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By <\/span>Victoria Petersen<\/span><\/p>\n Harley Esposito, 30, was surprised when she couldn\u2019t find a phone number for Hotel Greene, a mini-golf, bar and restaurant space near her home in Richmond, Va. After going to Hotel Greene for a work event, she needed a copy of her receipt. Looking through Hotel Greene\u2019s website, she saw a small note: \u201cWe do not have a phone line.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI Googled them and didn\u2019t see a phone number listed, and I was like: Oh, that\u2019s weird,<\/em>\u201d she said. \u201cI was just surprised by it more than anything, because I\u2019ve never seen it before. I was like: How do they expect people to get in touch with them?\u201d<\/p>\n Like Hotel Greene, restaurants around the country are pulling the plug on their phone lines. Channeling all communication through emails, direct messages on social media and reservations apps might frustrate diners and deter those who are technology averse, but restaurants are finding that communicating this way frees up time for front-of-house employees, is more efficient for restaurant administrators and gives flexibility to restaurants operating with a small team or through Covid-related staffing shortages.<\/p>\n In their first month of business in the summer of 2019, Hotel Greene would get a stream of calls to the front desk asking about the wait for a table. Mr. Gottier said that a host offering people wait times in advance can be fruitless since the waits can change quickly in real time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just this constant barrage,\u201d said Jim Gottier, 67, the co-owner of Hotel Greene, adding, \u201cto pay someone $15 an hour, or whatever, to do that is just outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n This approach is not universally appreciated, however. In December, for instance, Hotel Greene received an email from a frustrated potential customer who complained about being unable to play mini-golf because of the wait time.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother option would be to have a phone to call ahead. Instead I wasted 25 minutes to drive there and $3 to park to be turned away by someone who frankly didn\u2019t seem to even feel bad about their decision,\u201d the email said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople get so angry,\u201d Mr. Gottier said. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n For some restaurants, the decision to forgo the phone is an easy one. The co-owners of the vegan Singaporean restaurant Lion Dance Cafe in Oakland, Calif., have never liked talking on the phone. After hosting pop-ups around the Bay Area for about a decade, C-Y Chia, 32, and Shane Stanbridge, 32, opened Lion Dance Cafe in September 2020, and for months they were the only employees.<\/p>\n \u201cSince we were running around shopping and making all the food, it felt like also having to deal with picking up the phone would just be too much of a hindrance,\u201d Mx. Chia said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t even a big decision for us. It was just an obvious call.\u201d<\/p>\n To reach Lion Dance Cafe, people send emails or direct messages to its Instagram account, even though this can be discouraging for older potential customers, Mx. Chia said.<\/p>\n At Ugly Baby, a Thai restaurant in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, nearly all of the customers are millennials or younger, said Sirichai Sreparplarn, 52, the chef and a co-owner of the restaurant. You have to be on Instagram to reserve a table, see the menu or communicate with the restaurant. Mr. Sreparplarn said this system makes it easier for the small staff and keeps the restaurant low-key.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just want to be a hole-in-the-wall restaurant,\u201d he said. \u201cI personally think websites are not for 2021, anyway. We don\u2019t need a website, and this is my opinion. I would take the IG as a website where we can interact with our own clients right away, wherever you are, with much more information. We can do it really quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Gregory Ryan, 39, owns and operates two restaurants in California\u2019s Santa Barbara County: Bell\u2019s and Bar Le C\u00f4te. Neither of the restaurants has a phone line, a decision Mr. Ryan said was made because they have small teams. People reach Mr. Ryan and the restaurants through email and Instagram direct messages, which he said \u201care a good way to be able to connect and speak with people in very, very quick ways.\u201d After being in the restaurant business for 15 years, Mr. Ryan said about 80 percent of phone calls are \u201ctypically a waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not anyone\u2019s fault,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s annoying for folks. We try not to be. What is better for my business is my day-to-day mental health and my staff\u2019s mental health \u2014 for me, it\u2019s not answering the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Ryan said that even when the restaurant could afford to hire someone to answer the phone, it still did not make sense for the efficiency of the business. Focusing on the guests inside the restaurant, especially in a pandemic, is more important, Mr. Ryan said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think post-Covid, there is such a focus and a concern on the guests that are in the dining room, and trying to make sure that they feel like they are being taken care of and engaged with, and it is something that you\u2019ll continue to see more and more,\u201d Mr. Ryan said.<\/p>\n His no-phone philosophy has spread to at least two other restaurants in California. Charlotte Lansbury, 29, does administrative work for Horses, a Los Angeles restaurant that opened in October. After eating at Bell\u2019s and getting to know Mr. Ryan, Ms. Lansbury said she brought the idea of no phones to her former workplace, Gigi\u2019s, another Hollywood restaurant. When she started working at Horses last fall, Ms. Lansbury said she wrote a \u201clong, strongly worded\u201d email to the owners and management explaining why Horses also should not have a phone. They agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a waste,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m glad that other restaurants are doing it, too, to spare their poor hosts and hostesses from having to deal with people on the phone saying, \u2018I\u2019m just running late.\u2019 It\u2019s definitely controversial, but from a restaurant perspective it\u2019s the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Lansbury said she manages the restaurant\u2019s email and Instagram during service in case any messages come in from people who may be late for their reservation or have other questions.<\/p>\n Still, there are plenty of restaurants that see the value in having a phone and a dedicated reservationist. Lisa Blount, 56, who does marketing and public relations for Antoine\u2019s Restaurant in New Orleans, said having a phone line is \u201creally important,\u201d even though it is not the only way diners are making reservations these days.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I can get my customer on the phone and talk to them, there\u2019s nothing better,\u201d she said. \u201cAs much as I love OpenTable and that it\u2019s helping us get online reservations, it doesn\u2019t replace that phone call.\u201d<\/p>\n Available staff members at Antoine\u2019s have had to take turns answering phone calls when the reservationist was sick with Covid-19. Ms. Blount said it has been especially helpful during the pandemic to talk to people on the phone, and explain safety precautions and the dining setup.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the world right now has missed this human touch,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve dehumanized everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Communicating with restaurants through email, text and direct messages can be more convenient for some customers as well, including Tricia Dado, 22, who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and works as a merchandiser at a furniture store. A day before New Year\u2019s Eve, she posted on Twitter: \u201cwdym i have to call the restaurants?? pls no i\u2019d rather cook all day for nye than make phone calls.\u201d She ended her tweet with a smiling face with tear emoji.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I find it very convenient to just go on my phone and order food to be delivered or to make reservations on a website,\u201d she said. \u201cI also think that digital communication would benefit the restaurants on their end, as they would get orders online, instead of a person taking phone orders one at a time, which can be exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Esposito \u2014 who was slightly inconvenienced by having to wait three days for an email response from Hotel Greene \u2014 still was understanding about the choice.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of my first thoughts was how lucky for those employees that they don\u2019t have to worry about answering the phone during their shift,\u201d she said. \u201cI know how much time that can take away from doing your job when you work in a restaurant, and especially if it\u2019s a busy night and the phone is ringing off the hook. That can really take the time away from the folks who are already there and trying to enjoy themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/02\/02\/dining\/02phones3\/merlin_200619108_c5fab91c-c698-438e-8ff4-9861892296e0-articleLarge.jpg\")
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