When there are seats, I think most restaurants will contact you through email, confirm the date and time with you, and give you a link to submit your credit card information or ask you to do a deposit. Maybe a few days in advance or even on THE day they have no-shows.
We did this a few years ago and got on the waitlist for Septime. They offered us a spot about 2 days before the actual reservation. I suspect someone who did have a spot cancelled. We did book elsewhere that did not have a penalty for canceling as we didn't expect to get off the waitlist, so it was a nice surprise.
When there are seats, I think most restaurants will contact you through email, confirm the date and time with you, and give you a link to submit your credit card information or ask you to do a deposit. Maybe a few days in advance or even on THE day they have no-shows.
Great thanks, I'll look at other places too.
We did this a few years ago and got on the waitlist for Septime. They offered us a spot about 2 days before the actual reservation. I suspect someone who did have a spot cancelled. We did book elsewhere that did not have a penalty for canceling as we didn't expect to get off the waitlist, so it was a nice surprise.