Polle de Maagt 
Polle de Maagt
Story.
In 2020, I wrote about one of my favourite restaurants in Prague: SaSaZu.
I liked the food and the service. But the detail in that article happened before dinner, on the reservation form.
The restaurant asked whether you were a first-time visitor or had been there before.
A small question. Information the team could use before you walked in.
What they did.
SaSaZu added a first-visit or returning-visit question to its reservation process.
The answer could help the team prepare. A new guest may need an introduction. A returning guest may appreciate not hearing the same explanation again.
Those are possible uses of the information, not documented scripts from the restaurant. My original article described the question, not exactly how every answer changed the service.
Why it works.
A booking history is not always a guest history.
Different people may make reservations for the same group. One booker may bring several people who have never visited. A name in a database does not settle the question.
Asking gives the guest a chance to tell you directly. It is less elaborate than trying to infer familiarity from a complicated customer system.
Sometimes the simplest customer insight is a question you have not asked yet.
The question is only useful if the answer reaches the people who can act on it. Otherwise, it is another field in a form.
Try it yourself.
Look for one distinction that would genuinely change how you welcome someone. First visit or returning visit might be useful. So might experience with the service or a preference for an introduction.
Ask only what you need. Make answering easy, and let people skip it when it is not essential. Agree what the team will do differently with the answer.
Do not turn a simple question into a claim that you know the entire guest or group.
Add one optional question to a booking or intake process only after agreeing one concrete way the team will use the answer. Remove it if it does not change the experience.
Related: 95% right. 100% wrong. On the difference between recognising an account and understanding the situation.
Source: my “Best practice: welcoming first time visitors at Prague’s SaSaZu”, 24 March 2020. This describes the reservation form I wrote about then, not the restaurant’s present-day process. Edited for republication. Table card made with Midjourney.
