I love brunch. I don’t know about you, but here at Skidmore, brunch is all the rage. But the difficult thing about brunch is most of the best places don’t take reservations. So instead, you put your name on the list and wait around outside in the cold for the next hour or so before a table is ready. I am not about that life.
But wait! What do I see in the app store? The future of brunch: Nowait.
Nowait is an app that virtually holds your place in line. It tells you how long the wait is for any restaurant connected to the app. You can then choose to hold your spot on line if the wait seems reasonable. Nowait then alerts the restaurant to put your name on the list.
Ten minutes before your table is ready, you get a text message alerting you that your table will be ready soon. When your table is ready, you get another text which tells you that you have five minutes to claim your table and then your table will be given to someone else.
A lot of time restaurants don’t take reservations because people who don’t show, or are late, or cancel can really throw off their ability to fill the restaurant. The thought behind Nowait is that you are much more likely to show and show on time when you put yourself in line only 45 minutes before hand and you know you will lose your table if you’re not on time.
The best part of this app is the ten minute text message. You can check Nowait when you wake up, wait in line while you’re getting ready, and leave when you get that ten minute text. You’ll be perfectly on time and didn’t have to wait at all.
Nowait is relatively new and if you don’t see your favorite restaurant on their list, they encourage you to reach out to your favorite restaurant via Facebook, Yelp, or Twitter.
Nowait is now available in the app store for both Android and Apple devices.