2024 POLICIES, PRICES & GUIDELINES
WE HAVE A UNIQUE BUSINESS MODEL THAT REQUIRES RATHER A-TYPICAL POLICIES. HOPEFULLY THEY’LL MAKE SENSE. PLEASE READ & SHARE WITH YOUR GROUP.
<< NOTE: NEW POLICIES AS OF AUG 2024 >>
MISSION WHAT IS IS / ISNT IS IT FOR YOU A-TYPICAL POLICIES VALUE PROPOSITION PRICING DISCOVERY
BOOKING SEATS
RAW LAB IS RESERVATIONS ONLY. BOOK ON RESY ONLY, FOR SMALL GROUPS ( 4 OR LESS )
SMALL GROUPS (4 or less)
MAKE RESERVATIONS HERE ON RESY
LARGE GROUPS (5 or more)
Large Groups are defined as groups of 5 or more. NOTE: Large groups are NOT CONFIRMED by RESY!
LATE CANCEL & NO SHOW POLICIES
UPDATED NOVEMBER 2023
UPDATE AS OF MAY 2024: The upside of being so full now is that when someone does cancel or cancel very late, we are seeing those seats be taken quickly. As often as 15 minutes, in some cases. So, if you have to cancel late, DONT PANIC. Cancel on RESY to open the seats and, likely, they’ll fill.
NOTE: We have relaxed our late-cancellation policies. We may relax it further. We are open to any new thoughts or ideas at all times.
LATE-CANCELLATION: Defined as cancellations within 9 days of reservation. Yes, 9 FULL DAYS! Sounds outrageous! We know. It is, for a restaurant. Keep in mind, however, WE ARE NOT A RESTAURANT. More on that below.
LATE CANCELLATION FEE: Up to $250 per seat (but that is only IF, IF, IF we CANNOT fill the seats). Please see options below for how we can work together to fill seats that were cancelled late. And other options to avoid any charges. There are many.
ABANDONED SEAT / NO SHOW FEE: $250 per seat, absolutely no exceptions! Cancellations of seats on the day of a reservation is considered a no-show. If you don’t show up, we don’t have time to fill your seats and the same is true if you cancel on the day of your reservation.
WHY WE MUST HAVE THESE POLICIES IN PLACE
We are to dining out what flying private is to flying on a standard airline. Please do not misread that as some kind of a proclamation of superiority to other dining experiences. Our model is built around our space which informed our offering. We are just a different product, service and experience (and business model) which costs more and for some is, from time to time, a great way to spend an evening.
We only seat 12 people, 3-4 times a week. That’s 36-48 seats a week. We are a semi-private dining experience for only 12 people, 3-4 days a week. This business model does not allow us to take walk-ups and the business model cannot survive if it tolerates even a low percentage of empty seats (for any reason). If that does not make sense, nothing we can say in support of it will make any difference. So, if this is something you cannot agree with, understand and accept, we respectfully request that you do not make a reservation. We do hope that at some time in the future our policies CAN work for you, however. Some world-class experiences charge in advance. We do not.
For the purposes of being clear, thorough and transparent the detailed reasons for this policy will be laid out and explained below.
MISSION WHAT IS IS / ISNT IS IT FOR YOU A-TYPICAL POLICIES VALUE PROPOSITION PRICING DISCOVERY
HOW TO AVOID LATE CANCEL FEELS
We aim to NEVER charge late-cancel fees and we’ve only done it a few times in nearly years of operations. Many consumers have misunderstood our policies such that the perception is that we ALWAYS charge for late-cancellations. That is NOT the case. Others have misrepresented our policies or our discussions on the subject.
So, here are the facts, stated as plainly as possible. Our goal is to have 10 -12 people in the room for each service. This is where RAW LAB is most fun and fulfilling for all. In the early days (first 2 years) we needed 7-9 days to fill seats that were cancelled. So we kept this that 9 day window policy in place, until now.
We have now relaxed this to a 4 day window. Late-cancel is any cancellation within 4 days or reservation. A cancel “day of” is the same as a no-show and subject to full cancel / no show fees of $250 per seat, unless the seats fill though the notify list on RESY. Or, we may have people waiting off-line for seats. But we may not have time to help you much on days when we have service. Anyway, with 4 days advance notice we have a good chance to fill your seats and therefore, not charge anything for those abandoned seats.
When we can, we also help in a lot of ways. More on that below. Its very, very rare that we can’t / don’t have a solution that absolves people from getting charged full price for all of the seats they had to abandon. Like, one in 200 reservations. As we aim to attract more customers from out of town (visitors to CHS) we know they’ll book more last minute. We’re getting there. As we become even more effective with this, we will relax our late-cancel time frame down to 24 hours. Anyway, for now, we are doing our best. Here’s some advise on how to navigate a late-cancel:
WHAT YOU CAN DO….
FIRST, as soon as you know you cant make it or your group gotten smaller, cancel the unwanted seats RESY to open up those seats for others to take. If they’re not open, they can’t be filled.
THEN, call us and speak with us. Understand our model and why we must have our policies. Calling and yelling at us will not help. In the booking and confirmation process there are 10-13 prompts to read and understand the late-cancel and no-show policy. If those cannot be understood and accepted as a potential outcome for a late-cancel or a no-show, please do not make a reservation.
Transfer your seats to friend, clients or family. Happens all the time.
Sell the seats to whomever you like. Maybe at a discount. Perhaps at a premium. Both have been done.
Re-book it for a later date. This will be set in stone, however and cannot be re-booked. Commonly done now that this is a new policy.
Post the open seats to your social media to offer them to whomever may be interested.
Post a positive review about us on Google speaking to how we did / tried to help.
BOTTOM LINE: Be cool about it and make an effort to work with us and all is groovy. Calling to yell and scream will get you charged and then banned from RAW LAB forever. We are NOT getting rich from this business, we are making a living and attempting to hone the business model for CHS and beyond. We are not trying to charge for empty seats and making massive efforts to help you to NOT be charged.
WHAT WE DO / ARE DOING TO NEVER HAVE TO CHARGE LATE-CANCEL FEELS (OR EVEN DISCUSS IT).
Allow people to re-book for a date within the next 30 days with no charge. This new reservation is set in stone, however. If the new reservation is not honored, there will be some kind of a charge. It may not be $250 per seat, however.
Email / Text our network of High-End Hotel Concierges in Charleston who have guests looking for last minute reservations. We do this once weekly on Tues or Wed.
Post to our social media when we have open seats. We generally do this more than once weekly.
Ping our Notify List. We have people looking for seats on RESY. We let them know some have opened up. We do this daily via the RESY app.
Our marketing is now geared towards visitors to CHS who need a last minute reservation. Working hard on this with time, energy and money.
MISSION WHAT IS IS / ISNT IS IT FOR YOU A-TYPICAL POLICIES VALUE PROPOSITION PRICING DISCOVERY
EXPLAINING OUR POLICIES
We only seat 12 people, 4 times a week. That’s $12,000 a week in revenue. We have to fill those seats to maintain operations, period. So, we have a-typical cancellation and large group reservation policies. They can be hard to swallow. We understand that. If they dont work for you, that is fine. Just please understand that these policies are in place as a means by which we can stay in business.
Our LATE CANCELLATION window is 9 days. Seats generally DO NOT get filled within 9 days because this very high ticket item is something most people plan on many weeks or months out. There are very few people booking seats at RAW LAB last minute. Sometimes they do, however, especially on the weekends. Usually these are visitors who find open seats last minute on RESY. So, we need what seems like an outrageously long window for a late-cancellation policy. This would be outrageous if we were had a standard restaurant business model where people could / would walk up and ask for a table. WE DO NOT HAVE THAT MODEL. We go to great lengths (every possible tool there is with RESY and our web site) to inform guests of this policy but we are not obligate to fill your abandoned seats. Having operated this way for 20 + months as of November and surveying our guests on the subject, the consensus is that it is understandable, clear, transparent and reasonable given our unique business model.
Large groups are defined as 5 or more guests and must pre-pay to confirm the reservation. We cannot have 5, 7 or 9 people no-show or cancel 1 or 2 weeks out. We would charge the card on file (you cannot make a reservation without a card on file with RESY) and they would likely contest or dispute those charges (if the card on file goes through). Our business model cannot be exposed to this kind of risk so, we have this policy in place. Call to give a credit card to our Chef/Owner and he will run the card to secure your reservation.
This is SEMI-PRIVATE dining. We do not and cannot take walk ups. Therefore, we cannot fill you abandoned seats day of.
We do not welcome anyone under 21 for a host of reasons, first among them is the legal drinking age. Also, this is a room for adults who want to behave like adults (and sometimes like children) and we want to maintain that vibe because we love it.
Tipping in many elite fine-dining restaurants is included at 20% these days. We do not do that. We take a hybrid approach. We have a 20% minimum tipping policy. Guests are given the opportunity to tip whatever they like but if it is below 20% we will round it up to 20%. We do this because we price this experience well below what it is worth and we count on the gratuities to make the business model work. Guests generally tip between 20 and 30%. The average gratuity after 26 months of service is 23.45%.
MISSION WHAT IS IS / ISNT IS IT FOR YOU A-TYPICAL POLICIES VALUE PROPOSITION PRICING DISCOVERY
GUIDELINES
best practices for all of our guests to get the most out of the experience.
PLEASE DO NOT DRINK BEFORE RAW LAB.
PLEASE! And most certainly, DO NOT ARRIVE INTOXICATED. We reserve the right to deny anyone a seat AND charge you full price for abandoning it in the 11th hour. This is important to us, the other guests and you! Tough EXTREMELY RARE, when guests come drunk or too high to function it infringes on EVERYONE ELSE’S good time. We have a very low tolerance for this and it is our duty to look after ALL GUESTS such that they all get the most out of the experience.
DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF BEFORE RAW LAB
Eat as you normally would throughout the day.
FOOD SUBSTITUTIONS
Generally NOT possible due to space and time constraints but we can try to accommodate.
SEAFOOD ALLERGIES
Those with allergies to shellfish should NOT dine at RAW LAB. This is a fin fish, crustacean & shellfish driven menu.
INTROVERTS BEWARE
Guests SHARE the room, attention for the Chef and engage with other guests.
WINES ARE MOSTLY WHITE, ROSE & ORANGE
A red usually accompanies the final course (Dolce). Reds (and all other wines) are available a la carte.
BE PRESENT & ENGAGED WITH THE CHEF AND WITH OTHERS IN THE ROOM
Our model and style sometimes requires us to ask you to do things other fine-dining options do not. Guest participation is important at times.
BE PREPARED TO PARTICIPATE
You may be asked to grab a plate from the chef, for example. This is NOT the standard fine-dining service style. Please be willing to roll with that.
COME WILLING TO BE TAKEN OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
You will be encouraged to do things at RAW LAB that you’ve not been asked to do elsewhere. You can pass if you like, however.
CERTAIN FINE-DINING SERVICE ELEMENTS ARE NOT POSSIBLE IN THIS MODEL
Do not expect Le Bernardin or Per Se service style. We love a beautiful “white linen” kind of service, but this is more casual than that.
EXPECT DISCOVERY & FUN
We say The Delta between eating and fine dining is fun and discovery. RAW LAB is jam packed with both. Its more FUN dining than FINE dining, really but the menu is driven by ultra-premium quality, freshness, local sourcing (where possible) and a culinary ethic that is fun and engaging to explore: Marine Cuisine & DelicaSEAS means to use products that are that the highest order of quality, safe, healthy, sustainable & responsible. We believe this to be “SMART SEAFOOD”. As part of this, we stay in a lane where all dishes are served “Whole, Live, Raw and/or Bio-available”. We feed your microbiome this way as we feed your eyes with colorful presentations.
MISSION WHAT IS IS / ISNT IS IT FOR YOU A-TYPICAL POLICIES VALUE PROPOSITION PRICING DISCOVERY
GOLDEN RULES
RESPECT OTHERS
Some people came to ask 100 questions and learn all about MARINE CUISINE & DelicaSEAS such that it might inform their ordering in other fine-dining establishments or how they buy seafood for consumption at home. Give them the space to do so. DO NOT HOG THE OXYGEN IN THE ROOM or all of the chefs attention. Please SHARE IT!
BE ENGAGED. BE PRESENT
If you’d like to stare at social media or respond to work emails while dining, please dine elsewhere.
YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE
PART ONE: Anyone who dozes off in their seat during the service will be asked to step outside for some fresh air and the show will go on. If they can return and engage without dozing off again, they are welcome to stay, of course. If they cannot, they will be excluded from the remainder of the service. If this means a check must be presented and paid, so be it. We are NEVER going to allow ANYONE to doze off or sleep in RAW LAB, for any reason. Its a TOTAL BUZZ KILL for everyone else.
PART TWO: If you go to the bathroom or go to take a call and you miss the explanation of a dish, well, you missed it. Due to time constraints the chef cannot explain every element of every dish more than once or twice.
NO FLASH PHOTOS OR VIDEOS
Light is perfectly balanced for modern smart phone photo and video. It ruins other peoples photos and videos. By design, the lighting is PERFECT for photos and videos, we promise.
CELL PHONE USAGE
No cell phone calls may be made or taken during service. Guests must step outside to make or take calls. And please do not be on your phone more than 10% of the time. We request that all phone be put on “silent” at all times.
USE IT OR LOSE IT
If something is passed to you (as some things are) use it, or pass it on.
LISTEN TWICE AS MUCH AS YOU SPEAK
You’ll learn more and enjoy it all more. God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth for this very reason. You have the chef in your lap for 4 hours. There is a lot you can learn.