It has ,also, come to our attention that third seating reservations at Cambells Tavern have been closed on selected evenings in an attempt to direct third seating guests into Kings Arms and Shields Tavern through central reservations. This manipulation of our valued paying guest deprives them of all their options in regard to a distinct dining experience at each tavern. We have heard the call for distinct menus, atmosphere, and a separate manager in each unit to acheive this goal. Why then are we steering our guests into second and third choice reservations at a tavern not of their choosing?

Do we really need to open our doors and accept reservations at 5:00pm? I think not. The current wisdom no longer fits the circumstanse, depresses check averages, and , in fact,suppresses the total cover count.

We moved to 5:00pm reservations in the early 90's while Shields Tavern was establishing their guest traffic. Colonial Williamsburg enjoyed a surplus of tavern seats and optimizing overall table availability, I suspect, was not a primary concern. In addition, we seemed to be under some pressure to free tables for the middle seating(6:45-7:15) and, therefore, starting at 5:00 instead of 5:30 would facilitate this apparent concern. What a loss in revenue,covers, and check averages!

All restaurant professionals know that as the evening progresses check averages increase, dining becomes relaxed and more gracious. Guest are more inclined to enjoy wine,cocktails, and appetizers. Prime dining and the seats in most demand by our guests are located between 6:00 and 8:00pm yet our current reservation strategy seems to fly in the face of this maxum. The current reservation and seating procedures opens our downstair seating (about 125 seats) from 5:00-5:30 and we finish the early seating upstairs (about 70 seats) from 5:30 to 6:00. We are "casting our nets" at the wrong time. Let's restore early reservations at 5:30 and open our doors at 5:30 and invert the seating order starting upstairs at 5:30 and downstairs at 6:00. What does this restoration of seating strategy prior to the 90's accomplish for us? First of all, an additional 125 seats are available during highest demand, the prime dining period (6:00-8:00). Better yet, our best and most plentiful seats (Rooms A,B,Porch,Tap) would be availabe again in the later stages of the prime dining period which is the absolute best period for capturing our most profitable guest (7:30-8:00).

The nay-sayers may suggest the change would be difficult because current reservation inventory is loaded to the front. Our Tavern seating is extremly flexible. If early seating upstairs is overbooked, we simply start downstairs a little early until reservation inventory matches our current opening time and seating pattern. Furthermore, 5:00 reservations has a dismal record of under bookings and no shows; we seldom if ever seat all the available tables downstair between 5:00 and 5:30. Another objection to this change may express concern about available seating for the third turn. If we finish the second seating downstairs by 8:00, we will be okay. Seventy seats will be available upstairs by 8:45 and on our busiest nights the entire house will be turned by 9:30. Experience shows that the third seating is nearly always underbooked and stations tend to turn out of order by the third seating , in that, some downstair stations commonly turn before the uptairs is fully available for the third seating. We can do this! It was practiced for 25 years with success prior to the 90's.

This essay has been distributed to the list below with the hope that this opinion will generate some discussion with the decision makers and staff directly affected by this change. This opinion is just that but it comes from 30 years experience with CW waitstaff starting at Kings Arms in 1969,Campbells 1972,onto Williamsburg Inn 1980,Lodge banquet, and back to Campbells in 1983. My association with CW over the years is treasured and has been good to me and my family. I firmly believe that our bests interests and the guests are contained within this essay. A common lament from our guests is "We could only get reservations at 5:00 or 9:00, we really wanted 7:00." Adopt these changes and we will all be more prosperous and more guests will enjoy that primetime dining experience at Campbells Tavern.

Respectfully submitted,

Cary Kennedy,waiter Campbells Tavern

May 1st, 2002--This document was printed and signed by the following wait staff in support. Original signatures on file.

Cary
Season
Clara
Shawn
Mark
Natasha
Kevin
Suzette
Brenda
Cindy
Kenny
Claudine
Vaughn
Teresa
Roy