Business Card

     The three of us left Oysterville at 5:00 yesterday evening and arrived at The Irish Table in Cannon Beach right at 6:30.  On our way, I had read aloud the year-old review from “The Mouth of the Columbia” to Nyel and Neighbor Carol.  Our mouths were watering.
     This was to be a long-planned thank you dinner for all of Carol’s driving when we were both recovering from various surgeries last spring.  It’s a restaurant that is only open for dinner and none of us had yet been.  We were excited.
     Nyel had called earlier to make a reservation, only to be told that that we needed to have four in our party to reserve a table.  Totally understandable from the restaurant’s point of view.  Why tie up a table for two or three when you could be assured of four paying customers?   Well, it was a Sunday evening, so we took our chances.
     “Let me just check on the wait time,” said the pleasant young man when we arrived.  It was crowded but we were still hopeful.
     “I’m sorry,” he said, “but the first available table will be 8:45.”
     We quickly decided to go to the Bridgewater Bistro in Astoria and headed back toward the car – at least Carol and I did.  Nyel stayed behind for a few moments.  He said that he wanted to ask them about their reservation policy.
     Before we could pull away, a young woman dashed out of the restaurant and tapped on our window.  She handed me a business card and said, “Next time you could call for a reservation.”
     “We did that,” said Nyel.  “You don’t take reservations for fewer than four.”
     There was a confused pause.  “Oh.  That’s right.  But since you come from so far away, you could call from Astoria or Seaside and we could at least put you on the wait list.”
     Good idea!  If there is a next time…
     “You might try the Castaways,” she added.  “It’s on your left as you drive north and it’s very good.  It’s where we go when our place is closed.”
     We had already made up our mind about the Bistro – a favorite of us all.  But we did glance at the Castaways as we went by.  It was closed.
     I used my cell phone to call the Bistro and made a reservation for three.  The food was great as always.  The service was great as always.  We were taking care of the check just about the time we would have been seated at The Irish Table…  unless, of course, we had gone ahead and made the reservation for four – as in, “one of our party couldn’t make it after all.”  Not ethical, but tempting.
     Next time… but I seriously doubt there will be a next time.  It would probably be more satisfactory just to go to Ireland.