🍴 Axios PM: Restaurants' new rules

Plus: Fittest states | Monday, March 11, 2024

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Meta   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Mar 11, 2024 Good afternoon. Today's newsletter, edited by Sam Baker, is 484 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing.     1 big thing: High-stakes reservations Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Restaurants are forcing their customers to take reservations more seriously — tightly controlling availability, penalizing no-shows and even turning some parties away. 👩‍🍳 The big picture: Empty tables are an obvious detriment to restaurants' razor-thin margins, and several establishments said they saw their no-show rates plunge once they started charging for missed reservations. 17% of restaurants on Resy charge some sort of cancellation fee, The New York Times reports — up from just 4% in 2019. They're more common in big cities. "Cancellation fees bring people back to reality when they make a reservation," Brooklyn restaurateur Erica Hall told the Times. "They remember it's an agreement." 🍽️ At the same time, restaurants are also cracking down on some of the parties that are most likely to show up — big groups. A growing number of businesses simply won't seat larger parties, according to The Wall Street Journal. Others will only take one large-group reservation per night. Restaurants can turn smaller tables more quickly, and larger groups can require more attention from staff. "We don't go above six. We can, but we won't," one Denver restaurant owner told the Journal.     2. The fittest states Data: Brigham and Women's Hospital; Map: Axios Visuals Massachusetts appears to be the state where residents get the most aerobic exercise, Axios' Carly Mallenbaum reports from new Apple Watch data. 🚶Why it matters: Many adults don't put in the recommended 150 minutes of weekly aerobic exercise, although they could hit that number with five 30-minute brisk walks weekly. Data from Apple and Brigham Women's Hospital found that only 54% of participants were hitting that minimum. Massachusetts had the highest share of people getting enough exercise (67.2%), followed by New York (66%) and Connecticut (64.1%). Minnesota (38.5%), Louisiana (41.3%), Oklahoma (41.4%) and West Virginia (41.7%) were the states with the lowest proportion of 150-minute exercisers. The fine print: People included in this research were adults who track their fitness data with an Apple Watch — presumably a particularly health-conscious bunch. Go deeper.     A message from Meta Cataracts are the primary cause of avoidable blindness     FundamentalVR and Orbis International created a VR training platform that helps surgeons practice cataract surgery. The impact: More surgeons have access to the training they need to treat cataracts around the world. Explore the impact of the metaverse.     3. Catch me up News agencies determined this photo, released yesterday, had been digitally manipulated. Via X 🇬🇧 Catherine, Princess of Wales, admitted to editing a family photo that Kensington Palace released over the weekend. Several major news organizations pulled the photo after realizing it had been edited, fueling more speculation about the princess' whereabouts and health. Go deeper. 🖥️ Reddit plans to raise up to $748 million in its initial public offering, at a valuation of up to $6.4 billion. Go deeper. ⚖️ Former President Trump's legal team wants to delay a trial in his New York hush-money case until after the Supreme Court has decided whether he is immune from a separate prosecution. Go deeper. 🏚️ Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge will resign from her post later this month. Go deeper.     4. Ramadan begins Photo: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images Worshippers gathered in Times Square in Manhattan yesterday for the first Tarawih prayer of Ramadan. Go deeper: In photos — Ramadan in Gaza     A message from Meta "VR let me practice hundreds of times before I operated on a patient"     Dr. Baid used FundamentalVR and Orbis International's VR platform for additional training in a hands-on environment. Why it's important: In the past year, Dr. Baid has performed 300 life-changing surgeries to preserve her patients' vision. Discover other stories.   Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: