CHARLESTON — For the past eight years, Chubby Fish has become known for its dynamic, fresh-off-the-dock-driven menu, hand-lettered on black magnetic strips and affixed to a broad metal board above the small counter in the back of the 40-seat restaurant.
As the no-reservations destination’s fame has grown — thanks in part to James Beard Award nominations and appearances in the Michelin Guide, 50 Best and The New York Times — so has its line. The queue has become so lengthy that a professional line-waiting service has spawned, with people paying $50 or more to have someone stand along Coming Street in their place.
Starting Nov. 11, all that is going away.
Chubby Fish, 252 Coming St., is moving to full reservations. The news comes just over a month after the restaurant began offering limited reservations through OpenTable’s Gold Tables, a curated selection of hard-to-book seats in cities across the U.S.
According to a post on social media, the restaurant will continue to leave a few tables open inside and on its patio (when weather permits) for walk-in customers.
The first round of reservations will be released at noon on Nov. 11, with availability beginning Nov. 13 and extending through the following two weeks. Moving forward, new reservations will be released at noon, Tuesday through Saturday, opening up availability for two weeks from that date.
Bookings can be made by visiting opentable.com.
