People will pay thousands of dollars a year for a guaranteed restaurant reservation

Once, not so long ago, booking a table in a hot new restaurant did not go to Resiya with a midnight dash. We really didn’t know how good it was at the time. In major cities from New York to Los Angeles, hours-long lines out the door are now the norm, not the exception.

One reason is that restaurants are increasingly relying on reservations for more predictable profits after the pandemic. The rise of TikTok and Instagram before it has meanwhile elevated food to a cultural phenomenon. Entering a trendy place also carries the same social prestige as buying tickets to a blockbuster Broadway show.

Evan Felcher and Mattia Ros were fed up with the stress, waiting lists and hassle that come with modern dining. After two friends who met as tennis rivals in college reconnected in New York over jobs in finance (and a love of the city’s culinary scene), they began discussing ways to offer guaranteed reservations at destination restaurants.

The solution the pair came up with is a subscription-based app Introductionis likely to fuel debate about the growing influence of the wealthy on the restaurant industry. The edges of places, which is never healthythere is only thinned out after years of punishing inflation, prompting restaurateurs to investigate wide range alternative sources of income.

Access charges an annual subscription fee of $1,788 for reserved tables at top NYC restaurants only. The cheapest tier of the app includes up to two reservations per month, as well as “concierge service” and select options, in addition to a limited-time free “guest plan.”

“Access is designed to redefine the booking experience,” Felcher told TechCrunch, “giving members exclusive access to coveted reservations.”

Access’ concept is reminiscent of the gray market for restaurant orders that started after the pandemic. Sites like Appointment Trader allow sellers to list two tops at prime spots like Carbone for $200-plus a pop. Restaurants have no control over sales, which is often helped by bots that make reservations faster than any human from legitimate platforms like OpenTable.

A draft law The decision by the New York legislature would ban what critics call this “registration piracy” in the state. But Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign the law into law.

Felcher drew a contrast between Access and third-party reservation marketplaces, pitching Access not just as a diner, but as a way for restaurants to gain more control over their order inventory. It is also a means of income for cash-strapped places, he said; A portion of Access’ membership fee revenue goes directly to its restaurant partners.

“Restaurants are getting high-touch customer data,” he said. “Access can seamlessly pass (this) on to their front of house staff… We partner directly with leading restaurants and hospitality groups to pre-book tables nightly just for our customer base.”

However, it is a somewhat opaque process.

Felcher said Access’ “customer satisfaction” algorithm ensures subscribers land reservations based on inventory among the platform’s restaurant partners. What if, say, a restaurant suddenly explodes on TikTok and every subscriber wants a table there in the same week?

Well, customers who subscribe to Access’s $3,588-a-year membership will get priority because they have early booking and “highest level” access to Access-hosted, hospitality-based events. Additionally, Felcher says, “(Our) internal mechanism effectively (securely) delivers all reservations promised to our customers at our various subscription levels.”

In another move likely to anger diners, Access has adopted a credit-based system that dynamically “scores” reservations. The number of credits that make up the “price” of a table in the app varies depending on the popularity of the restaurant, the size of the party, the day, and the time of day. Only a certain percentage of loans roll over each month; Subscribers of more expensive plans can get credit a la carte.

“Members enjoy a seamless, stress-free booking experience, while venues regain control and monetize their on-demand booking inventory,” said Felcher.

All of this may seem like a hard sell – to members of rival platform Dorsia prepayment For guaranteed minimum spend of ~$500 at some of the same restaurants on Access. “With Access, there are no waiting lists, awkwardly asking a friend, or being subject to a rigid pre-determined minimum spend—practices that greatly undermine the true element of hospitality,” Felcher said.

Access is in beta. The platform limits membership to 3,000 people and requires potential subscribers to apply by filling out a form. But Access is already generating $50,000 in revenue, and Felcher expects the program to reach $1 million by the end of next year.

Access also received a $500,000 investment from PE firm Intium Management and the family office of former Goldman Sachs partner Ron Marks.

Marks said he was attracted to Access because of the business’s “ancillary addition” and potential for expansion. In addition to events open to members, Access is exploring more personalized restaurant services, a la reservation startup. Blackbirdand planning to expand into nightlife venues such as lounges. The company is also launching a corporate program that allows teams to arrange private dining rooms, bar purchases and access to ticketed sports, arts, entertainment and fashion events.

“I immediately saw that this new company would solve the problem of hard-to-get restaurant reservations while also benefiting venues,” Marks said. “The market is ripe for disruptive technology applications like Access to help eliminate or reduce the pervasive and disruptive emergence of booking bots.”

Access’s challenge will be to overcome the feeling that it is just another program to be allowed the rich are reluctant to wait. CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn called it “a huge booming perks industry” — perks that come at the cost of a worse experience for less fortunate patrons and raise concerns about service quality and fairness for those unwilling to shell out top dollar.

To be honest, Access’s work is not that radical. startups like LineLeap allow users to pay to skip the line at bars, clubs and concerts. Elsewhere, there are credit card companies like AmEx caught it up restaurant reservation programs to open the door to select tables behind expensive annual fees.

Felcher argued that Access could, in fact, bridge the real gap between high-profile, sought-after venues and aspiring diners.

“At the end of the day, everyone has to eat, and in a market like New York City, urbanites and tourists alike want the highest level of service and experience for leisure and business use,” he said. “Access makes it frictionless for people to have these experiences on a recurring basis without knowing the chef.”

Frictionless for people who can afford it, that is.