If you are looking for a nice evening with your family in a restaurant in Jeddah without prior reservation, forget it! It was virtually impossible to find a vacant table in any restaurant during the Eid holidays and it was expected to continue for the rest of the week.
Most restaurants are open non-stop from breakfast to dinner and the situation is also telling on the overworked staff, says Faisal Kareem, a banker.
“To make sure I find a table during Eid, I had to book for my family on the 15th day of Ramadan and even then I was told that it would be almost impossible. I pushed for it and I finally found one that fits 13 members of my family,” he said.
“The restaurant asked me to pay advance money of SR100 per person to make sure I come and not cancel in the last minute. The manager said he didn’t want to turn people away without being 100 percent sure they will come for their reservation,” he said.
In fact, patrons are not ready to give up Eid so quickly, as restaurant managers and owners report that books remain strong for the rest of the week.
People line up in front of the main door of restaurants creating chaos, according to a restaurant manager Bilal Talaat.
“This is the first time I am seeing this happen,” Talaat said. “Usually, when I tell people that we are fully booked, they go away but I was surprised to see them standing in line waiting for the next empty table. My costumers were not happy with the situation since it was noisy and distracting especially when you see people looking at you while you are eating. I had to ask them to wait outside just to make the diners comfortable.”
Getting a dinner reservation during the first three days after Ramadan was nearly impossible for banker Sanaa Jamal and her family.
“I tried calling every restaurant I know to get a dinner reservation the first night of Eid, but I couldn’t find any,” Jamal said. “They all said they were fully booked for Eid. I felt sorry for my family since I could not take them out during Eid. I passed by one of the fast food chains and bought dinner and went to Jeddah corniche with them and made them sit on a huge carpet to celebrate Eid as we watched the fireworks.”
Many local restaurants operate the entire day during Eid. “Our Eid started by serving breakfast at the restaurant, cleaning tables and washing plates just in time for lunch, which went on till seven in the evening,” said Alan Zaki, a waiter at a Jeddah restaurant.
“At 9 p.m., we started serving dinner, and by then, we were exhausted. We just want to go home but all we can do is smile and wish costumers a good night when they leave. But all staff are supposed to clean at one in the morning to prepare the restaurant for serving breakfast at seven again,” he added.
Jeddah restaurants fully booked in Eid spillover
