How to get a last-minute table in Dublin tonight

The fastest way to a Dublin table tonight is to look where tonight's cancellations end up: on Mosey, a diner or a place can offer up a booking that has fallen through, and you can claim it outright. If nothing suits, aim for an early or late sitting, ask for the bar or counter, or go somewhere that takes walk-ins before the rush. And if you would rather not keep checking, turn on alerts for two or three places you would happily go to and let the tables come to you.

Where do last-minute tables in Dublin come from?

A place that is "fully booked" at lunchtime is rarely fully booked at eight. Plans change through the day: a babysitter cancels, somebody is ill, a work thing runs over, one couple in a group of six drops out. Most of that happens in the afternoon, and a second wave comes when a deposit's free-cancellation window is about to close, because people who were wavering decide before it costs them.

That is why a booking page that said no at noon can say yes at four. The tables existed all along; they just became free when nobody was looking.

The problem for a small place is that a table freed at four for eight o'clock is very hard to resell by phone. That is exactly the table Mosey's last-minute tables are built for.

How do I claim a last-minute table on Mosey?

In the app, the Reserve page shows tables that have just been offered up after a cancellation, by the place itself or by the diner who can no longer go.

1. Look at what has opened up. Each listing shows the place, the time, the size of table and how long it stays up.
2. Claim it. If the original booking carried a deposit, you pay your own deposit to the place when you claim, and the person who gave it up gets theirs back in full. No money passes between you and a stranger, and Mosey takes nothing from a deposit.
3. It is now your booking. You get the same confirmation and reminder as any other, and the place's normal cancellation terms apply from here.

Two things are worth knowing. A table can only be offered up until two hours before its time, so an eight o'clock table is claimable until about six. And at a place that runs a membership, members hear about a freed table first, for an hour, before everybody else does.

Let the table come to you

Refreshing an app all afternoon is nobody's idea of a plan. There are two ways to hand that job over.

• Cancellation alerts. Turn them on for a place and you are told whenever a table there is offered up.
• Watches. Describe what you want (a date or certain days of the week, a time window, a party size) and point it at one place or at a list of places you have saved. When a matching table appears, you are told.

Watches are the better tool when you are flexible about where but fixed about when, which is most Friday nights. There is more on setting them up in never miss a table: cancellation watches in Dublin.

What if the place is completely full?

Where a place runs one, join its waitlist. You say the date, the size of your party and a preferred time (or any time), and you can add a few other dates you would also take. When a table frees up, the place offers it to the list and you are given a window to claim it.

The waitlist works best for a specific night a little way off, a birthday next Saturday say. For tonight, last-minute tables and alerts are quicker. Joining a waitlist for a full restaurant covers how to get the most out of one.

How to get a table without a booking

Plenty of good Dublin places hold tables back for people who walk in, and a few take no bookings at all. Your odds improve a lot if you bend on the details.

• Go early or go late. A table before six or after nine is far easier than one at half seven. Many places will seat you early if you can be finished before a later booking; say so up front ("we can be out by eight").
• Ask for the bar or the counter. Counter seats are often kept for walk-ins and turn over quickly.
• Keep the party small. Two people fit into gaps that four never will, and solo diners get in almost anywhere.
• Leave your number. If the answer at the door is no, ask to be called if something frees up in the next hour, and stay nearby.
• Pick an area, not a single place. Neighbourhoods with several places close together give you a second and third option within a few minutes' walk.

Some places run a walk-in queue: you scan a code at the door, join from your phone without needing the app or an account, and get a message when your table is ready, so you can wait in the pub across the road instead of the doorway. Mosey's page of Dublin places good for walk-ins gathers the ones people have tagged that way in their ratings.

Which nights are hardest in Dublin?

Friday and Saturday evenings, obviously. Beyond that, a few things squeeze the whole city at once: big match and concert nights around Croke Park and the Aviva, the Christmas party weeks in December, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and bank holiday weekends. On those nights, book if you can and treat a last-minute table as a bonus.

Sunday evenings and the early part of the week are easier, though a lot of independents close on Mondays, so check before you set out. Midweek is also when a well-rated place you could never get into on a Saturday is most likely to have room.

Once you have the table

Turn up on time, or say if you will not. Shortly before your booking the app gives you a chance to tell the place you are running late; places hold a table for a grace period they set, and after that it may be released. If your plans change, cancel rather than not appearing: cancelling never counts against you, while a pattern of no-shows can mean being asked for a deposit next time.

If you want a shortlist to aim alerts at, the top-rated places in Dublin is built from what people actually rated, and nobody can pay to be on it.

Open Mosey's Reserve page this evening, see what has just come free, and turn on alerts for the places you keep missing out on.