What to do if a restaurant doesn't have a phone number - Eat Out

Feb 25, 2025

Hold my calls!

It’s a bit of a trope by now that the coolest restaurants are notoriously hard to actually go to. Whether it be because they’re hidden in a city basement somewhere, or you need a password to get in, it’s invite only or… they’re completely impossible to contact.

No phone number. No contact form on the website. Maybe an infrequently checked Instagram account, if you’re lucky.

With this approach of build-it-and-they-will-come, you’ve just got to roll the dice and pray that there’s not a queue. If there is, that’s fine, just go spend $80 on drinks at a bar around the corner and hope that you don’t miss a private number phone call.

Naturally, the perception of scarcity has a certain amount of charisma. It didn’t exist a week ago but now we can’t live without it. A bit of psychology is at play with the belief that if it’s hard to get, it must be good. Even if you’ve never nabbed that reservation.

One would assume that business is, well, good for business. So what’s the reasoning behind wrapping your restaurant in a mystery?

An early adopter of the try-your-luck model was Sydney’s original rock and roll burger-flippers, Mary’s. No phone number can be found on any of their socials or webpages, and only recently did a contact form appear on the website.

Co-founder Jake Smyth said of the move, “Our decision to not have a phone or website in the early days was in part due to lack of funds and in part a response to the way technology, particularly social media, was changing the way people communicated.”

Smyth continued, “The website was replaced by Instagram and the phone by DM.

We have a website now, but we still communicate with our guests via social media and DM. Still no phone – sorry!”

Yet in spite of this, for years Mary’s has been packed with punters, lines snaking around the block.

Another gripe many guests feel is a bare bones website. A website that simply lists the restaurant’s name, the address, and an inconspicuous logo is undeniably chic. It can also be incredibly frustrating. A hint of the menu, or perhaps a photo or two of the interior goes a long way when it comes to managing expectations. It asks a lot of trust from potential customers.

Anyway, we’ve got a group heading there on Friday night, are you coming?

Of course, restaurants are a busy place at the best of times. And it’s not always reasonable to expect an in-depth chat on the phone during dinner service – a dedicated host on call is a luxury that many restaurants cannot justify, and reservations teams are often off-site and may struggle to ensure your request for a booth seat gets through.

Restaurants by their very nature are required to be flexible. Plans change at the last minute, there may be an additional guest joining your party or someone has dropped off. Surprise dietaries. Your group may be running 10 minutes late and need to contact the restaurant, both as a courtesy and to ensure the table isn’t given away.

La Prima source: Public Hospitality

On the other hand, the stress and distraction of a phone trilling throughout the night can be detrimental for the staff as well as for the guests who are already in the restaurant. In terms of dining experience and for the wellbeing of staff, common sense indicates that undivided attention results in better service and a better experience for all involved. It sounds pretty reasonable.

It doesn’t look like the phone-free trend is going anywhere, any time soon. So what’s the best way to tackle the conundrum? Take the restaurant’s lead. If their Google listing goes straight to an Instagram page, feel free to DM them. If the website has a booking widgit, use it. And if you walk in, please don’t take your frustrations out on the waitstaff. Hospitality workers want you to have a good time. After all, you finally found them!