The Wine Project now on OpenTable!

As of today, The Wine Project is now accepting limited reservations through OpenTable!

What do we mean by "limited" reservations? Basically, we're going to be holding a handful of tables each day--about a third of our capacity--which we're letting people book either at OpenTable.com, our own website, or by phone. This begs the question of why we haven't been allowing reservations to begin with...

For any restaurant, the key to success is making sure that your tables are filled as frequently as possible. When someone makes a reservation for a table, the restaurant is forced to turn away walk-in customers. And, when people who make a reservation don't show up, that table remains open and the restaurant loses money. For a small place like ours, this can be crippling, particularly on a weekend when we'd have to turn away a large number of walk-in customers.

We've heard feedback from our guests that they don't want to gamble when planning their night out. And we recognize that your time is precious. When you're dealing with coordinating a babysitter, finding parking, or just matching up your schedule with your friends, it's difficult if you can't count on sitting down at a restaurant at a planned time.

This limited reservation system allows us to try and split the difference. For those of you who want to plan ahead, you can now call us or use the reservation system online. And for those of you who want to feel as if you can still get a table just by dropping by, we're keeping a good portion of the dining room and bar available for you.

We'd love to get your input on these changes. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments below or talk to any of us at the bar next time you're in. And if you're interested in making a reservation, click over to our reservations section now.

Cheers!