Restaurant customers today lack manners, and people need to pay more attention to how they act.
Everyone enjoys going out to eat with friends and family. Normally it is a peaceful meal with no major issues. Then there are the times when someone is going off on the waitress or sending food back for a stupid reason. It astonishes me how people can get away with acting this way or why others allow this kind of behavior.
One of the first things people have forgotten is the policy about no outside food. As a general rule, never bring in food from other establishments to a restaurant. It is rude to the people working there. When you are out to eat, enjoy the food offered. Businesses lose money when outside food is brought in, and that is bad business. A place should not have to post a notice banning outside food. Yet I have noticed more and more places having to post a notice because people think it is okay.
This means do not bring in a Starbucks coffee or Taco Bell for your children to enjoy. Sitting in one establishment enjoying food from another place is rude and an insult. Almost all places will offer kids’ menus and if not, there are usually some kid-friendly items. Outside drinks can be enjoyed in the car. If you are celebrating someone’s birthday, ask the establishment before bringing in a cake. The only exception to outside food is if medical reasons have you on a specific diet.
The next courtesy that is lost today is complaining about wait times on food. Here is a shocking fact most people do not realize for someone reason: your server cannot control how long the food takes to cook. The kitchen controls that and sometimes they cannot help how long it takes. There are orders ahead of you, and on the weekends, expect a longer wait.
It surprises me that people complain because a well-done steak holds the order up. There is a lot of preparation that goes into the food. Unless it is a fast food place, do not expect food in the first 10 minutes.
One manner that almost everyone could learn when eating out is to not make a mess like a little kid. It is not that hard to keep all the food on the plate. I hate to say this, but college students are the worst about this. Tearing up straw wrappers, napkins and just having food flung all over the table counts as acting like a child.
The bussers are not your parents. Yes, their job is to clean up the table but after 20 tables of this type of mess, it becomes a bigger task than needed. An average table takes two minutes to buss. The extra mess created by little kids’ actions holds it up longer. Add in having to grab a broom because someone decided to crush food into the carpet, and the poor busser is looking at five plus minutes. This slows down the clearing of tables and people wait longer to get seated.
The last manner I will discuss in this article is ordering. Read the menu with the food description before ordering. It is one thing to ask to take a few items off such as tomatoes or lettuce. Do not completely the food. The rule of thumb is if you do not like what is on 75 percent of the item, do not order it.
The changing of ingredients leads to the whole order being held up. Unless it’s a create-your-own option, the items are not yours to design. If something needs to be taken off due to allergies or other health reasons, please tell whoever is taking the order. This will make sure the item does not even touch your food and is the safest way to make sure it is milk- or pickle-free.
Keeping these few manners in mind when dining out will make the experience better for you and the server. It will also keep you from being the table that the server does not want.