Are reservations needed for a Saturday night in February? Since we like to eat around 8:00 or 8:30, I assume it is wise to make a reservation but if we leave it all to fate and decide at the last minute to go to Grand Case (on a Saturday or Sunday) for dinner will we have any chance of getting a table for 4 people? Given the number of good restaurants we are not set on a particular place, just one with good food and a nice atmosphere.

If you're not set on any particular place, you should be fine.

Always just strolled the strip, read the menu boards, and chose what we felt was right. The only time we had to wait was when we asked for a special table on the water. Never had a bad meal.

If you are truly flexible, you should be OK. That said, Grand Case was quite crowded last week on a few nights. I saw a number of parties without reservations turned away at some of the regular restaurants mentioned on TTOL.

I'm frankly quite glad to hear it was crowded in GC last week. Maybe GC has turned the corner. It was very crowded when we were there on December 26, but I heard that is about the busiest week for restaurants there is.

We've discovered that what lots of folks call slow service is part of the pageantry/production that the French take pride in when hosting there guests for dinner.

While we like to dine and take our time, two hours is the threshold for me as far as sitting in the same seat and acting like a well-behaved adult. We found out accidentally that dining around 6pm (any time earlier than 7) we are usually the first guests in the restaurant, have a much more personal experience with regard to interaction with the staff, but still a nice leisurely dining experience.

Many Europeans feel making a reservation just shows respect. We have aleays made reservations because seeing your name in the book over and over can never hurt...and 8:00-8:30 reservations we wlways find to be " prine time " and a very busy time for upscale restaurants anywhere on the Island. Helps the restaurant plan for their guests as well......

That is true, that the restaurants are usually more busy at that time. We generally eat around 7 on island, so are ahead of most of the crush of diners.