Party of 8? Some Philly restaurants want to talk before you make a reservation.

Prepare to be patient if you’re planning a birthday or graduation dinner in Philadelphia for eight or more people.

And don’t be surprised if you have to pay a deposit or venue fee, said Gabriella Ward, who regularly books large-group reservations as the marketing director for a legal services firm.

“It has become increasingly difficult since the pandemic really to get a party of more than six,” said Ward, formerly the Philadelphia community manager for Yelp, a platform for crowdsourced business reviews and restaurant reservations.

“Eight has been: You sometimes can, sometimes can’t” book a table, she added.

For local diners and event planners like Ward, a 28-year-old Rittenhouse resident, booking a larger party may now require more advanced planning, more time for coordination — including e-mails or calls back and forth with multiple restaurants — and, in some cases, more money up front than it did a few years ago. This comes as restaurant owners face higher food and labor costs, some of which are passed on to consumers.

Philadelphia’s renowned restaurant scene isn’t the only one where diners now have to make more of an effort to book a group meal. There are some indications that it is even more difficult to snag a big table in other cities.

Restaurateurs in New York, Chicago, Denver, and Charleston, S.C., recently told the Wall Street Journal that they have stopped serving parties over six. They noted that groups can detract from the experience of other diners, require more of a server’s time — especially if guests arrive separately or take awhile to order — and can take up multiple smaller tables.

“It could take four hours for a 12-top from the time they gather to the time they leave, and we could have turned those [smaller] tables twice during that time,” said Barry Gutin, cofounder of Cuba Libre, which opened in Old City in 2000 and has since expanded to four other locations, including Atlantic City. “For the restaurants, that’s the financial risk,” especially if a larger party doesn’t spend much.

Another risk: No-shows, which Cuba Libre has seen an increase of in recent years.

To minimize these risks, the restaurant has stopped allowing groups of 10 or more to book online since the pandemic, Gutin said. They are prompted instead to fill out a request form, to be reviewed by a sales agent who may require a contract and a deposit.

While the Journal’s headline read “Restaurants Don’t Want Your Party of Six,” Gutin said Cuba Libre welcomes celebratory dining.

“We want all these parties,” he said. “We just can’t have them at the same time or no one is going to have a good time.”

Online booking platforms, such as OpenTable and Resy, make it easier than ever for people to make reservations in advance, sometimes at several restaurants for the same time slot, with the intention of canceling bookings they aren’t going to use.

But not everyone remembers.

An empty 10-top can be costly for the assigned server and for the restaurant owners, especially now when margins are increasingly thin and walk-in traffic can be hard to predict.

Some restaurant owners said they have found that conversations with customers, as well as the taking of credit card information, make groups more inclined to show — or at least give notice if plans change.

“It really dissuades people making multiple reservations at multiple places,” said Cecile Perret, event manager at Rex at the Royal. The Southwest Center City restaurant has required groups over six to call and provide credit card information in case of late cancellations since opening in 2021. “It enforces the reason why we care about receiving those cancellations.”

A year ago, new restaurant owners Cheri and Tracey Syphax were struggling with no-shows at Booker’s.

Booker’s began requiring groups of six or more to put down $100, and the number of no-shows dropped dramatically, said Cheri Syphax, who bought the Cedar Park restaurant with her husband in March 2023.

“The deposit has really helped with people being responsible,” she said. “They have skin in the game now.”

When Wilder opened in Rittenhouse two years ago, sometimes “there would be a party booked for 12 people and only seven people show up,” said co-owner Brett Naylor. “We make money by how many people we seat.”

Wilder started holding a credit card for parties of eight and more, and charging $30 per person if the reservation was canceled less than 24 hours in advance. Now, groups often communicate more with the restaurant — and show up with the expected number of people.

In Old City, Amina Restaurant has stopped allowing parties larger than six to book online, and no longer serves tables larger than 10 on weekends. But owner Felicia Wilson is still struggling with no-shows, as well as diners who circumvent the party-size limit by booking two or more tables.

Wilson is hesitant to start requiring a deposit.

“To me we’re kind of new,” she said. “That’s what has stopped me.”

Party planners have had to learn to be flexible and forward-thinking.

“It’s super annoying when you can’t just go on OpenTable and just get a spot for six or seven,” said Sarah Haas, a South Philadelphian who works in marketing. “You have to call, and a lot of time restaurants are only open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on certain days of the week.”

But, she added, “I’ve never had much of a problem booking, unless it’s short notice.”

For her 32nd birthday dinner in December, Haas booked weeks in advance at Ristorante Pesto, a familiar South Philadelphia spot where she knew they welcomed parties and wouldn’t require a deposit for her group. After she booked the table for six, the party expanded to 10, and the restaurant gave her no issue.

Some consumers’ experiences have been more mixed.

Allison Lehman, 25, of Northeast Philadelphia, said she was surprised that it took about a month to book a party of more than 20 people for her master’s graduation in May.

She wanted a private room, and many restaurants didn’t have photos of these spaces or special-event menus online, requiring calls and e-mails with multiple restaurants. Some didn’t respond to inquiries or seemed not to want the group. She ultimately decided on Jerry’s Bar in Northern Liberties.

“At one point I was like, ‘Maybe we just do a party,’” instead of a sit-down meal, she said. “It’s easier to get in touch with halls than restaurants.”