.

"Cancellations are up by 10% on any given weekend, and less on the weekdays," Custadio said, adding that it's worse on holiday weekends.

"An empty table, that was originally reserved, is now open to loss of revenue and that server doesn't have that table for themselves as well."

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At Spring Primavera Restaurant in Fall River, owner Joe Souza said he started charging a $50 fee for reserved tables during holiday weekends. This Mother's Day, he said he had a party of 12 not show up.

Luckily for Souza, who has owned the restaurant for almost 46 years, he said he is usually able to quickly fill a table. However, he still tries to give customers who reserved a table the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm too nice. I wait for them to arrive, even if it's a while. I shouldn't, but I do," he said. "But people who don't show up, it's just not right for us.

"Those people don't get that."

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Why it's important to cancel reservations ASAP

Preparing a table, especially for a large number of guests, and having a no-show is still baffling to him. He also is surprised when people will book a table of 20, and only eight guests show up.

"It happens a lot," he said. "We just try to do our best to make it work."

At La Familia in Taunton, owner Deb Amaya said she rarely has cancellations, as most of her guests are regulars. "As soon as somebody cancels, somebody else is almost available immediately," she said.

At Towne House Fall River and Douro Steakhouse, co-owner Paul Filogenio said he doesn't have many no-shows or last-minute cancelations either, but when he does, it's almost impossible to fill the table.

"My location is not prime or on a busy street," Filogenio said, adding that he has only 30 tables in his restaurant on Purchase Street.

"I prefer they cancel as soon as they know, so the table is available for a walk-in. ... When you tell someone, 'We're busy,' and they leave, and then there are no-shows, it's bad for us all."

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Using reservation apps to help

Filogenio said he uses the reservation app Open Table, as well as Facebook's "reserve" button and Yelp, which he said are less reliable.

Joe's Original in Dartmouth has been using Open Table for almost 10 years.

"It's a very user-friendly app for both the restaurant and the guest," said Julia Perkins, general manager. "We log into our restaurant and we're able to, in real time, see guests making reservations, not only over the phone, but through our website."

In June 2021, Open Table launched a "Show-Up for Restaurants" initiative to stop no-shows and late cancellations with a "four strikes and you're out" no-show policy that labels users who cancel frequently and even stops people from making reservations for a limited time.

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Perkins, who has worked at Joe's for 16 years, said she sees about 20% of last-minute cancellations, but the number increases on holidays.

With 27 tables inside and 10 tables outside, Perkins said they are usually able to fill a canceled table pretty fast — after 28 years in business, guests are pretty accustomed to how their operation runs.

Perkins said after about 15 minutes, they will give a reservation away or break down tables that were put together for a large party.

However, she said it's important to still cancel a reservation right away because people using the app may see "grayed out" time slots and assume the restaurant is too busy and won't consider just going and seeing for themselves.

A few months ago, Merrill's on the Waterfront launched its reservations through Open Table, too. Custadio said it has been very useful, but with its pros and cons.

Although the app helps with the restaurant's traffic, reserving time slots that can help keep the dining room running steadily through the night, it also makes it easier for people to cancel last minute by just the click of a button.

Perkins said she knows people who use the app to make multiple reservations, to then choose which one to attend at the last minute.

For Grove Street Tavern, they don't have a problem with any last minute cancellations as they don't do reservations for under six people.

"We're pretty small. We only see about 50 people," said Paul Martin, co-owner.

Because most of the tables are set up as four-tops, Martin said he doesn't like to commit to giving away any tables because of the limit.

"People tend to put down roots in a place like this," he added. "So, it's very unusual to have a no-show when people say they're coming."

He said he has no plans to offer reservations for parties of four or two.

"It's worked out well for us," he said.

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter: @ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: No-shows and skipped reservations hurt SouthCoast restaurants