Is it fair that apps can snap up tables at the hottest restaurants in New Jersey and resell them—sometimes to the highest bidder, and sometimes not at all?
Some state legislators don’t think so. A bill banning such third-party businesses, which passed the state Senate and Assembly in March, is currently on Governor Mikie Sherrill’s desk.
Reservations at popular New Jersey restaurants can cost diners hundreds of dollars through these sites, such as Appointment Trader. A 2024 New Jersey Monthly story on the topic reported that some diners use these platforms to sell reservations for desirable tables that they end up being unable to use themselves. But most users are in it for the money, deploying sophisticated web-crawling bots to scalp coveted tables at the state’s most in-demand restaurants—and often reserving tables that haven’t actually been sold, leaving restaurants stuck with empty seats that would have otherwise gone to paying customers. These users book tables on platforms like Resy, OpenTable and Yelp using phony email addresses, fake names and even bogus or stolen credit-card numbers for reservations requiring deposits.
Chef Robbie Felice told NJM in 2024 that he realized this was happening when customers began mentioning they’d had to purchase a reservation to eat at his popular pastaRAMEN restaurant in Montclair. And yet he also found himself with empty tables on what were supposed to be busy nights, since some scalped reservations hadn’t been sold to patrons.
The bipartisan bill banning these sites was sponsored by Senators Kristin Corrado (R-Passaic) and Joseph Lagana (D-Bergen), who say the system isn’t fair. And with the World Cup coming to New Jersey in June, they also want to ensure that visitors are able to find tables and spend money at local restaurants.
New York has already banned unauthorized third-party restaurant-reservation sites. The law took effect in February of last year and prohibits websites from selling or listing reservations without a direct agreement from the restaurant.
Some of the other New Jersey restaurants that have had their reservations posted on Appointment Trader include the Saddle River Inn, Eatontown’s Ember and Eagle, and Jersey City‘s 15 Fox Place and Razza.
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