Restaurant owner Darcy MacDonell is hoping the hashtag #RespectTheRestaurant will stem what he fears is a tide of reservation “no shows” eating away at the bottom lines of businesses like his.
“I’ve noticed what’ I’ll call a dramatic increase lately, probably since the end of summer, in no-shows and last-minute cancellations,” he said.
MacDonnell is the owner of the Farmhouse Tavern near Dupont Street and Dundas Street West.
He said he was prompted to start this awareness-raising social media campaign after his restaurant was hit with 97 cancellations or ‘no-shows’ on a single Saturday in November.
“This is like the whole restaurant, two-and-a-half times,” he said.
“It was the most I had ever seen. Now it seems a bit out of control.”
MacDonnell had to send two staff members home that day. Gabrielle Lajoie, who was juggling two jobs at the time to make ends meet, was one of them.
“Our livelihoods depend on our tips so if people don’t come in, we don’t come in, and we don’t pay rent, basically,” she said.
MacDonell says customers should try and notify the restaurant as early as possible if they intend to cancel, so that their table can be offered to other patrons.