[raarky]

As a customer it can definitely be annoying to experience at times. My tolerance seems to vary depending on the wait times and food expectations.

A perceived upshot is that the restaurant must put an emphasis on quality at reasonable prices, otherwise they won't draw those crowds and I'm definitely not going to wait for a crappy meal.

However, the "no reservation" method itself seems to help draw crowds too. Kind of like the lines outside a night club seem to draw people. Throw in a bit of edgy branding with some cool marketing and it pulls well - having an "image" works.

Queuing is a bit of a cultural thing/expectation over here. Having someone cut in line can be a huge no no. If someone bought their way into the queue, I could very well see it causing some highly vocal responses. But I'm sure there are people out there trying it out.