How long should a restaurant hold a table for a late guest?
How long should a restaurant hold a table for a guest who is running late? There is no rule that every restaurant follows. In the policies we found, the number is 15 minutes, and what matters more is that you picked a number, told the guest, and your team applies it the same way every night.
This is a short guide built from three published sources. They are a handful of restaurants and one booking-software company, not a survey of the whole industry, so treat the 15 minutes as a common starting point and not a standard.
What the published policies say
City Winery's help centre says it offers a 15-minute grace period for all reservations, and tells guests who are running late to reply by text to the reservation alert they received.
A former general manager of a Brooklyn Italian restaurant gave The Takeout the same figure. In that article, Kate Ferrin said a late guest's table will be held for 15 minutes, and after that the reservation is gone if the guest has not called. She also said that a five-minute delay is no big deal, but half an hour could be a real problem.
The same article is honest about the limits. A call does not guarantee the table will be held, though staff are more likely to help a guest who warned them. And on a Friday or Saturday night, a late arrival probably cuts into the time they have at the table.
So two sources use 15 minutes, and neither claims it is the law of the land. The booking software company Resos goes further and leaves the number blank. Its cancellation policy template reads "We hold tables for [grace period] after the booking time," with the number left for each restaurant to fill in.
Pick the number that fits your room
The right grace period depends on what a held table costs you. A few things to weigh:
- If you run two or three sittings a night, a table held empty is a table the next booking cannot use. A shorter window protects the next party.
- If you have a long waitlist or walk-ins queuing at the door, an empty table is easy to refill, so a short window costs little.
- If your restaurant is quiet midweek, you can be more generous. Nobody is waiting for that table.
- A large party is harder to reseat than a table for two, so many places set a firmer rule for groups. Whatever you choose, write it down.
None of this is sourced advice. It is our reading of the trade-off, and your own books will tell you more than a general rule.
Tell people before they are late
A grace period only works if guests know about it. The Resos template puts three things in the policy text: the length of the hold, a request to call if running late, and a line saying the table may go to another guest after that time. You can put the same three lines in your booking confirmation and your reminder.
Resos also reports that reservations with a delivered text reminder had a 16% lower recorded no-show rate. Resos describes that as an association seen in its operating data, not a controlled experiment, so it does not prove reminders cause the drop. Still, a reminder is the cheapest place to mention your late policy. If you are working on that side of things, our piece on reducing no-shows on the booking call covers what to ask at the time of booking.
What to do when the guest calls to say they are late
This is where it tends to go wrong. A guest rings at 7:10 for a 7:00 table, someone says "no problem" without checking the book, and ten minutes later the table is given to a walk-in. Then two parties are standing at the host stand.
A simple routine avoids it:
1. Write the guest's new arrival time next to the booking, not just in your head. 2. Tell them plainly how long you can hold the table. If the new time is outside your window, say so now, and offer the bar or a later table if you have one. Ferrin suggested guests ask about the bar when a table has gone, so offering it first saves them asking. 3. Tell whoever is on the door. A held table that the host does not know about is not held. 4. If the guest does not show, release it, and note that you did. Resos advises not to count the table as filled until the new party has accepted it, which stops you from losing both parties.
The same routine applies on the phone and at the door. Taking reservations by phone works best when the person answering knows the late policy and has the diary open.
The Friday rush is where it breaks
On a busy night the phone rings while the host is seating a party, and a guest who is running late gets voicemail or a busy line. The call you most need to answer is the one saying "we are ten minutes away." Our Friday rush checklist for booking calls lists what to have ready before service starts.
If an AI phone agent answers your calls, make sure it knows your grace period and can note a late arrival on the booking. Tableline's phone agent can take, move and cancel bookings, and it works from the information and rules you give it, so a grace period is something you would set up with us. Check that any system you use does the same, and that a late call reaches a person when the situation is unusual.
Keep it fair and consistent
Guests remember how a late arrival was handled. A restaurant that holds a table for one guest and releases it after five minutes for another creates arguments. Pick a window, apply it to every booking, and let staff make exceptions only for good reasons that you would be happy to explain. What a good booking call sounds like is a useful reference for the tone, since a firm policy can still be friendly.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a restaurant hold a table for a late guest?
There is no universal rule. The published policies we found use a 15-minute grace period, including City Winery and the Brooklyn restaurant manager quoted by The Takeout. Pick a window that fits how busy you are, tell guests in advance, and apply it consistently.
Should a restaurant give away the table automatically after the grace period?
Not necessarily. The Takeout article says a call does not guarantee the table will be held, and Resos advises that you should not count a table as filled until the new party has accepted it. Release it deliberately, and check that the next party can actually take it.
What should I do if a guest calls to say they are late?
Note the new time on the booking, tell them how long you can hold the table, and pass it to the person on the door. If the new time is outside your window, offer the bar or a later table instead of promising something you cannot keep.
Can I put my late policy in the booking confirmation?
Yes, and it is the simplest fix. The Resos template includes the length of the hold, a request to call if running late, and a line that the table may be offered to another guest after that time. Copy the idea and use your own number.
Does a reminder message reduce no-shows?
Resos reports a 16% lower recorded no-show rate for reservations that had a delivered text reminder. It describes this as an observed association in its data, not proof of cause. A reminder is still a sensible place to mention your late policy.