Tips to find space for your large dinner party at the beach

Lines for restaurants in the resort area are everywhere.

Stories of couples being given up to five hour wait times for a table are legendary, so how could a larger group ever expect to be fed?

A little planning and knowing a few local secrets can get help get that party of eight to 10 at the table sooner than later.

First Trick - knowing where to go

While there are plenty of wonderful food options from Lewes to Fenwick, a lot of them are small boutique restaurants. Some of them just can’t accommodate a large group. If this is a new restaurant for the group, it’s worth a call ahead to be sure there is space.

Many restaurants, though, were actually built with a party in mind.

Bluecoast Seafood Grill & Raw Bar, just north of Rehoboth Beach, Big Fish Grill, just west of Rehoboth and Nalu in Dewey Beach, all on Route 1 are examples of restaurants that embraced the crowd.

“We included a 10-top specifically because of the dilemma of seating large parties,” said Nelia Dolan, marketing director for SoDel Concepts the company that created the recently opened Bluecoast Grill.

The table was made specifically so it couldn’t be broken down and had to stay available for large parties only.

“In the summer time when people vacation with multiple families or lots of friends, it is in high demand," Dolan said. "The smallest party that is sat at that table is seven.”

Big Fish added an extra room in November 2016 so bigger parties could be seated easily. The Cove, as the addition is named, is the only part of the restaurant that will take reservations for parties of 10 or larger.

“A lot of people are really enjoying it,” said Amy Lambden, Big Fish manager.

Nalu, the resorts largest tiki bar, is all about larger groups, said assistant manager, Jessica Hassett. The surf themed restaurant has three tables that seat eight, one that seats nine and one that seats 13.

“I've done big groups at Nalu a lot of times,” said Cathie Sheetz of Lewes, who said she goes there with her girlfriends for girls night. “You will have elbow room.”

Other restaurants specifically set up for larger groups include Tokyo Steakhouse of Lewes, where all the tables around the grills seat 10, and Cultured Pearl in Rehoboth which has side rooms with larger tables as well as a few outside on their rooftop terrace.

Restaurants such as Grotto Pizza and Nicola Pizza, with locations throughout the resort, are also good bets to get in fairly easily. They have a quick turn around of service and several larger tables to get people seated.

Second Trick - Timing

Dinner hour at the beach is usually around 7 p.m. so if you are just showing up with a group, the earlier, the better, said Hassett.

“We usually go on a wait list around 7:30," she said. 

Or you can go late. After 8:30 p.m., the crowds start to thin out so it is easier to show up, said Gretchen Hanson, owner and chef at the former Hobo’s restaurant in Rehoboth.

Or you have to time it just right. At the small tapas restaurant, 14 Global, in Bethany Beach, they only accept a limited number of reservations for between 5-6 p.m. and don’t take reservations otherwise. One of the tricks for this restaurant is to show up around 7:30 p.m., said Chef Kevin Daughaday.

The people who were there for the last reserved seats are just getting finished around then and tables tend to open up, he explained.

“This is kind of a perfect place for large parties,” said Daughaday, who recommended everyone in the group order something different from the tapas menu. “It’s all meant to be shared.”

Third Trick - Choose days wisely

“Well Saturdays are always the busiest no matter where you are. Your best bet is still mid week, Tuesday or Wednesday,” said Dolan, although she and the managers, chefs, and employees of every restaurant interviewed for this story admitted that every night is busy in the summer.

Fourth Trick - Get on a wait list early

A lot of restaurants at the beach will place parties on the wait list and give you an estimate of how long the wait will be. Send a couple of people ahead of time to sign on to the wait list and the rest of the group can show up at a more leisurely pace.

Cottage Cafe in Bethany Beach, however, has taken the wait list to a whole new level. Using the Yelp app for smart phones people can put their names on the waitlist from their homes and get an instant estimate on how long the wait will be and how close to the top of the list they are.

“It’s a really good tool,” said Tom Neville, owner, adding that the restaurant limits the number of people at one table to 14. More than that and he will try to sit you close together at separate tables.

Most restaurants said 12 to 14 was the absolute limit to how large a group could be and expect to be seated.

Fifth Trick - Come with a good attitude

The average wait at resort restaurants is 45-minutes at peak times and can balloon up to an hour or more on the busiest days.

Some of the restaurants have special chairs and even games to play to pass the time.

“In July and August, there’s going to be a wait,” said Hassett. “But we have great food here.”

She joked that if there wasn’t a line, then that might be something for the patron to worry about.