A multi award-winning curry house in Bristol had 45 no shows on the night before it closed for the second lockdown.
Urban Tandoor in Small Street has won plaudits far and wide for its exceptional food and first-rate service.
Most recently it was the only restaurant in the city to be named among the winners of the 2021 Good Food Awards in the "Fine Dining, Restaurants and Products" category.
But despite its acclaim, nearly 50 people across 16 tables who had booked to dine there on Wednesday evening failed to show up without cancelling.
Looking for today's top stories in one place? Sign up for our newsletter here
Restaurant owner Sujith D'almeida estimates the 45 diners would have spent about £20 each, resulting in lost revenue of around £900.
To make matters worse the 39-year-old hired three additional agency staff to work alongside his usual team because the restaurant was fully booked, which resulted in an "especially heavy blow" for the business.
"Thankfully as we are a big restaurant we're able to manage it something like this happens but it's still hugely disappointing, especially as it happened on the night before lockdown," said Sujith.
"We had to turn away dozens of potential diners who called up asking about tables because we were fully booked, and there weren't any walk-ins on the night we could offer the empty tables too.
"As we wanted to make the last night before lockdown a really special service we had three extra staff on from an agency, but that turned out to make it an especially heavy blow and added to our losses.
"We were so eager to make sure we went out with a bang before having to close for the second time this year, so to see so many empty tables which should have been full with happy guests was really sad."
Sujith added he doesn't want to introduce a deposit system as he wants to "make the process from booking to dining as easy as possible for guests".
But he called on the people of Bristol to let restaurants know if they are unable to honour their booking when the second lockdown finishes.
Tell us the people in your community who made a difference during the pandemic. Nominate your Covid hero here.
"No shows are a huge problem not just for us but for many businesses in Bristol's hospitality industry," he said.
"We know that plans change but all we ask is that guests let us know if they can no longer make their reservation."
Urban Tandoor will be open for collection and delivery through Uber Eats Deliveroo throughout the second lockdown.
