NEW ORLEANS (AP) — People are hired to stand in line for days to get one of the coveted seats in the first-floor dining room of Galatoire's Restaurant on the Friday before Mardi Gras.

The restaurant has been the place to be on Fridays, especially on the last Friday before Mardi Gras, for 100 years. Galatoire's policy of no reservations on the first floor has always left patrons scrambling for prime seating.

This year, the seats will be up for grabs for anyone with the money to pay for them.

Galatoire's will auction the seats off on Feb. 13 with the proceeds benefiting the Louisiana Restaurant Associations' restaurant employee relief fund, and the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans' "Proud to call it Home" campaign.

The restaurant relief fund is to help workers return to the city. The Young Leadership campaign is aimed at enhancing the quality of life in the city following the hurricane.

Bidding will begin at $100 per seat, with tables seating between two and 12 people. For those looking to make money securing the seats, the restaurant has made them nontransferable.

The purchasing patron and guests may occupy the table as lone as they wish beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 24. Once they leave the restaurant further seating will be on the normal "first-come, first-serve" basis.

Preregistration for the auction is required. Bidders must visit Galatoire's. Numbered auction paddles will be given to the first 150 people to register.

"Our family sees this as an opportunity to start a new tradition for our restaurant," said Galatoire's president Simone Nugent. "We also want to offer something to two very important charities that directly impact both those who serve in our industry and those whose passion for life in New Orleans will be the driving force behind making it stronger and more desirable than ever before."

Galatoire's, winner of the James Beard Foundation's San Peligrino Outstanding Restaurant Award, celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. The restaurant reopened after Hurricane Katrina on Jan. 1.