Table at 7? L.A. begs to differ How full the restaurants weren't

And the way some restaurants set up their Open Table or Guest Bridge systems make getting that 7 o'clock table even more difficult. That's the case at Katsuya. "If the slots are booked," Brown says, "to add another slot in there requires a manager's approval." If Guest Bridge says your desired slot is filled, the hostess cannot add your party of two into that slot, even if she sees that no one has reservations at 7:15 or 7:30 or 7:45, without her running and getting a manager. (Not all restaurants set up their systems to require that.) "The phone rings nonstop here," Brown says, so the hostess isn't likely to take the time to get the approval, unless the caller is "super persistent."

Sometimes being a good manager means being flexible. Bella Lantsman, general manager at Chinois-on-Main, has adapted to slower business on weekdays (which she attributes to increasing traffic problems in the last couple years) by allowing diners to reserve outside of Chinois' two seating windows. "So if someone calls," she says, "not on a weekend, and says, 'We want 7,' and we have it, we give it to them."

But that kind of thinking seems harder and harder to come by lately.

"Some restaurants panic or stress out and they don't think too much," Fraîche's Perez says. "They don't want to work very hard."

Could that have been what was going on late Saturday night when a friend and I stopped by the Hungry Cat in Hollywood after a Hollywood Bowl concert, with no reservation? It was about 11:15, and I could see six open tables for two. The hostess told us they were waiting for some reservations to show up, and we'd have to wait a few minutes.

Two guys came, no reservation, and were seated right away. Two women came and were seated.

"Did those women have a reservation?" I asked. Yes, they did. "And the two guys?"

"No," said the hostess, "but they were here before you." Huh? I was waiting for my table when they came.

"Those reservations you're waiting for," I said, "they're for 11:15? 11:30?"

"Both," she said, clearly exasperated. "Do you want me to seat you now?"

Yes, I did.

This was all very strange because as might be expected, the wait staff and kitchen seemed to be in a hurry to finish up and go home, and those other diners with reservations never materialized.

On Monday, I called the Hungry Cat's general manager, Tim Staehling, to get his take on what happened.