No, but I'd happily make a non-refundable down-payment on my meal in exchange for a reservation, especially for short notice (<48 hours) reservations. I'd much rather such a system than any of (1) restaurant won't take any reservations, (2) no reservations for the next 2 months, (3) paying for a scalped reservation, (4) and/or waiting in line.

If I wanted to eat at a highly-acclaimed restaurant and was given the option of either waiting three months or paying some fee of $X to guarantee a reservation tonight, then there are some non-zero values of X in which I would gladly pay.

do you have a few minutes to chat over the next few days? would love to talk to you about this comment. working on a solution that would allow you to do just that -- with a twist. you can email me at josh at mptonight dot com.

If you want to do this for customer validation, don't bother, the market for this already exists. Sometime ago, there was a post here about a startup making a killing selling software which sells reservations for restaurants and bars.

If you believe you can execute it, go for it.

If it were a small fee (less than $5) and it guaranteed my party no waiting, then heck yes; especially for very popular places that have long waits or on special occasions when you want everything to go smoothly.

I rarely go to any sit-down restaurants, so my opinion may be worthless, but I think I would be fine with a nominal fee, or better yet a deposit that goes toward the price of the meal.

Why the hell not?