The head chef at the Bildeston Crown has spoken out about his frustration at people booking reservations and then failing to turn up - but is thankful to those who have been supporting his business.
As pubs and restaurants try and bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic the last thing venues need is customers not showing up.
The Bildeston Crown suffered with 13 'no shows' last weekend, and the head chef is asking people to ring up the pub and inform them that they will not be coming and not just not turn up.
The pub which serves quality local sourced food, caters for every taste.
Head chef Chris Lee said: "What we are finding is because pubs and restaurants are getting fully booked people are booking in advance in three or four different places, and then picking the ones they can get into but not cancelling the ones they can't."
Mr Lee has thought about taking deposits for tables, but believe that will not work for his business.
"The difficult thing for us is that we are not doing deposits, because we want people to ring and speak to one of our members of staff," Mr Lee said.
"We are not in London we cannot take a 50% deposit because people will just say they are not coming, which is even worse.
"The frustrating side of it is the financial side of it we are trying to keep everything tight with the kitchen and front of house, which both are very hard to find staff for at the moment.
"When you do not get 13 people not turn up that is when the frustration comes in, we can deal with the food because we still do walk-ins so the food will always get used up but it is the staffing and morale in the kitchen that gets affected.
"Especially given the six months we've just had this is another problem we are trying to get around."
Although it has been a frustrating time for Mr Lee with people not showing up at his pub, he is extremely grateful to all those that have supported him during the pandemic.
"Our locals and customers have really been amazing in supporting us since we reopened," Mr Lee, said.
"Everybody has been so busy in the hospitality industry which is a positive, and there is a lot of people that is supporting hospitality businesses which is amazing."
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