Monica Burton is the former deputy editor of Eater.com where she covered restaurants and food culture from 2017 to 2025. This post originally appeared in the February 10, 2020 edition of The Move, a ...

Despite evidence from a recent consumer study suggesting that no-reservations policies result in lost traffic, many restaurant operators with such policies said they see no need to change their ways.

Here’s how it works. I’ve arranged for restaurants in the city and suburbs to reserve a table (or two or more) for New Year’s Eve under my name. Starting Wednesday, readers can call those restaurants, ...