The Global Reservation Game Comes to India

Getting a dinner date is easy, but finding a table calls for luck as restaurants demand that diners reserve seats weeks ahead

- Ghazal Chengappa

Is there a new restaurant you are keen to try? They can probably seat you for dinner five weeks from now at 10 p.m.—if you're lucky and can reserve a spot in under two minutes online.

That's why Bengaluru-based algorithms engineer Dakshin Victor John, 28, spent a few hours analyzing session timing, page views, and queues on the website of Naru, the noodle bar that opens for reservations every Monday at 8 p.m. and is booked within minutes. John's analysis, which he describes as "pretty simple," ensured he got a table twice in six months last year, quite a feat considering some have been trying their luck every Monday since 2022.

Not everyone takes as scientific an approach to getting a table as John, but it is true that the days of walking into Mumbai and Bengaluru's top restaurants on a whim are past. Today, the most coveted ones demand a reservation—much like restaurants in London, New York, and Paris do. One of the most significant changes in India's restaurant landscape has been the shift in the equation between restaurants and customers.

"With the rise of an aspirational middle class and a growing appetite for unique dining experiences, it was only a matter of time before this trend came to India," says Raaj Sanghavi, CEO of the Mumbai-based Culinary Culture, a restaurant and chef rating, events, and content platform.