Fresno Restaurants Brace for Valentine's Day Reservation Cancelations

Restaurants prepare for influx of reservations, but also expect many no-shows.

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

As Valentine's Day approaches, restaurants in Fresno, California are gearing up for one of their busiest nights of the year. However, they are also bracing for a high number of reservation cancelations, which can be costly for their businesses. Restaurants like The Standard and Five Restaurant have seen a surge in reservations leading up to the holiday, requiring them to extend seating and increase staff and food orders. But they also know that many customers make multiple reservations and then fail to show up to one or more of them, leaving the restaurants with empty tables and lost revenue.

Why it matters

Valentine's Day is a crucial revenue driver for restaurants, but the high number of last-minute cancelations can significantly impact their bottom line. Restaurants have to carefully balance preparing for a busy night with the risk of no-shows, which forces them to turn away other potential customers. This issue highlights the challenges small businesses face in managing customer demand and uncertainty around major holidays and events.

The details

The Standard restaurant in Fresno has about 140 reservations for Valentine's Day, which has prompted them to double their seating capacity. The owner has also personally called every unconfirmed reservation to try to get a better sense of who will actually show up. At Five Restaurant, the owner expects to see around 100 cancelations, based on previous years. To mitigate the losses, Five Restaurant now requires a credit card deposit for Valentine's Day reservations.

  • Reservations for Valentine's Day started coming in right after New Year's.
  • Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday this year.

The players

Rajan Bisla

General Manager at The Standard restaurant in Fresno.

Pat LaRocca

Owner of Five Restaurant in Fresno.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“We started seeing reservations for Valentine's Day right after New Year's. It falls on a Saturday. Might matter a lot. We are a smaller restaurant, so we have about 140 reservations.”

— Rajan Bisla, General Manager (KSEE/KGPE)

“The last couple of years we've been following it, my wife and I, and there have been a good, you know, 100 reservations canceled.”

— Pat LaRocca, Owner (KSEE/KGPE)

The takeaway

Restaurants in Fresno are facing the challenge of balancing high customer demand for Valentine's Day with the risk of last-minute reservation cancelations, which can be costly for their businesses. This issue highlights the need for small businesses to find ways to manage uncertainty around major holidays and events, such as requiring deposits or implementing policies to discourage no-shows.