At a recent King BBQ pop-up featuring Top Chef winner Tristen Epps, there was a buzz online about the event. The restaurant takes no reservations! Get there early!

An hour before opening, in the rain, the line wrapped around the building and, it turns out, some in line reported being turned away when the food ran out.

Why wouldn’t every restaurant just take reservations?

Turns out, restaurants like King BBQ have good reasons.

The philosophy behind no reservations

“Most barbecue places run their service the way King BBQ does,” said Corrie Wang, who also owns Jackrabbit Filly, with her husband, Shuai. “You order at the counter and then get a table.

Dropping in is the way barbecue places work. We do take reservations at Jackrabbit Filly, though, but we weren’t even going to take reserva

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