Annoying restaurant trends

Your life sounds so hard. Just terrible.

"You will be seated when all your party arrives."

"Before you order, let me tell me about my favorite dishes."

"The chef's beetroot baked in Himalayan salt is amazeen?"

The prices. My city now has many places where breakfast is over $25, lunch the same, and dinner $50+. For fuck's sake, I went with a friend to Red freaking Robin last month and it was over $20 a person for a basic meal. Restaurateurs claim it's because of the increase in the minimum wage; but the few dollars an hour extra doesn't justify doubling and tripling menu prices in fewer than 7 years.

The noise, you can't even hear what people at your table are saying. The decibels must be sky high in a lot of restaurants these days.

An open kitchen, which makes the restaurant much noisier. If I wanted to see a kitchen, I'd stay at home and see a kitchen.

R4 Oh yes. Between loud music and interior surfaces that seem designed to echo as much noise as possible, I have spent way too many meals shouting at my dining companions.

[quote]If I wanted to see a kitchen, I'd stay at home and see a kitchen.

And I hate those “chef’s counters” that overlook the kitchen, where you sit all in a row. They’re supposed to give you a view of the action but what they really do is make it impossible to converse with more than two people.

Plus, they make me think way too hard about who is touching my food.

[quote]And where am I supposed to set it down, now that they’ve relieved me of my plate?

In your ass crack.

Who gives a shit?

Leaves check, then runs. Returns 30 minutes later.

The most minimal lighting as possible. People working in restaurants who are covered in tattoos along with the accompanying septum piercing.

[quote]The noise, you can't even hear what people at your table are saying.

What R4 said. I have a voice that blends in with ambient noise and doesn't carry very far in a situation like that. There are times when the noise is so loud and chaotic that I have to practically yell to my companions. Occasionally, I'll just text them instead.

When did breakfast out become a $25-$30/ person experience?

I wish servers or restaurant management would ride herd on parents who let their precious children free-range the restaurant. I was having breakfast with a friend at a nice fast-casual place in SF yesterday, and there was a five-year-old in a tiger costume running around until he decided to monopolize the attention on one of the baristas. Mom came over at one point to ask the barista if he was annoying her; of course she said he wasn't, what else was she going to say? So mom went back to their table to try to get some scrambled eggs into Tigger's little sister. Once she gave up on that little sister also started wandering around the restaurant. Mom didn't seem to care much; Dad looked at least a little embarrassed (but did nothing to stop either child). I kept hoping a harried server would accidentally (or "accidentally") drop a loaded breakfast bowl on either child, but alas.

I know of a pizza place in Portland, OR, where, because there are servers walking around with pizzas that just came out of a scorching hot oven, they have no qualms about throwing you out on the street if you can't control your kid, no ifs, ands or buts.

[quote]When did breakfast out become a $25-$30/ person experience?

I wish I could "experience" breakfast.

[quote]I know of a pizza place in Portland, OR, where, because there are servers walking around with pizzas that just came out of a scorching hot oven, they have no qualms about throwing you out on the street if you can't control your kid, no ifs, ands or buts.

If I lived anywhere near it I’d be their most devoted customer.

I'm done with small plates.

I hate restaurants that allow breeders to bring their toddlers to a fine dining establishment and then allow them to scream that shrill shriek that pierces my head or let them run around.

No reservations. There are quite a few places in London I’d like to go to, but you are expected to either stand in line for an hour or more, or to eat dinner at 5.30pm. No thanks.

I’m also done with “our concept is small plates for sharing, we recommend three each, and they will arrive whenever they’re ready i.e. when it suits us”. Enough. I’m fine with actual tapas, but I’ve had it with this small plates bullshit in every other restaurant. It’s all about their profit and convenience - but we end up with 12 plates of random things at random intervals crowded on the table, and then you’re trying to share a scallop because you only got one on your small plate.

I would pay a bit more for a child-free experience. I love kids but I don't enjoy dining with them. And I despise this trend of parents getting relief by sticking an ipad in front of their kids without any headphones.

Prices are a bit higher but I want servers to get paid fairly so I don't mind. Either I can afford it or I don't go. I hate when people are cheap with tips (especially if they don't hesitate to order appetizers, drinks, and desserts).

Mostly I think servers are excellent and put up with a lot of bullshit from spoiled diners. Whenever servers chime in with their own pet peeves, I realize how much worse they have it. Diners can be dicks.

[quote]And I despise this trend of parents getting relief by sticking an ipad in front of their kids without any headphones.

This, x1000.

This entire thread:

This is R21

The way capitalism works: if you think it's too expensive for what you're getting, don't go there and visit a cheaper restaurant. Problem solved!

Thanks, OP. I was going to post this same thread recently but forgot.

There is so much wrong with asking a customer to keep the same utensils for each course. I've been to high-end (or at least expensive) restaurants where the busser picked up the used fork and knife from my salad plate and set them down on the table top. This is an obvious misstep just in terms of hygienic foodservice practices, as they've been clearing dirty dishes from other tables, and are now using their unwashed hands to handle my utensils, which they expect me to re-use. And who wants to clean off remnants from their last course before re-using, especially when paying $36 for an entree?

When I tell them I prefer fresh utensils, they look at me like I've just requested a life-size statue of Buddha be delivered to the table.

Service is dead but the expectation of high gratuity is stronger than ever.

MUSIC. I tell them to turn it off. Why must there be music piped in wherever the fuck you go? AIR CONDITIONER up all the way. I tell them to turn it down and sometimes there's applause from the other patrons. Why am I the only one with the balls to say something?

[quote]Thanks, OP.

I think we're ALL grateful to OP. I know everyone here is. Thanks, OP.

Television screens over the bar. I get it in an actual sports bar or brew pub but in a restaurant that passes as 'nice' it seems overly cheesy. Can't people live five minutes without TV?

r3 You have no idea what a triple net lease entails, do you? Or any other expense. It's not just about the cost of food or wages.

Long refectory-style tables shared with other diners. Servers proclaiming your order "perfect." Having to purchase all sides separately (the restaurant business is tough, though, I get it).

[quote]Long refectory-style tables shared with other diners. Servers proclaiming your order "perfect." Having to purchase all sides separately (the restaurant business is tough, though, I get it).

& I thought I had it tough! OMG!

Many restaurants are intentionally designed to be cramped and loud. It’s not profitable to have people linger and these two conditions make people leave quickly once they are done eating.

Trademarks and copyright symbols in the food item description on the menu. Sure I don't seek out these kinds of restaurants except when I'm on a road trip and starving, but food processor advertising in a menu is gauche and unnecessary.

Restaurants where you can't present hole.

R4, totally, the design is “chic” but the lack of cloth furnishings makes the acoustics horrendous. But you know what? Restaurant managers like that, that means younger clientele who don’t order much, and leave quicker. Turning the tables more often is better for the house, even if they only stay for 35 minutes tops and order a drink and share an app

We get it, D.O. poster. Now fuck off.

My sister and her husband are high salary earners, and they consider expensive restaurants a perk of their ability to pay for them. However, to me, spending more on a dinner for four people than some people pay for their vehicles or their computers is ridiculous. The equation I make in my mind is that I don't want to pay more than about 4 or 5 times what the ingredients of the dinner cost, and I know these costs because I cook all the time. So, yeah, copper river salmon is $19/pound, and I'm getting 6 ozs in a restaurant serving, with some potatoes and vegetables on the side. I'll pay $32 for that and not squawk. (The food costs would be $8 and the remaining $24 is going to the cooks and the waiters and the overhead). However, fettucini with sauce and vegetables? That's going to cost a max of $3.50 in grocery costs, so I'm not going to pay $32 for that. Even if they throw in a few shrimp and scallops, I'm not going to pay more than $22 for that meal. But it's liquor that really drives up the cost of meals, and it's getting insane. $12 for a half glass of wine? $15 for a watery cocktail with lots of ice? That's where restaurants really earn their big money. The actual cost in alcohol is miniscule.

[quote]We get it, D.O. poster. Now fuck off.

Are you what they call a "we" troll?

They're always so nice, just like you.

R13 Breeders will have a heart attack and sue the restaurant.

Wait staff that can't properly pronounce the menu items.

Or worse, wait staff who have no idea how to answer a simple question about a menu item and have to run and ask the kitchen.

Generally find service pretty good at most places but I have some pet peeves:

1) When my water glass is empty and I cannot attract the attention of a server/busser ...but I see several employees clustered near the bar texting or chatting

2) When the lighting in a restaurant seems better suited to surprise anal rather than actually reading a menu

3) When patrons at a neighboring table (talking about in a restaurant, not a bar) are drunkenly loud and the waiters/managers refuse to do anything about it

4) When a child at the next table is picking Cheerios out of a Tupperware container and throwing or dropping most of them on the floor and everyone acts like it’s normal

5) When the host says How many? and I reply One for dinner, please and s/he then says Just one? (No, nimrod, I actually lied and we’re a party of ten.)

6) When I dine solo and they put me at the worst possible table in the place

There are expensive restaurants in the Boston area that refuse to text or eMail you a confirmation unless your reservation is for 6 or more.

That's not very assuring.

Waitstaff who let dirty dishes and glassware pile up on the table. If they deliver the check and walk away empty-handed, leaving me to settle up surrounded by dirty plates, they get 10%.

'Kitchen Appreciation Program' - a 3% service charge that is added to all checks, charge is passed on to the kitchen staff.

I'm with you, OP. Leaving dirty utensils behind absolutely makes my skin crawl. I would not put up with it in an expensive restaurant. I also need to be able to see well enough to read the menu (extremely difficult in most restaurants) and hear well enough to converse with my dinner partners (also extremely difficult in most restaurants). I love eating out at nice places but these three things just annoy the hell out of me.

[quote] The prices. My city now has many places where breakfast is over $25, lunch the same, and dinner $50+. For fuck's sake, I went with a friend to Red freaking Robin last month and it was over $20 a person for a basic meal. Restaurateurs claim it's because of the increase in the minimum wage; but the few dollars an hour extra doesn't justify doubling and tripling menu prices in fewer than 7 years.

r3 has never owned a business and probably doesn't know anyone who has.

With climbing minimum wages come higher payroll taxes and workers comp premiums. Not to mention the typical cost of living increases on all the supplies and overhead a small business owner has to deaal with, and rents typically get raised every year.

Unless small business owners pass costs on to the customers (most of whom support raising minimum wage), they would be taking on all the risk, time and money investment, and work just to earn a few dollars more than a busboy, in which case, take a low skilled, zero education, no risk job as a busboy then since there would be very little incentive to own the business anymore.

The inability to time a civilized meal. It used to be that the main problem in restaurants was long waits for your food, but no more.

Today, many restaurants can't wait to bring your appetizer before you've had the second sip of your drink, or the entree before you've had more than a few bites of your appetizer. No matter how crowded the restaurant is, patrons should be given a chance to enjoy each step of the meal.

Then, at the end of the meal, the waiter visits the table every five minutes to say "anything else"? I can understand this when there are customers waiting for the table (it's discourteous to linger and linger when there are obviously people waiting), but it happens when the restaurant is half empty, too.

The ability to time a meal properly seems to have been lost.

I hate it--HATE it--when waiters interrupt me every five minutes. If I need you, I'LL SIGNAL. Otherwise, once I'm served StAY AWAY.

What's a restaurant?

Sounds interesting.

[quote]Restaurants where you can't present hole.

Did that once at Hole Foods, then realized it had all been a tragic misunderstanding....

"The chef's mother is Korean and his father is Jewish and the fusion of the food of both of his heritages is, like, awesome!"

"Sure, you can share that $15 dessert. I'll bring two spoons."

"Our bathrooms are not gender-specific, I apologize, for the mess, ma'am. I'll send Joselito in there right away."

"The 20% service charge is included in the final bill. I'm sorry you were misinformed. Our no-tipping policy means that all of our staff are compensated for the enjoyment we all provide."

"Sure, you can have a vodka tonic, but let me draw your attention to the complexity of our unique cocktails. The rhubarb-honey shrub in the "Roll Me Over in the Clover" is totally organic."

"The chef's brother-in-law's cousin supplied the watercress in the mousse accompanying the peekytoe crab."

R47 Nowadays my husband and I will order our appetizers but refuse to tell the wait staff what our entrée selection is. Only once the appetizers have arrived on the table do we then tell the server our entrée choices.

Otherwise half the time our entrées arrive when we’re still not even finished with the appetizers! So, so frustrating. Really takes away from enjoying the meal when you’re trying to figure out how to fit all these different plates onto a tiny little table, with the waiter offering to clear away something you’re not even finished with yet just to make room. Then by the time you get to your main dish it’s lukewarm.

Just as restaurants used to have a smoking section, they should have a family section in which all families with small children would be seated. That way they can bother each other and not the rest of the customers.

Oh good gawd, some of you are cheap, frugal old whores.

There are plenty of greasy spoons still serving your $5.99 breakfast. Go there if you want cheap.

If you're paying $25 or above for brunch you're either going to some trendy place, or you're ordering a shit ton of food. Most of the nice places I've been land at around $20 for breakfast, a coffee and tip.

[quote]Otherwise half the time our entrées arrive when we’re still not even finished with the appetizers! So, so frustrating. Really takes away from enjoying the meal when you’re trying to figure out how to fit all these different plates onto a tiny little table, with the waiter offering to clear away something you’re not even finished with yet just to make room. Then by the time you get to your main dish it’s lukewarm.

That's just a totally unprofessional restaurant. I've never experienced that in my life.

What really bugs me is when the food takes forever and you keep asking your waiter where it is and he says "It's coming" and when it eventually arrives it's clearly been sitting under the lamp.

[quote]For fuck's sake, I went with a friend to Red freaking Robin last month and it was over $20 a person for a basic meal. Restaurateurs claim it's because of the increase in the minimum wage

To be fair, the Republicans who fought against raising the minimum wage, did say many times that businesses would raise their prices to pass along the extra expense to the consumer.

This isn't exactly a trend since it's been going on forever, but I loathe restaurants where the waiters won't write down the customer's order. At least half the time this means they're going to fuck something up.

It also gets on my nerves when they "let" me have what they fucked up in addition to what I actually wanted. If I wanted it, I would have ordered it.

You know what I hate? You assholes who refuse to tip on the wine. I've actually heard, "Well. the waiter didn't make the wine". I didn't make the fucking salad either, scumbag, but you'll tip on that? STAY HOME, YOU IGNORANT MOTHERFUCKERS.

I used to manage a restaurant (Rock Bottom) in my college years, and I have to agree with R31. Most restaurants are designed to be somewhat uncomfortable. They do not want you sitting there for 3 hours chatting. They want to turn the table over. High ceilings/wood floors that echo, loud music, too cold/hot, etc.

The price thing bothers me too but it isn't wages that are the issue. It is the rent. When your next, local, favorite place closes, ask the owner, and I would bet money he cites rent. Breakfast especially is ridiculous. Eggs, potatoes, and the various forms of bread are dirt, DIRT cheap compared to other food, and yet I get charged $10-$12 for a breakfast burrito at a local place that I guarantee costs less than $3-$4 to make. $2.50-$3.00 for coffee? That is pennies.

My biggest pet peeve is that, through Open Table, a lot of restaurants take reservations that they have no intention of honoring. It may get you in front of the walk-ins (and that is a MAY), they don't manage it at all. I have waited 15-30 minutes after a reservation time simply because they don't save tables.

[quote] When your next, local, favorite place closes, ask the owner, and I would bet money he cites rent.

This is killing a lot of restaurants. In Chicago, the neighborhood that was the great lab for so many restaurants (West Loop) has chased most of them out due to rent.

I’m not happy to learn that ingredients listed are actually tiny bits of garnish or a thumbprint sized smear of sauce. A full paragraph description of a tiny salad or desert feels deceptive. A recent salad advertised as watermelon and cucumber sounded refreshing, but had only a meager pile of finely diced melon and cucumber. Stupid. Just say “garnished with”. I also hate fussy overhandled pretentious little plates. And glacially slow service. And also servers who are “on” and see the role as a performance. I feel bad for some and always try to be as gracious and generous as I can manage. I’m lucky I never had to do wait in tables. It looks hard. I also hate really picky table mates who make a big deal over allergies and preferences. No one cares.

It irritates me to have servers bring the order and have no clue who ordered what. "Who had the shrimp?" How difficult is it to mark which seat on the ticket had which dish?

My other peeve is when the server reaches across the table to serve the dish, or, because they brought the entree before I was done with the appetizer, just pick up and rearrange my entire place setting, glass, etc. Fuck off.

R60, I made a Thanksgiving reservation through Open Table at a prominent Boston restaurant and received a confirmation via eMail.

Are you implying that it might not be honored?

Mrs Muriel, shut down this thread, now!

Well all restaurants are different R64, but what I am saying, is they will probably seat you, in my experience, it may be far after your reservation time.

When I was in my 20s I wasn't rich and friends and I ate at typical ethnic restaurants and it was almost always a nice time. 2 or 3 times a month I got invited to fancy places and that was nice too, in the 80s. Then I worked for billionaires and for a decade ate at the most wonderful restaurants around the world and that was great and not on my dime. Now I am old and make low 6 figures and I can't even be bothered to eat at middle class restaurants which I feel are overpriced and disappointing. So, I'm back at ethnic joints with the working class and no complaints. Middle Eastern, Indian and African ones are particularly welcoming and one figures out quickly which ones serve fresh, good food. Avoid middle class restaurants and only eat at gastronomic luxury places when invited. They are still wonderful but the prices! Not priced for us, don't you know that!

As soon as you feel some place is too expensive, it is.

[quote] My biggest pet peeve is that, through Open Table, a lot of restaurants take reservations that they have no intention of honoring. It may get you in front of the walk-ins (and that is a MAY), they don't manage it at all. I have waited 15-30 minutes after a reservation time simply because they don't save tables.

I have to say, I have never had this issue. Not doubting you at all, I assume it may depend on the town or how booked a particular area of restaurants might be.

But luckily, I've had no issues w/Open Table over the years. I do usually try to show up around 10 minutes beforehand, and generally try to stay out of the 7 pm - 9 pm block since I know it's the busiest one.

The music is honestly what's been driving me away from some of the trendier places. Music of any kind blaring during any meal is just a terrible idea. It's even worse during brunch.

I don’t like the calorie count being listed next to each item on the menu.

I already know everything in this restaurant is loaded up with extra carbs and fat. I don’t need to see the numbers in black and white.

If I’m that concerned about my calorie intake I wouldn’t be eating here.

[quote] I don’t like the calorie count being listed next to each item on the menu.

No fine restaurant does that. Found only at vile slop houses like Olive Garden, Applebee's and the like.

What happened to free bread baskets?

Having to ask for a glass of water.

not a new trend, but I can't stand when the wait staff, sits down and takes my order...AND introduces themselves to me...I just want food, not a new friend

When the place tacks on an extra percentage of the bill for 'the staff's healthcare.' Shouldn't the restaurant owner be paying for that? The menu often says to ask them to eliminate that charge if you have a problem with it. Which of course makes you look like a cheap heartless bastard, so you keep your mouth shut. Also, when they charge you extra for some sauce to go on your course (a la the restaurant Jar in L.A.) If these things are really going to make or break you, up your prices by a percent or two, so I don't know I'm being ripped off. Everyone would be happier.

[quote]The noise, you can't even hear what people at your table are saying. The decibels must be sky high in a lot of restaurants these days.

This is a good way to keep the populance from conspiring against their overlords.

What R69 said.

Drop dead, Darfur Orphan.

Sudanese restaurants are all the rage in the Midwest now. Frankly, the food sucks. And talk about small portions!

R77 I agree. Seriously, let’s retire the snarky Darfur Orphan joke. It’s not “woke”, funny or interesting, just snarky and played out. Support a relief effort instead of trolling.

God, you queens are unbelievaably petty!

[quote] Well all restaurants are different [R64], but what I am saying, is they will probably seat you, in my experience, it may be far after your reservation time.

If you consider 15 to 30 minutes FAR after your reservation time, apparently. Thirty may be pushing it, I suppose, but if you're going to have a hissy fit over waiting 15 minutes to be seated, you're just being an obnoxious queen. And the problem isn't that the restaurant didn't bother to hold a table for you, it's that it's impossible to predict exactly how long the previous party will occupy the table. Go to the bar, have a drink, and relax.

It doesn't take every employee in the place to screech, "🎶HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!🎵" and bring a stale cupcake to the table.

What is the point of making a reservation R81 if I get seat a half hour later? I am paying them for a service. The restaurant is not doing me a favor when I call ahead of time, and reserve a time to eat (and pay them for the privilege). The are not doing me a favor. Sure, 10 minutes is acceptable. 15 is annoying and I reserve the right to bitch. Beyond that, FU. You are ignoring the point of a reservation.

1.) Pay the owner more because we use it to provide health care to our workers, then they actually spend it on defeating Universal Health Care.

2.) 15-20% tips appreciated, or god forbid mandatory, on take out orders. Yes, sometimes I leave a tip. Usually, it's when they give me a beverage or a snack or something. 20-25% is what you leave the server, who actually busting their ass for you and the owner is giving them nothing but grief.

3.) Warehouse style because this is what I want to do, go out to a nice meal with love ones and not hear a single thing they say (sarcasm). This trend has to end.

4.) Liars: Pay top price for organic this and that, when you know their supplier is the same at MCDs.

5.) restaurants that fund hate groups. I take a disgusting chicken sandwich with a side of Nazi hate. Boycott this Nazi fascist psychos.

6.) restaurants that add shit to their french fries, so they are not just potatoes. Because nothing says quality, then adding fillers to potatoes that are already pretty cheap.

R82, bitch... you've been to Olive Garden huh?

hipster food plating

Waiters with "ZZ Top" beards all dippin' in the guac as they bring to it to the table.....

No free refills.

[quote]bitch... you've been to Olive Garden huh?

It was actually at Black Angus. Twice.

[quote]restaurants that add shit to their french fries, so they are not just potatoes. Because nothing says quality, then adding fillers to potatoes that are already pretty cheap.

McDonalds adds wheat starch to their fries.

OP, do you change your utensils at home, too?

I hate restaurants where you can't grab the waiter's cock.

[quote] R4: The noise, you can't even hear what people at your table are saying. The decibels must be sky high in a lot of restaurants these days.

Me too. I choose my seating based in the sound level now.

[quote] What is the point of making a reservation [R81] if I get seat a half hour later?

Well, at some places the point is that you won't get in at all or will have to wait more like 2 hours if you don't have a reservation.

[quote]The restaurant is not doing me a favor when I call ahead of time, and reserve a time to eat (and pay them for the privilege).

No one said they were doing you a favor. But where have you ever paid extra for making a reservation?

I went to a restaurant for breakfast recently and was shocked to learn that none of the waitstaff showed up for their shifts. It was my 1st and final visit to Dunkin Donuts.

R81 - In London one is frequently told the duration of a reservation. As in: we will seat you at 7:30 but will need the table back at 9:30. The system works perfectly. People know from the outset what the expectations are and it allows restaurants to honor reservations at their actual times, and to get the food properly timed.

Any professionally run restaurant should be able to gauge its capacity and flow to be able to seat diners on arrival at the agreed time. Yes, that means turning away people you cannot accommodate, but it allows better service to those you can realistically fit in.

Often it is the restaurants goal to send waiting customers to the bar to goose up the bill. It’s an all too frequent and transparent ruse.

long salads

beef curtains

[quote] Pay top price for organic this and that, when you know their supplier is the same at MCDs.

There's a place in Chicago called Au Cheval and people are batshit crazy about it. It's not a very big restaurant, so people will wait three hours - yes, three hours - for a seat and for a burger. They rave about this burger, that it's the best thing ever, so fresh, and this that and the other thing.

I knew someone that worked there, and he told us that the restaurant uses frozen burgers from Sysco - a food supplier. So that fabulous burger is the same shit that is sold to places like college cafeterias.

The owner has a good game going on. He had a shop where he would only make 300 donuts, and had a line around the block for them at 6 a.m. He's tapped into the psychology of making people want whatever he's been hyping.

R92, there's a cockage fee.

I like a cocktail before my dinner and there is now a trend where the menu doesn't have prices. I was shocked once where a restaurant used some very expensive Tequila in a margarita. I never went back there, and now ask before I order. I don't give a shit if they think that is inappropriate.

[quote] "Sure, you can have a vodka tonic, but let me draw your attention to the complexity of our unique cocktails. The rhubarb-honey shrub in the "Roll Me Over in the Clover" is totally organic."

You pixies should come to Nick's, where I serve hard drinks for men who wanna get drunk fast.

1. "You still working on that?" It's a restaurant...I'm dining...I'm enjoying...I'm not "working" on anything. 2. Servers who bring the bill while you're still eating dessert and say "no rush." If there's "no rush," just wit until I'm done eating.

Thank you.

[quote]Servers who bring the bill while you're still eating dessert and say "no rush."

R102, that often happens because the waiter's shift is ending and he wants to (or is required by the manager to) leave soon. He's hoping you'll pay right away, even if you linger afterwards, so he can be sure to get the tip - or perhaps just so no other waiter has to take over.

Hipster places, where the seating is disused school chairs and the crockery is old and mismatched. The man-bunned bearded servers barely look clean. Yet the prices are very up-to-date!

I cannot stand it when waiters are overly friendly. DON'T start talking to me, DON'T strike up a conversation, DON'T tell me what your favorite dishes are, I really couldn't care less.

Tell me about it r16.

What they call “tapas” in Sydney gives you 3 bite sized meatballs for $12.

R92, When I'm served by a particularly hot waiter and I write my number on the receipt but he never calls.

R56 Come to Midtown Atlanta, it happens all the time. Rents are high but that is no excuse. Just poor management.

Shared plates & family style. Bleh, let me order my own meal. I don't want to have to negotiate with my table mates on what will be ordered. I don't want to have to deal with anyone else's food preferences and dietary restrictions (vegan, paleo, low fat, low salt, lactose intolerant....on and on). It's impossible to satisfy everyone. Shared plates is a trend that really needs to die off.

R98, Au Cheval serves fries with a fried egg on top. Customers go gaga over it, like it's so innovative.

Waitresses who use a "Fargo" accent and speak in a very sing-song voice and ask, "So. How's that steak working for ya?"

R109 I agree. I don’t mind it sometimes but it feels like it’s practically inescapable now. I want my own food!

Pork belly/Banana/Kimchi/Farro. 26.

Sweetbreads/Pickallili/Daikon/Sunchoke. 32.

Hamachi/Moss/Rosehips/Habanero. 35.

Veal/Shitake/Coffee/Sorrel. 37.

True story, I swear. Years back, the restaurant's sign was missing a few bulbs and so it read: "Stuart Anderson's BLACK AN US." I swear to you. Too bad this was before phone cameras or all you fuckers would believe.

Anyway, my peeves are restaurants are:

One's that are too bright. Like Operating Room, bright. Actually, this is pretty much the norm throughout the country unless you're in a biggish city.

The game you play when the server ask you about dessert and you say no and they smile and say "you're sure?" and you say no?

And when the fuck did "And how is everything tasting?" replaced "How is everything?"

R110 I'm sure it's delicious, but yeah, I can name a hundred other restaurants who put grilled onions and a fried egg on top. I don't get the three hour wait shit!

R113, I just don't go to those restaurants any longer. The only good thing about menu items like that is that there isn't that much of them on the plate.

It annoys me that so few fine restaurants today provide a hat check service.

Hipster trends: Octopus ink in test tubes and droppers. Barf.

To add to someone’s comment above (can’t find it now, sorry): restaurants that become so cool that there are lines around the block. That happens all the time in Austin and it is the most annoying thing. LA Barbecue on Cesar Chavez is the latest. Ugh.

Not putting hot young waiters in tight jeans.

Waiting in line for pancakes. Fools.

[quote]It irritates me to have servers bring the order and have no clue who ordered what. "Who had the shrimp?"

I've heard this is referred to as "auctioning."

if a restaurant thinks they are fancy because they put a fried egg on top, it's because they can't cook. In France, a fried egg is street food, food to go, CHEAP EATS.

Food served in "handcrafted" pottery bowls, not plates. Utensils slide all over the place when you attempt to cut something in the bowl.

Millennials love to eat from bowls. Top restaurants now are making their elders eat from bowls.

One of the newer things I love is menus in English. Years and years ago you'd have to know French or Italian to decipher what the fuck was on the menu in NYC. The heavy accented waiters were no help.

"Have you dined with us before?" Like, the dining experience is so unique to this restaurant you need instructions on how to eat there.

Do waitrons say such stupid things? Slap worthy.

Ice in water

The aforementioned Watch Me Memorize, leaving me wondering if the wait person will get the order right. Stop showing off.

Clustering diners when there's plenty of room (and I do understand why this is done on purpose but I hate it)

Not really knowing about the dish (not picky details such as whether the salmon's from Canada but if there are raw onions in a dish)

And of course noisy diners allowed to let kids run around

R126, another annoying variation, recently said to me by a waiter:

“Are you familiar with how we do things here?”

I had to bite my tongue to avoid responding with:

“Yes. I tell you what I want to eat, and you bring it to me. Correct?”

Expensive, trendy restaurants with “ironic” backdrops, snarky menus, and other misguided attempts to “keep it real.”

For example: the millennial in our department recently suggested lunch at a restaurant with a garage theme. The entire back wall was a garage door, the tables looked like my dad’s old work bench, and unstable, uncomfortable metal barstools to sit on. The food was overpriced and doled out in micro portions. One of the menu items was a $15 spam sandwich. I kid you not.

I live in the NYC suburbs, and eat at restaurants here and in New York. And I haven't seen 75% of the shit you guys have listed.

R113

The best part is when the menus read like that, and they're describing the flavors of the dish, not even the ingredients. The fanciest restaurant in my city does that. I went there for my birthday a few years ago, and it was very mediocre.

R109

The annoying thing about shared plates is when the dish actually could have been a meal for one person. A restaurant near me insists on shared plates and also insists on a ridiculous amount of food. They recommended two "proteins", two pastas, and two "vegetable" dishes (which were actually apps). My boyfriend and I only got two "proteins", one pasta, and one "vegetable", and then we were too stuffed for dessert. Meanwhile, the pasta dish and each "protein" would have been fine as individual entrees.

Shared plates mostly seem like an excuse to get customers to over-order.

I know I'm a bit OCD, but some casual places never wipe down their menus/salt & pepper shakers/ketchup bottles. They are greasy, grimy, and gross. I hate it.

It used to be the just the Chinese, now others are using MSG. No goody when word gets out. The shit is poison and it's shady as fuck to slip it in to the food.

"I live in the NYC suburbs, and eat at restaurants here and in New York. And I haven't seen 75% of the shit you guys have listed."

When you eat exclusively at Shake Shack, you wouldn't.

This is going to sound kind of dumb. But I think there is a lot to be said for sticking with your favorite restaurants and only trying new ones that aren't too expensive or on someone else's birthday. There are six of us, three couples who go out to dinner for each person's BDay. Two days are doubled up. So we go out five times a year. The rule is that the birthday boy or girl gets to pick the restaurant. We're all good friends so we know that $500 for two is not okay, but $250 plus tip is fine. We're old friends and we end up in familiar places, but there are new explorations too. Sometimes there is a bit of bitching about that, but the adventure part is fun. And we are comfortable. So many couples and families are TOO comfortable in everything they do that they bring that sense of dissatisfaction with them. Everywhere they go. Our group has had a few disastrous experiences in the many year and many times a year we do this. I don't know. Mostly bad food to be honest. Too much noise or music is okay, too much pretentiousness is okay, briefly. Even a bad seat and bowls are okay. The only bad waiter is too fake or too absent. Otherwise they are doing a job. The food should be the star but service counts, especially with a group of six who drink a lot. Ha. We're fun and cute and having a great time. Still, there is such a thing as a bad night for a server or the kitchen. If you hate it, don't go back. If you're boyfriend is cheating on you, by all means bitch about no bread. Fuck his ass right and take him to Red Lobster Beyonce.

I don't believe in $25 breakfasts, plus tip. Not in your hometown. Don't do it. Brunch is something different. A dumb meal idea.

I don't mind a $20 scotch before a meal. But I hate paying 16 bucks for a 6oz glass of 11.95 a bottle wine.

Oh, the trend that annoys me? Food not served on plates or displayed in such a way that you never really get a good bite of it. My palate will make it out as it goes down.

R136 = very jealous inhabitant of Compton, Calif

*If YOUR boyfriend is cheating on you - take his ass to Red Lobster.*

My pet peeve are servers who announce "Tonight *I* have (food/drink special)." Unless the person speaking is the chef, or owner, it's "WE have..."

Lord fuck jesus christ grammar bitches can't even swallow food? What a goof you are R140.

I didn't mention it as a point of grammar, but that it's delivered in an imperious tone when he's just a server!

When asked specific questions about a menu item, the server responds by stating their personal dietary restrictions.

“I don’t know about the pasta —I’m gluten-free.”

“I’m vegetarian so not sure about the filet.”

I don’t care about their food neurosis or stance on the ethical treatment of animals. They could at least say whether other customers seem to like it, what their coworkers say, etc.

In fact maybe they shouldn't be hired. Depends on the quality of the restaurant. But back when I was a waiter in college, we had eaten most of the items on the menu so could say something to sell it.

"R136] = very jealous inhabitant of Compton, Calif"

Wow, arrogant AND racist. Well, that's New York.

I guess R142. But that server is the front of house. Not sure that it's necessary for them to say "WE." I don't get it, beyond some personal experience you had that was probably a problem. Many servers are actors and singers and playwrights and dancers who never will be. Most of that is fun and makes for good ASSES!!! Occasionally they are a bit grand. That's not exactly a legit complaint. I can offer you the cardamom pear whipped cream with that sounds better than a few things you heard that day.

In any halfway decent restaurant, the staff has tasted every meal and all but the most expensive wines. Why look down on "just a server." They are trained about the menu and the wine. If they work in a fun place with a theme of Cajun or French or southern Italian cuisine, they are probably enthusiastic about the menu too. Even in a diner, the pulled pork is maybe better than the burger.

Some servers are ridiculous or haven't gaged their game to your liking. Because what seems obsequious to me probably sounds just right to you. What I like from a waitress, as I do from any service profession is, when asked - that THEY offer their opinion of what they like or recommend and why. He doesn't have to know your taste or palette but they know what's popular or why they like certain things. I don't make my decision based solely on that - but you'll inadvertently find out that they don't like the soup (that they found two dead mice in earlier today) or why they don't favor the (barely safe) chicken tonight. You're taking your stomach's life in hand whenever you go out to eat. Don't think otherwise. Fast food can be more reliable than a mid class restaurant. In doubt, always order a steak or a seafood that must be cooked a minute before you get it. Avoid salads and food that requires too much prep or handling. I hate plates with a lot of small items that were place or made by hand. Someone is going to call me a rube. But I'm not. I am an ex X waiter and bartender who made $500 a night and my brother is a very prosperous chef.

Only thing that bothers ME in a restaurant is when they don't treat me or look at me as a person. You can tell when you're a number going through, even if you're there for 3 hours. Doesn't happen often. Don't let it happen again. It's not the kind of complaint you can tell to your lovely waiter or fast busboy. You just don't go back again.

In cheaper establishments, as long as they apologize for any fuck ups, spills or long waits - that's ok with me. The best place to eat eggs is somewhere they serve hundreds each day....

R146, three hours? All your waiters must hate you.

I'm a v handsome man who spends a lot of money dining out. I have some lovely friends. My brother is a chef and I don't mistreat servers. Most waiters want me to fuck them. Why would they hate me R147? Something about my post must have made you feel inadequate. Good luck to you. In restaurants, and in life.

[quote]there is now a trend where the menu doesn't have prices

I'm not uptight about money or restaurant prices but was shocked when I was charged $24 for an appetizer at a Neapolitan pizza place. It was ball of burrata, drizzled with olive oil and served with bread. The server had recited it along with several other features. She didn't mention the price of anything and I never thought to ask because burrata generally isn't expensive.

[quote][R102], that often happens because the waiter's shift is ending and he wants to (or is required by the manager to) leave soon. He's hoping you'll pay right away, even if you linger afterwards, so he can be sure to get the tip

A good waiter will tell the customer exactly that—my shift is over and I'm going home—while also being accommodating enough to point out or introduce another waiter in case the customers need anything else. If the customers have finished dessert, it's unlikely they'll need anything. But this courtesy makes them feel welcomed and not rushed, rather than being hurried out so the waiter can get their hands on the tip.

Sadly this, like most of basic waiting skills, are a thing of the past.

I'm tired of hearing staff conversations. Cooks. Bartenders. If it ain't work related, don't talk about it in front of customers.

[quote]It irritates me to have servers bring the order and have no clue who ordered what. "Who had the shrimp?" How difficult is it to mark which seat on the ticket had which dish?

There's actually pretty standard method for taking orders: Starting with the person to the waiter's immediate left, the seats are numbered clockwise 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. The order is entered into the system by seat, and then served by seat without having to auction it off, with is one of the most obnoxious tings a server can do.

Any decent wait staff knows who ordered what. The system does tell you. By drink choice and everything else. Why are customers so dumb? This ain't your grampa days. Writing orders down at the table is very tacky. The server will sometimes confirm an order when serving by saying, striploin medium rare? Otherwise they know what they're doing. But more and more in some larger restaurants someone other than your server is delivering your food - that junior cute boy or girl hasn't a clue what you ordered. Is it difficult to say "yes, that's for me." ?

r151, uh, some context? like while you're at the bar? or while the peach flambé is being ignited?

[quote]Sadly this, like most of basic waiting skills, are a thing of the past.

I just got this the other night, so you must live in a tomb

1. "Table ... for one???" Host/hostess looks worriedly around a restaurant where 75% of the tables are empty, then hesitatingly leads you to a terrible two-top as if every other table will fill up within 10 minutes.

2. "Small plates." Larger than an appetizer, but two still don't count as a meal. And the bill always is higher than just paying for an entree.

3. "Did you SAVE ROOM for dessert?" instead of "Would you like dessert?"

... and my pet Darfur Orphan-pissing-off peeve:

4. Designer labels in the food description. "Cuntahoochie Farms ribeye." "Buttmunch Farms baby lettuces." It reeks of fucking insecurity and status-grubbing. Seriously, I can tell the difference between quality lettuce and some freezer-burned iceberg dumped out of a Sysco bag. And has any customer EVER said, "Well, I thought I'd have the ribeye but since I don't know if it's from Cuntahoochie Farms ... "

No more salt shakers on the table at many restaurants.

All I know is that we had another wonderful late lunch at El Coyote yesterday, without any of the annoyances mentioned above . . . I've been going since the original owner, Blanche March, was hostess . . . best Jewish Mexican food in LA!

[quote]He doesn't have to know your taste or palette

Why would the waiter care about your painting tools?

Huh? When's the last time you went out for dinner gramps @ R159? I would guess 2004.

Bottled dressing. I can identify it instantly.

2-hour windows. Then cunty attitude from wait staff when you go over the 2 hours. I hate being rushed.

The noise, I agree, is awful. Not just music but the foghorn voices from other tables or even worse, VOCAL FRY.

When you tell a waiter at least three times to please not include an item and... it still comes with the meal.

I'm okay if they don't bring mandatory water or bread, but I appreciate it when they ask if I would like some.

r158, I'm glad somebody likes El Coyote's food. I think it's inedible.

Embarrassed for the ignorant rube @ R160. Oh dear!

[quote]"Table ... for one???" Host/hostess looks worriedly around a restaurant where 75% of the tables are empty, then hesitatingly leads you to a terrible two-top as if every other table will fill up within 10 minutes.

This does happen every day in NYC. Not in ten minutes, but easily in 30. If you arrive for lunch at 11:45, the place will be nearly empty. By 12:15 it will packed.

Wait Servants who walk through the room to place something on a table and make no effort to scan their tables in case anyone needs something.

This annoyance isn't the restaurants' fault, but due to a state law that was passed we now have to "ask for a straw" in California. It's another thing involving cutting down on plastic. Many restaurants have stated they plan to switch to paper or bamboo straws, but I guess there are supply issues.

We sometimes forget to ask for straws when the drinks are first brought, so then have to flag the server down to make our request. For health reasons, I won't drink out of any glass in a restaurant without a straw. I'm about ready to start bringing my own.

Going to a steak restaurant and ordering it medium rare, and receiving one that’s clearly well done or medium well.

At a *steak* restaurant.

You had ONE job...!

And when you complain they act all put out and even the manager comes over to inspect before taking it back. I don’t want to hear your apologies, etc. Just cook the steak correctly!

And then they bring you a new one and it’s passive aggressively cooked rare 🙄

Of course prices will go up when minimum wage increases. Wait until it goes to $15 per hour. The breakfast will go from $20 to $50.

From this side of the pond:

Creative, try-hard names for courses: “Fresh eggs from Farmer Joseph”, “Chocolate Pies from Bakery Minouche”.

So pretentious.

R167 you will drink the liquid IN the glass, but not touch the rim of the glass with your lips? FOR HEALTH REASONS. I suspect you are one of those customers a waiter quickly learns will be nothing but a time suck.

R162 is going to sit at that table all night long and get his money’s worth. Don’t tell Baby dinner is only two hours! Pro tip: they aren’t being cunty reminding you that your time is up. You are being cunty by thinking the rules don’t apply to you and accepting the table knowing full well you plan to stay too long.

R153 when I waitered, we took the order from left to right. This saved us from asking "Who gets the Egg Plant Parm?"

R169. my favorite Chelsea diner now charges $15-20 for breakfast. Their wraps run $15-18. Rent was raised, food prices went up, and new wages for servers all add up. My Chicken Sorrentino was $18.95, it's now $24.95. I eat out less often.

[quote]“Fresh eggs from Farmer Joseph”,

Unless Farmer Joseph happens to lay eggs, shouldn't that read "Fresh eggs from the chicken's twat"??

[quote]And then they bring you a new one and it’s passive aggressively cooked rare 🙄

Nothing passive about it. Sounds like BRGR in Pittsburgh.

R168 It would be simpler if you stuck to 3 states: rare, medium, or well-done. If you ask for "medium rare" and get rare, HOW VERY DARE THEY, PULEASE stay home and cook with your rectal thermometer.

[quote]We sometimes forget to ask for straws when the drinks are first brought, so then have to flag the server down to make our request.

How do you manage to recover from such trauma?

[quote]I won't drink out of any glass in a restaurant without a straw.

Do you bring your own silverware as well?

If the health issue you referred to is a medical condition that makes it difficult to drink from a glass, train yourself or your companion to ask at the beginning of the meal for your straw. Write yourself a note, or bring your own, as you mentioned. I've been doing it for 2 years.

R145 = inferiority complex (:

r160 Sweetie -- are you new here? When someone says "oh, dear" in response to one of your posts, it means you've made a grammatical, spelling, or word usage error.

THIS is a palette. What you have in your mouth (when it's not otherwise occupied) is a PALATE.

R177, yes, but "Medium rare is the most ideal because it provides the best and truest flavor of the beef, and allows for a charred outside and cool interior. "

[quote] [R168] It would be simpler if you stuck to 3 states: rare, medium, or well-done. If you ask for "medium rare" and get rare, HOW VERY DARE THEY, PULEASE stay home and cook with your rectal thermometer.

Google “sous vide”. This is how most restaurants prepare steaks and can ensure they’re made to a precise level of doneness. It’s simple (I do it all the time at home) and basically impossible to screw up.

My point is, there is zero excuse for a restaurant that SPECIALISES in steak to get this wrong.

Yes, medium rare is how most civilized people order a steak and every steakhouse should be able to cook a steak to that doneness with no problem.

And, yeah, what's up with the ninnies losing their tiny minds over r159's "oh, dear." Have they decided that "palette" instead of "palate" is another sidesplitting (not) DL in-joke that they will beat to death for the next 20 years?

Tappas. Where you don't really get what you want, spend a lot of money and still leave hungry.

"Tappas". Ah, querido!

During radio interview, a caller asked a restaurateur who owns several businesses why his places are so loud. He responded by saying what the caller says is "loud" creates energy, which he likes.

OP, the last time I was asked to save my fork for dessert was at a wedding reception held in a Pennsylvania fire house.

R31, Elephant & Castle on Greenwich Avenue has tables so close, the slimmest person can barely get into the banquette.,

Owners who are never at their restaurants.

And their omelettes aren't nearly as good as they were in the '70s, r189.

[quote] There's actually pretty standard method for taking orders: Starting with the person to the waiter's immediate left, the seats are numbered clockwise 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. The order is entered into the system by seat, and then served by seat without having to auction it off, with is one of the most obnoxious tings a server can do

What happens if the waiter forgets where s(he) was standing at the table?

Servers who do the "tonight I have..." thing have an inferiority complex and want to appear more important than they really are.

[quote]What happens if the waiter forgets where s(he) was standing at the table?

All restaurants have their own agreed-to origin point for seating and order-taking. Generally a cardinal direction, or anchored by an interior landmark (the bar, a wait station, the kitchen). Seat numbers are pre-determined by their relation to that origin. The restaurant staff know the system, so even if different waiters serve food and drinks to a table, the items always go to the seat that ordered them.

[quote]Servers who do the "tonight I have..." thing have an inferiority complex and want to appear more important than they really are.

More likely, it's just what they've been instructed to say.

[quote]Servers who do the "tonight I have..." thing have an inferiority complex and want to appear more important than they really are.

[quote]More likely, it's just what they've been instructed to say.

I've worked in many fine restaurants and have noticed the opposite is true: If waiters are instructed at all on the matter, it is to refer to the restaurant as a whole or as a we. The only ones who take ownership of the group effort tend to throw their weight around in other ways, and don't make good coworkers. That is never encouraged. R193 is right.

Bunch of nuts with old man palettes on this thread. Waiters are instructed down to the last flourish in some places and are free to present the menu as they see fit in others. Restaurants are notoriously badly managed in front of house. Why do you think chefs always fail in that position in Top Chef? A restaurant is a fun war and great anxiety and stress everyday. It ain't easy to coordinate. The kitchen has a system to deliver their planned menu for that day or everyday. Waiters and diners are working in a much more fluid environment. Only some people are allowed to be temperamental. But it's an all round great display of temperament. It's best to be in love with restaurants AND people. At lot of establishments and customers can barely manage one. Diners should never feel the pressure of the house, but they do sometimes. But most y'all sound oblivious. Explains the poor palette.

First World problems, OP.

[quote]Bunch of nuts with old man palettes on this thread.

Oh, DEAR.

I used pallettes three times on this thread. All to catch old white fags who pay no attention to the content of a post or person. Ya'll exist for a sad opportunity of correction. Your mom must have been very hard on you R199. May god grant you peace in your final days.

The truth is a lot of these young servers are better at running a food business than the owners.

[quote]I used pallettes three times on this thread. All to catch old white fags who pay no attention to the content of a post or person. Ya'll exist for a sad opportunity of correction.

Actually, r199 is the OP and has contributed several posts and replies on this thread, on a variety of restaurant-related topics. Not to mention, it's just a thread about annoying restaurant trends; the great debate over whether waiters should say "I" or "we" is not really any more important or interesting that whether some dolt used "palette" instead of "palate." You sound like you didn't get enough attention growing up (or maybe too much).

Well aren’t you a clever little fucktard R200?

[R129], you made my hour...

I'm little bit confused . . .

When did they stop printing ladies' menus?

R197 is ESL. Either that or he's profoundly retarded.

Baby boomers making scenes over forks in restaurants is my biggest pet peeves, right behind babies throwing tantrums

OK, Zoomer r208. Not once have I ever made a scene over forks, whatever that means.

A baby throwing a tantrum, however, now that's something I did make a scene over recently, at what some say is the best restaurant in town. When I went over and politely asked the frau who was actually making the scene by banging her baby's toy on the table over and over and over, she and her sperm donor took umbrage, AND THE RESTAURANT MANAGER SIDED WITH THE FRAU, THE SPERM DONOR, AND THE CROTCH DROPPING.

Well, guess which restaurant isn't my "best in town" any longer. I mean really, banging on tables with toys, fraubissina codependent?

R209 making any kind of scene, is a character flaw. I have never had a human interaction that has escalated into "a scene" that wasn't rooted in arrogance and self importance. YOU DO NOT MATTER. BABY BOOMER OR NOT YOU WILL ROT INTO THE GROUND AND NO ONE WILL REMEMBER YOU IN A FEW YEARS, GROW UP. The least you can do is slow down mankind's annihilation by a few seconds by making the demonstrative gesture of being more environmentally conscious.

r210 "Environmentally conscious"? What did that have to do with what I wrote?

OH, AND LEARN TO WRITE A SENTENCE. OK, ZOOMER?

r211 He's right, you still don't matter either way......

r210 is right, none of you matter in the slightest. accept it

R187 the restauranteur was lying. What was he going to say 'It's for a quicker turnover.'?

R214 there is no "n" in Restauateur.

But there is another R.

'While restaurateur is considered more correct, the common usage of the restauranteur means it is not entirely incorrect, and both terms are used in the culinary world.'

Never, EVER confront (or even "gently request") a parent over the conduct of a child in a restaurant, airplane, etc. That's what managers and flight attendants are for.

The only exception I know: Germany.

Another oh, dear for R200! Ya’ll?!

Fuck off y'all and all y'all. Grotesque ancient white queens on here sharing their dining out peeves and pedantry. Because y'all have nothing better to "dine out" on anymore. Have a blessed day R219!

And you have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon young'un than to troll on DL. How many times were you hit with the ugly stick?

R217, while both may be used, the preferred spelling is minus the "n." The ignorant don't prevail.

Asking me how I’d like my burger cooked. This is meat that has been sitting for a while, sliced and diced. Unless you are going to chop it tableside, I do not want rare meat. And I LOVE medium rare steak.

'both terms are used in the culinary world.' What word in that phrase is causing you trouble R222?

[quote]I cannot stand it when waiters are overly friendly. DON'T start talking to me, DON'T strike up a conversation, DON'T tell me what your favorite dishes are, I really couldn't care less.

Or take a knee to take my order, or sit down next to me in the booth ...😒

[quote] Asking me how I’d like my burger cooked.

Because they are supposed to read your mind and know that, unlike most people, you don't want your burger medium rare?

If the waiter is handsome, I don’t mind at all if he comes down to eye level to take my order.

I’d love to see the service industry get replaces by robots.

I demand fresh cutlery for every course.

r98 this is why after a first date at Au Cheval, which was a huge mistake on my end (guy was crazy and the delicious meal was expensive) I now just visit their Small Cheval restaurants in the city. Burger with fries at Small Cheval is like $13-15 and I only go on special occasions like my birthday. No reason to go back to the main restaurant. Yes, we waited an hour to be seated which is fast for that place. My suburban ass learned to spend fist dates outside of pricy restaurants, even though I can afford it.

Didn't know about the meat source, but all red meat is about flavoring. We can make a world class burger or steak at home if you learn how to cook it properly.

r156 that isn't your fault. From my serving days, that worried look from the host is due the calculation in his or her head about which server they want to inadvertently piss off with the single top. Even if the host is going by the established rotation, waiters may still come up to "inquire" about the seating arrangement or request the next customer in their section to accommodate them for the projected lost wages. Host are typically the lowest paid person in the restaurant (at least where I worked) so it can be a tough job as the team's kicking mule. If there is a culture that permits a lot of bitching and second guising then they will hear from the angry waiter or wait staff assigned to your table.

I was always nice to our hosts, well everyone, because serving was a temp job to get me through college. But when I'd cover for a host, I was not one to be messed with. We stuck to the rotation unless a guest requests a specific table in someone else's section. Don't like it? Take it up with the General Manager or owner who established that process. You as the guest should never feel anything but welcome, even if you dine alone.

Hipster restaurants that won't take bookings can collectively go fuck themselves then suffer my laughter and money spent at rival establishments when in 2 years they lose heat and lose money and succumb to opentable.com.

[quote]First World problems, OP

It may shock you to learn that restaurants exist in the developing world, too, and patrons there would likewise find certain trends annoying.

R232 Especially if they also only accept cash and/or don't have a phone.

I'm old fashion and still use my Platinum Card to make dinner reservations. Just send them an email with my request. I don't think I can remember the last time I actually called a restaurant to make a reservation. They typically aren't even open in the morning, when the urge to book the appointment strikes. Trendy places that don't take dinner reservations are usually skipped, unless I'm already in the neighborhood.

Exactly @ R234. Went to get a cheese steak at a famous Philly joint recently and was shocked at how rude they were to everyone....because they can be. Not accommodating to the customer at all. No credit cards accepted, stand in the right place or get yelled at, signs all over that scream cash only and one that actually said, "if you don't ask for it when you order, you won't get it". So hostile. I felt like I was in that soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld. I won't be back. Honestly, it wasn't that great. The bread was soggy as hell---like a hotdog roll. No thanks.

Bleeding meat dripping on wooden slabs that resemble a cutting board.

Bone marrow.

A shit hamburger that cost $20 usd or more. Hamburger is so 19 century.