How to Make, Cancel, and Change Restaurant Reservations Without Being Rude

All that is to say, it doesn’t hurt to call ahead and let a restaurant know that you’ll be one less, no matter how many people were in your original party—and, in fact, you should. “That would be the courteous thing to do,” says Pisacane, “so that we can potentially fill that seat with someone who would like to dine with us and has been wanting to dine with us.” The restaurant, and that lucky diner, will thank you.

Can I ask to move my outdoor reservation inside?

The weather forecast for that Sunday reservation was looking balmy and cloudless when you booked an outdoor table, but the weather app is suddenly showing a 20% chance of drizzle. There’s no reason you can’t politely ask to be moved inside, but don’t take for granted that a restaurant will be able to immediately accommodate the request. “If it works, it works,” Pisacane says. “But the main thing that is always troubling is when someone assumes that it can be moved.”

Of course, a restaurant wants to fulfill that request as best they can, Yin adds. But “it’s not a guarantee or an entitlement.” If it is indeed dumping rain the day of your reservation, and the outdoor seating is uncovered, you have a fair case for just canceling—the restaurant should understand, and may even offer the option.

Is it bad to make a second-choice reservation I might cancel later if my first-choice dinner option becomes available?

You’re feeling confident a Resy alert will pop up for the restaurant you’ve been waiting to try, but you’re certain you can get a table at the pasta spot around the corner. So you make a reservation for dinner at the sure bet restaurant and wait to see if your top choice will open up. It’s not great to treat restaurants as chips in your reservation game, but if you happen to find yourself in this situation, make sure to cancel the first reservation with as much notice as possible. Of course, that’s nearly impossible when talking about a same-night dinner. In general, don’t make two reservations for the same night just to maximize your options. “They’re both prepping for you to come,” Rivero says.

If your dream reservation opens up 10 minutes—or even an hour or two—before your backup reservation, the right thing to do is honor your existing reservation, unless you can get in touch with the restaurant and they have no issue with the cancellation. If a spot opened up once, it’ll happen again.

If I don’t see a reservation available on an app like Resy or OpenTable, can I call or email the restaurant?

If the restaurant has a phone line—Libertine, for one, does not—you can call it. As with any reservation request, there’s no harm in trying. That Hail Mary phone call could pay off. “Somebody who’s looking at the reservation book might see a way to make it happen for you, especially if it’s a special occasion,” Yin says. “We want to take care of people and make their experience exciting and the best that it can be.”

What if I don’t cancel the reservation but don’t show up? Will a restaurant put me on a no-dine list?

Ghosting is rude—which means ghosting a restaurant is also rude. Don’t do it! Most reservation systems will automatically flag a no-show on a customer’s profile, Yin says. Whether or not that restaurant chooses to curate a no-fly list of sorts with that information is at their discretion (Yin’s restaurants don’t), but the flag doesn’t go unnoticed, particularly for repeat offenders. “If you have multiple no-shows, and a restaurant sees that in your record, they might just think that you’re not coming,” she adds. Take it this way: “If you cancel on your friend for dinner multiple times,” Rivero says, “there will come a point where they won’t invite you back.”