Source order
For a restaurant’s own policy, the restaurant’s website and its official booking page come first. For how a platform’s alert behaves, that platform’s own help pages. For release windows and walk-in practice, reputable local reporting with a byline and a visible update date, named on the page that uses it.
We do not use anonymous forum posts as the source of a stated fact. They are useful for knowing which restaurants people are struggling with, which is a different question.
Dates on everything
Every guide shows the source’s own update date and the date we last checked it. If a window changes and we have not re-checked it, the dates make that visible rather than hiding it.
When timing is unknown
We do not infer a release schedule from a few observed openings. If a restaurant does not publish one and no reliable report exists, the guide says the timing is variable or unknown.
Unknown timing does not stop a watch. Concierge watches a restaurant around the clock whether the next table comes from a scheduled drop, an added seating or a cancellation. A published drop time is useful context for people who want to try the drop themselves; it is not something Biter needs.
What the website does and does not show
These pages are written and reviewed by hand. They are not generated from Biter’s restaurant database, and they do not publish live availability, user watches or anything from a member’s account.
Biter does measure how often tables sell out, restaurant by restaurant, because it watches each room around the clock. The city guides turn that into a plain difficulty rating, from hard at peak times to nearly impossible. The underlying figures are not published, and the rating is kept separate from third-party reporting.
Platform names
Resy, OpenTable and SevenRooms are named because that is where the reservation is made. Biter is not affiliated with any of them, and nothing here implies endorsement. Platform features can change; if one does, the page with the date on it is the one we fix first.
Corrections
If a release window on a guide is wrong, tell us through the support page and we will check the source and update the page with a new date.
Questions or corrections: contact support.