The reservation-app tax on dinner

The current event in restaurants is not a new hot room. It is the software between you and the room. Reservation platforms take a cut, sell a notification, and sometimes sell the slot itself. Diners experience this as a hunt. Restaurants experience it as rent.

A healthy table city has walk-ins, regulars, and a phone. A platform city has drops, bots, and a secondary market for 7:30 p.m. We will keep reviewing restaurants as restaurants. We will also report the booking layer as news, because that layer now decides who gets the night.