Patent ID: 7818191

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, via a processor at a reservation system, a request to reserve a service that is provided by a restaurant, in which the reservation system receives: (i) a request for dine-in service at a table in the restaurant; (ii) a request for take-out service of a consumable good; or (iii) a request for delivery service of the consumable good; comparing, via the processor, the request to reserve with a schedule of the reservation system in which the schedule comprises a ratio of actual tables to virtual tables, in which the ratio is variable in accordance to a time of day, in which the actual table corresponds to the request for dine-in service and the virtual table corresponds to the request for take-out service and the request for delivery service; determining, via the processor, that the request to reserve is available on the schedule; outputting to a remote device an indication that the request to reserve has been accepted, in which the processor and the remote device are in communication over a network.