No, we don’t take reservations however we do use a Waitlist system – if you go to our website at www.bluemusselcafe.com, you will see on the main page if we have a wait, and it will give you a live wait time and then you can add yourself before you come.
You can add yourself into the queue by clicking “Join the Waitlist” and entering your information.
After you have added yourself, it also gives you updates as to when your table is getting closer.
The waitlist only operates for that service, on that day. You can add yourself for lunch and then the list re-sets itself for supper. It is not a reservation, so you can’t go on during lunch and say you are coming at 6:00 pm for supper. You are essentially coming for that service on that day and you are just adding yourself into the queue before you leave for the restaurant. It is meant to shorten your wait time, and get in the queue but it is not a reservation.
The busiest time of year is the last two weeks of July and the month of August. This is the time of year when there are the most tourists on the island and we can get into some heavier wait times. June and early July as well as September are much lighter and have shorter wait times, sometimes no waits at all.
If the waitlist is off, it can mean one of two things:
- We don’t have a wait. If the restaurant is not full, the waitlist system will not turn on. You may notice if you go on right at 11:30 am or right at the beginning of supper at 4:00 pm, there is no way to join. This is because we are just beginning to seat and we are not full at that point. Once it is full, you can add your name.
- We are full for the rest of that service. An example would be in the evening, let’s say it is 7:00 pm and we have 60 tables on the waitlist. At that point, we will turn it off because we can’t continue to take tables we can’t seat before we close for the night. We may continue to take some walk in’s, in particular 2 tops as there may be 2 tops open when most of the tables are waiting for larger tables.
This allows you to add your info and pick a particular time that you would like to come to the restaurant and it will prompt the system to send you a message to remind you to join our waitlist. You will still need to join the waitlist when you get this prompt. It is not a reservation, we don’t take reservations. You are setting up a reminder timer essentially.
No, you will not be deleted. We will give you 5-7 minutes and then we will move on to the next group. When you do arrive, you will be given the next table that opens up. The waitlist works best when you are there, it would be considerate to others if you are there at that time, as when we do have to insert you when you do arrive, it does make the wait longer for others below you, however we do understand that sometimes you are running late.
You are able to communicate with us through the system and any information you send us will be very helpful.
We only seat max table size of 6. If you are a larger group and would like to come, you can add yourself in separate groups. We don’t have any tables that will accommodate large parties so you will not seat together or at the same time.
You can buy a gift card on site at Blue Mussel Cafe or you can purchase on line right here on our website.