Brace: TableXChange Resy Service Launching in LA

LA's first resy scalping service, Table Pronto, launched in October last year but by December not one LA restaurant was listed, and by January a sort of farewell hit their website. It's not like LA was Pronto's only market; it failed just as hard in San Francisco and Vegas, too. That's not stopping another resy service---don't dare call it a "scalping" service---from trying: Direct from New York, TableXchange.com launches this weekend. A spokesperson explains the concept:

Our basic thesis is that a reservation is a commodity that is worth something (the option to dine at a nice restaurant). In New York, there are places such as Babbo and Per Se that are definitely booked up all the time and near impossible to get into on short notice. We simply said people should be able to buy and sell reservations to these places.

There are undoubtedly people who will try the service, but times are tight. There are only a handful of restaurants that even in flush economic times are fully booked more than weekend nights, and right now, even those aren't filling up. Currently for this Friday and Saturday, the website lists reservations for Craft, Mozza, Providence, Nobu Malibu, Anisette, STK, Cut and Gordon Ramsay going for $10-$15. After a quick phone call, Anisette has the typical 5:30pm or 9:45pm availability for Friday night. Will you fork out more dough for a "coveted" reservation or just pick another place you can get into? We're skeptical.
· TablePronto Reservation Service Hit LA [~ELA~]
· Launches & Releases: Table Exchange, the Non-Scalper Resy Service [Eater NY]
· TalbeXChange LA [official site]