BEC Article and Link Directory

By Amy Pataki Restaurant Critic

You once had to be somebody to get a reservation at the hot new restaurant. Nowadays, nobody can get one. A growing number of Toronto restaurants simply won’t take reservations.

This policy can be democratic or aggravating, depending on your perspective.

“I’ve lined up at Pizzeria Libretto for an hour,” says Rocco Agostino, co-owner and chef of the popular Ossington Ave. pizzeria.

There’s no preferential treatment here. I walk in with my family, with my baby, and we wait like everyone else.”

So it goes at The Ceili Cottage, Foxley Bistro, Black Hoof and Guu Izakaya. Besides tremendous buzz and fairly recent openings, these restaurants share a no-reservation policy.

They also share a decidedly casual atmosphere, with small rooms and fast turnover; Guu on Church St. imposes a two-hour table limit to accommodate those lined up out the heavy wooden door.

No-reservation eateries are the antithesis of the white-tablecloth dining room, with intimidating maitre d’s and leather-bound wine lists. Show up, put your name on the list and mark the time on the sidewalk or at the bar. You’ll get a call on your cellphone when your table is ready. Go early or mid-week to avoid lineups.

“Toronto diners are savvy. I’d wait an hour to eat at an interesting place,” says Agostino.

The trend seems to have started more than a decade ago when Gio Rana opened a homey Italian restaurant on Yonge St. to great acclaim — and with no reservations. The restaurant, called The Nose for its large plaster sign, was swamped. His current place in Leslieville, Gio Rana’s Really, Really Nice Restaurant, still won’t take reservations, unless it’s for groups of six or more.

And customers still wait “for up to an hour,” says co-manager Zachary Chan; Rana is vacationing in Italy. “We send them down the street to a lounge we like.”

Overwhelmed by demand — and tired of losing $1,000 a night in liquor sales to nearby bars — Dundas St. W. charcuterie hotspot Black Hoof opened its own holding area across the street earlier this year. The Hoof Café is just as busy. Nor does it take reservations.

ViVetha in the Beach won’t book tables on weekend days. Local Kitchen & Wine Bar on Queen St. W. takes reservations only for two seats at the chef’s table, otherwise it’s first-come, first-served, but only when your entire party is present. To get a reservation, the website says “you must be a meat eater, you must love food.”

Restaurants close the reservation book because it’s easier to manage customer demand at the door.“I do the reservation thing at Starfish, and it’s hard enough to stay on top of that on a daily basis,” says Patrick McMurray of Ceili Cottage.

“The best reason, of course, is that without taking a reservation, I have cancelled the possibility of a ‘no show’ — those folks who book, then don’t show or call to cancel.”

The Star didn’t start including reservation policies in restaurant reviews until 2008: It wasn’t an issue before then. Even my favourite late-night Chinatown noodle shop, House of Gourmet, will book a table for two.

Agostino acknowledges that some diners plan their evenings around a 7 p.m. table.

“People want to know if they have a seat, especially if they’re coming a distance,” Agostino says.

That’s why his new Enoteca Sociale on Dundas St. W., opening Monday, will accept dinner reservations or half of its 56 seats.

It could be the start of a whole new trend.