Opening of the terraces on May 19: the most popular establishments already taken by storm

After more than seven months of waiting, the French will finally be able to return to the terrace from May 19.

An event that some would not miss under any circumstances.

As standing service is not authorized, reserving a table is therefore an almost mandatory step.

As a result, many establishments have already seen reservations soar.

Thus the Puebla Pavilion in the Buttes Chaumont park only accepts requests for six people and for an arrival before 6 p.m. and not only for May 19.

Read also: Deconfinement: the vagueness of the reopening discourages restaurateurs

A situation that does not surprise Romain Vidal, secretary general of the National Group of Independents for the Hotel & Restaurant branch (GNI), in Île-de-France: “

People have waited so long, they want to find moments of pleasure. The goal is not simply to eat

”.

The impression is the same on the side of future customers.

“

I wanted a rooftop, a nice place, I didn't have a precise idea.

So I typed the best terraces in Paris on the internet.

I spent 45 minutes there and everything was full, or else it just wasn't responding.

So I had to lower my criteria,

”illustrates Simon, 28.

Finally, a simple search for a restaurant with a terrace on the internet and the place was found.

"

I was the first to book, besides I even allowed myself to make two reservations of six people with two different names for my friends,

" he says.

Want to have fun

Same trend spotted by the site La Fourchette: "

there is a real craze, people want to have fun

".

A very visible phenomenon on the platform, where restaurants offering an average ticket above 50 euros, are more successful than others: "

the 5% of the best rated addresses represented 13% of searches before the Covid crisis, today" hui it is 30%

”.

Conversely, some restaurants seem not to be overwhelmed at the moment.

"

Half of the terrace is already reserved for May 19, after not much

" confirms Morgan, chef in the bar restaurant La Mécanique des Fluides in Lyon.

Here the much-announced race to find a table on the first day of reopening did not take place.

If the phenomenon is concentrated on a limited number of establishments, it is massive enough to be felt by the majority of bars: "

it is without comparison with the end of the first confinement,

confirms the site La Fourchette and the movement is accelerates every day,

last week bookings have tripled

”. And not all of them focus on May 19: "

we have peaks for the Pentecost weekend and people are already preparing for June 9

" announces the platform.

Other restaurateurs have chosen not to take reservations.

“

We are waiting to receive precise information on what we can do,

” breathes Jérôme, owner and manager of the Bar Basque in Toulouse.

He explains being more suspicious after the many reversals of the government on deconfinement measures, the latest of which concerns the 50% gauge.

“

We don't want to make reservations that we won't be able to keep.

And then, we are known in Toulouse, we know that we will be full no matter what

”.

To read also: "Traders, restaurateurs ...: the sacrificed"

Not taking reservations can be advantageous for restaurateurs. Indeed, the risk that people ultimately do not come, especially because they have made reservations in several establishments, is not negligible. In addition, the attendance next Wednesday will be strongly correlated with the weather, since all the tables are on the terrace. "

If it's sunny, reservations could really explode early next week, otherwise many establishments will remain empty

" confirms Romain Vidal.