[chipj29]

As a reformed restaurant manager, in my experience there is nothing worse than “seat yourself” situations. People come in and sit down, and the staff may never know it. At least with someone seating them, a staff member is immediately aware and can let the servers know. Of course that doesn’t guarantee that you will be served, it only guarantees the fact that at least 1 staff member knows you are there. You don’t need a dedicated host/hostess. Any staff member can seat people, including the servers. IMO, seat yourself is a silly concept, and can be quite harmful to a business if not done right.