L.A. Restaurant Red Medicine Shames No-Shows

By Hum
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Grand Master

Hum

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Everyone knows it?s uncool to be a no-show when it comes to restaurant reservations. But should neglecting to call and cancel make you a public pariah? Apparently, according to Noah Ellis, owner of acclaimed Beverly Hills restaurant Red Medicine, who spent the weekend tweeting the names of folks who didn?t show for dinner during prime time.

Why were there so many no-shows in one weekend? We were unable to reach any of the publicly shamed non-diners to find out. But, Ellis, who did not return a call from Yahoo! Shine seeking comment, told Eater LA, it?s always been a problem.

?Invariably, the a**holes who decide to no-show, or cancel 20 minutes before their reservation (because one of their friends made a reservation somewhere else) ruin restaurants (as a whole) for the people who make a reservation and do their best to honor it,? he said. ?Either restaurants are forced to overbook and make the guests (that actually showed up) wait, or they do what we do, turn away guests for some prime-time slots because they're booked, and then have empty tables.?

Red Medicine?a Vietnamese fusion eatery offering items like Indian eggplant with coriander and morning glory, and Akaushi beef with pistachio and mustard juice?used to overbook, he explained. But they stopped because it caused them to run behind and make people wait a long time for their booked tables. They also tried taking a credit card for every business, but felt it hurt business. Doing walk-in only, Ellis added, ?sucks? for people who want to have a special night out and don?t know when they?ll get a table.

?So, long story short, on Saturday, we lost a bunch of prime tables, which (besides hurting our business, obviously) really wasn't fair to the guests who took a 6:15 or 9:30 reservation instead of the 7:30 or 8:00 they wanted,? he continued. ?I was frustrated, so I blew them up. They probably don?t know, and if they know, they probably don?t care (or they would have come or called in the first place), but such is life.?

Ellis?s tweets drew mixed reactions.

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devn00b

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I'm willing to bet they are going to get a crapton of fake reservations now. Like HUM said. By the way, I've eaten here and the food sucked, but to be honest im not a huge fan of these "fusion" foods.

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