Walk-ins versus Reservations: Which Strategy suits which Concept?

Jan-Peter Wulf

25 Jul 2023 4 minutes to read

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Bar ohne Namen

Entschlossen verweigert sich Savage, der Bar einen Namen zu geben. Stattdessen sind drei klassische Design-Symbole das Logo der Trinkstätte in Dalston: ein gelbes Quadrat, ein rotes Viereck, ein blauer Kreis. Am meisten wurmt den sympathischen Franzosen dabei, dass es kein Gelbes-Dreieck-Emoji gibt. Das erschwert auf komische Weise die Kommunikation. Der Instagram Account lautet: a_bar_with_shapes-for_a_name und anderenorts tauchen die Begriffe ‘Savage Bar’ oder eben ‚Bauhaus Bar‘ auf.

Für den BCB bringt Savage nun sein Barkonzept mit und mixt für uns mit Unterstützung von Russian Standard Vodka an der perfekten Bar dazu.

How Bars of Berlin work #1 – with Buck and Breck und Bar Neiro

Reservations: they are increasingly common in the Berlin restaurant scene.
But are they also a good fit for bars? The answer: it depends. We spoke with Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro from ‘Buck and Breck’ and Erik Breuer from the new ‘Bar Neiro’ to find out why.

BUCK & BRECK

The admission policy at the ‘Buck & Breck’ – no reservations (or almost none – more on that later) and a bell out front where people ring to find out whether or not they will be admitted – would not be out of place at a nightclub. However, the bar’s operator Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro is keen to stress that it is actually a capacity policy. After all, the Brunnenstraße location only has room for 45 patrons (30 seated and no more than 15 standing). The bar was opened in the early 2010s, and whenever it was full, people were offered the option of getting a phone call telling them when spaces became available. This soon proved to be difficult logistically, however, and today people are simply told to be patient, as capacity often becomes available in 15 or 20 minutes.

“A bar is not a restaurant”

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic, the operator has noted that people have become more patient and more willing to wait. For Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro, there are no two ways about it: “A bar is not a restaurant. That’s why reservations can be a problem.” In a restaurant, you can estimate how long people will stay – a lot of places now offer two or maybe three seating slots at most – but in a bar? Is someone dropping by for a drink, or are they looking to make an evening of it? It really is difficult to determine something like this in advance, and it can also be a very spontaneous decision – unlike at a restaurant, where it is extremely rare that a patron decides to order a second main dish or opts for another multi-course meal. As the operator put it: “We do not want to make the experience any less spontaneous.”

Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro, Bar Operator of Buck & Breck

© Katja Hiendlmayer

A single-zone ticket to Potsdam?

The thing that has to be (subtly) managed is the balance between spending time and ordering drinks – an action they actively encourage, both in their own economic interests and in the interests of their waiting patrons. de Sousa Monteiro: “We encourage them: ‘Can we get you anything else?’” Yes? Then we serve up another round of drinks. No? Then we tally up their drinks and hand them the bill. A bar – or his bar, at any rate – is not a coffee house in which customers can sip a white coffee and read newspapers for hours on end. The manager says that he occasionally gets people who are surprised by this policy, and that he has an explanation ready should someone actually decide to complain about it: “It’s like trying to travel all the way to Potsdam on a single-zone ticket.” An analogy that would be understood by every customer, but so far he has never had to use it. Something that speaks to the quality of his patrons.

The „Buck & Breck“ from Berlin

© Katja Hiendlmayer

The bar is closed on Saturdays

Speaking of patrons: the bar is closed on Saturdays. The most popular day of the week for going out! But why? For this very reason: Saturdays are more stressful, because customers act differently on Saturdays (and cause more stress) according to the operator. Anyone who has worked behind a bar knows just how different stress levels can be working on a Wednesday compared to working on a Saturday. Thanks to its modest size and the continuous flow of customers on the days it is open, the ‘Buck and Breck’ is able to forgo Saturdays – something that gives its bar team more quality time at the weekend.

So no reservations? Not quite.

There are in fact two small exceptions to the no-reservations rule: If a somewhat larger group – fans of bar culture making a trip to Berlin, for example – wants to ensure in advance that they will be able to get in, they might be offered a table for an aperitif before 8:00 p.m. They also accept a “very small” share of reservations up to 10:00 p.m. The bar does not use a reservation tool, nor will they ever do so. Simply call, ask – and in some cases a corresponding note will be made. As Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro put it: “It’s all a matter of communication.”

BAR NEIRO

Is a bar a restaurant after all?

Erik Breuer, the operator of ‘Bar Neiro’ on Ohmstraße, on the other hand, works with reservations the same way many restaurants do. There are various reasons for this: Firstly, it gives the bar’s patrons a guarantee that there really will be room for them in this modestly sized establishment. Secondly, he doesn’t think it’s practical to ask patrons to drop by later, because unlike the ‘Buck and Breck’, the ‘Bar Neiro’ is located on the first floor in a rear courtyard near the Heinrich-Heine-Straße U-Bahn underground tram station in an area that is practically free of bars.

High-fidelity location based on a Japanese model

And thirdly: ‘Bar Neiro’ is a listening bar based on Japan’s jazz kissa – there is usually jazz music playing on real vinyl, with records being played from start to finish. Breuer, who runs a sound studio next door, has invested a great deal in the bar’s sound system. The website offers a detailed breakdown of the bar’s high-fidelity set-up. Even so, things are not as strict as in some listening bars in Japan, where patrons sit in silence while each record is played. People here are allowed to speak with one another as the music plays while they savour the drinks prepared by bar manager Jeff Berraoui (formerly at the ‘Truffle Pig’).

The Berlin Listening-Bar „Bar Neiro"

© Tomas Miño

80% reservations, 20% walk-ins

However, this makes it easier to regulate customer flows and maintain an overview. The availability of reservations makes it clear that this is a very special type of bar. In addition, it also allows them to almost entirely eliminate the disappointments that arise from being sent away at the door. Erik Breuer: “We encourage people to make reservations. We want people to know what kind of bar this is.” He estimates that roughly 80 percent of their business runs through reservations and 20 percent with walk-ins – a ratio that is used by many restaurants. Another similarity: anyone who makes their reservations online (reservations for up to four people are possible) will be given a time slot of at least two hours – depending on demand.

No no-show fees

Tables are not guaranteed, something that is due to the location’s layout, which features both table and bar seats. And unlike the situation that is ever more common in restaurants, credit cards are not debited in advance – nor are there any no-show fees. There have been very few cases to date in which people have simply not shown up. Breuer explained that when someone has reserved but is unable to make it, they generally cancel in advance or are rebooked to another time slot. In fact, people usually do so with enough notice that it is possible to fill their spots using the waiting list – because they have that, too – or through drop-in custom.

“Success came faster than expected”

Breuer – a sound engineer by trade – is delighted by how quickly his bar has found its audience: “We were able to make the ‘Bar Neiro’ a success far more quickly than we had expected.” The project certainly did not get off to a fast start. The pandemic delayed construction of the sound studio by about two years, and efforts to add the bar were pushed back even further as a result. Test runs kicked off in February 2023, and by April it was finally time to open the doors for real. Jazz is sometimes joined by electronic music, but even though there are two turntables, the only things mixed at the bar are liquid. In future there will be curated evenings, with talks about the artists and their music, after which this will be played.

By the way: should anyone simply decide to turn up outside their door without reservations in the hope that they will be able to get in, they can ask to be called back whenever a spot comes free. Just like in the early days at ‘Buck and Breck’.