CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — As the vaccine rollout picks up speed, people are starting to feel more comfortable about dining indoors.
With Chicago restaurants only allowed to serve at half of their capacity, getting a reservation is increasingly tougher.
“People are actually booking further in advance than they ever have before,” Frank Ruffolo, managing partner at Franco's Restaurant Group in Chicago, told the Noon Business Hour on Monday. “Two the three weeks ahead of time we’re seeing reservations for the weekends.”
Ruffolo says that is the case at all of his group’s restaurants, including Il Culaccino, Franconello’s and Franco’s.
The downside, he said, is that people sometimes cancel with little notice or they show up with a smaller group than they booked.
“Restaurant seating is always like a game of Tetris,” said Ruffolo, referring to the tile-sorting video game. “If you have a six-top, you’re saving it for that part of six. Now, if it’s only four people you might have a different table you could put them at, a different booth, a different layout.”
He asks that diners give restaurants as much notice as possible as plans change so that the restaurants can adjust.
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