No matter where you go, you’re always going to encounter Lakeland restaurants in the area where getting a reservation is deemed practically impossible. No matter how hard you try or how many times you call, there will always be that one restaurant where landing a reservation is considered a status symbol and landing a reservation through regular means is a practically a Herculean task.
You would think that planning ahead and calling in advance would be enough to get you a reservation at these restaurants, but these restaurants seem to reach an alternate plane of existence where phone calls never connect and you’re placed in a perpetual state of being on hold whenever you manage to reach someone.
It is possible to get reservations to these restaurants as long as you know what to do. If you want to get into these Lakeland restaurants, here are some tips you can try.
Score a connection
One of the best ways to land a reservation at these types of restaurants is to know somebody on the inside. A personal connection, whether it’s a chef, a host, or a manager can definitely help you land a reservation at these places when you need it.
Employees like these at these restaurants definitely have quite a bit of pull, so if you can, call them up and see if they can lend you a hand with getting a reservation.
Use a hotel
A lot of these kinds of restaurants are attached to hotels, so one way to score a reservation at these restaurants is by booking a reservation through the hotel.
A lot of the time, hotels offer a complimentary table or reservation for hotel guests, so if you’re traveling in the area and want to eat at that particular restaurant, you might as well get a nice hotel stay on top of it.
Get on a list
Ah, the list. This is something you might be familiar with in restaurants, clubs, and bars. Getting on “the list” seems to be the ticket to getting into these trendy places with no issues whatsoever.
With places like these, having a personal connection can get to on that list, see above. There are other ways to get on that list. If you’re a big spender, restaurants actually take note of that, and you might land yourself on there.
Try your luck
When all else fails, don’t be afraid to simply call up these Tampa restaurants and try to get a reservation. You might get lucky and land a last minute cancellation. Worst case scenario, you get placed on the waiting list, so what’s the harm in trying?