Reservations required?

If a few fine dining experiences are important to you, then you should definitely do the research and make some reservations. Many good spots in Paris are full-with reservations-for their two evening seatings. Apart from that, it's courteous to make a reservation, and lets the restaurant know that you are serious about it, instead of just showing up and begging for a table. You can also judge from reviews whether a reservation is absolutely necessary, but if you know you want to eat somewhere, might as well do it. Some restaurants you can email, others take phone calls only; being able to give a short sentence or a few keywords will get it started, and usually language is not an issue.

Roberto may have some clarification on the subject. But our experience with the better restaurants in Italy is that they expect a reservation even if they are not very busy. If we walk in we always get a funny look (in our opinion) if we don't have a reservation so have learned to make a reservation even if it is just for a couple of hours later.

I have found that Amsterdam is quite laid back when it comes to restaurant reservations at all but the nicest places. Italy is another story - even small, family run restaurants appreciate reservations. When we were first traveling, when we didn't know any better, we would saunter into places and, after a bit of hemming and hawing, would usually be seated. One restaurant even seated us at a table with another couple to kindly accommodate us - complete strangers - Italians who spoke NO English and we no Italian. It was probably the most awkward meal of my life! Make it more comfortable for everyone and just make a reservation earlier in the day or the day before if you can. That's the way it's done there and you'll have a much better experience!

Anita, you could not have stated it better. We didn't get the double seating but everything else was true. On a couple occasions we have made a 7pm reservation at 6pm and then went somewhere else for a glass of wine. One time when we returned after making a last minute reservation at 7, there were three other couples standing by the reservation podium. When he saw us walking up he interrupted his discussion with one of the couples, made a big Italian sweep of his hand with the menus and proclaimed in a loud voice, "Aw, Dr. Parrish your table is ready ! " and led us to our table. I had the feeling the announcement was more for the three couples standing in line who probably did not have reservations than it was for us as there were many empty tables.
.
If that is their custom and expectations, I am willing to support it.

Smaller restaurants appreciate reservations so they can buy enough fresh ingredients at the market that day, rather than overstock by counting on a full house when that doesn't happen. Waste is money, but as important to many restauranteurs is giving their customers the best experience possible.

What about at lunch, particularly the places that serve the lower-cost employees' lunch? Should we reserve at those as we are out and about? Asking about Italy. In France we reserve only at the trendt or higher-end restaurants.

We seldom eat lunch so our experience is limited. But I think the luncheon crowd is more of a drop in so I have not found that reservations are expected at lunch. Where is Roberto when we need him?