Waiting in/on lines at food establishments

[jsmeeker]

Over the weekend, I made a BBQ run to Central Texas. I've done this a few times before, and have experienced some long waits just to get some meat. This time, there as a whole added dimension of arriving at places well before they opened to ensure we didn't have an even longer wait AND to ensure we actually got food.

Normally, I don't like to wait. I see people waiting for an hour or more for a place like Cheesecake Factory and scratch my head. But everyone is different and has their own rules. For this past weekend, one of the places (Snows) is very remote and is only open ONE day a week and is known to sell out within a few hours of their 8:00 AM opening. The other (Franklin) was not remote, but it too has a reputation for running out. There was the real possibility of not getting anything, even if you arrived not too long after their opening time.

What are your rules for waiting in/on a line for food?

[Chris Hennes]

a) If the restaurant is unique or highly-regarded, and is located in a city I don't live, I start the bidding at 30 minutes.

b) If you can get a drink while waiting in the line, add fifteen minutes

c) If you can take a number and sit at the bar while waiting, add fifteen more

d) If you have to wait outside and the weather is good, add fifteen more

d, corollary) If the weather is bad, subtract 30 minutes

e) If I am avoiding the conference I am at, add 60 minutes

The formula explains why I was willing to wait almost two hours in line at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix: it is well-regarded, you can drink in line, the weather was fantastic, and the conference was boring as hell.

[IndyRob]

a) If the restaurant is unique or highly-regarded, and is located in a city I don't live, I start the bidding at 30 minutes.

b) If you can get a drink while waiting in the line, add fifteen minutes

c) If you can take a number and sit at the bar while waiting, add fifteen more

d) If you have to wait outside and the weather is good, add fifteen more

d, corollary) If the weather is bad, subtract 30 minutes

e) If I am avoiding the conference I am at, add 60 minutes

The formula explains why I was willing to wait almost two hours in line at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix: it is well-regarded, you can drink in line, the weather was fantastic, and the conference was boring as hell.

When I read the original post I was doing a lot of waffling. But the logic here is unassailable. It should be printed up in cards that can go in your wallet.

[heidih]

I also find Chris H's logic unassailable in this regard. The only additional factor I consider is the company I am with and how much we want to try the food. Good waiting company could expand the time frame for me just a bit.

[jsmeeker]

Of course "well regarded" is highly subjective. What is well regarded to some may be crap to others.

In my situations over the weekend, one wait was totally worth it. Of course, we messed up on the timing and had to wait even LONGER than we expected. But it was TOTALLY worth it. The BBQ at Franklin was outstanding. And being FIRST in line meant that when it did open, we got served right away, had no issues with seating, and got out of there quickly. The other place? More of a mixed bag. The wait before they opened up and before we got BBQ wasn't too bad. (we were not first in line), but the BBQ wasn't super awesome. Coupled with the long drive EARLY in the AM, we felt it didn't live up to the hype.

Really, for me, a place with "hype" and a long wait really better deliver.

But overall, I like Chris's criteria. The "can't get it in my town" is certainly a major one. Probably the most important one, for me.

[annachan]

I don't like to wait and I generally do everything I can to avoid it. I will arrive at a restaurant early (usually around opening or just a little before) if I can't get a reservation or it doesn't take reservations. Or, I'll go during the least busy time. Generally, the wait I endure are under 30 minutes.

I generally won't wait too long for food truck, food stand and to go food. The exceptions are at El Huarache Loco for some authentic Mexican eats and an Ike sandwich....

[gfweb]

If I just walk up, I'll wait 10 minutes or so. In general I won't go to a place that won't take a reservation and expects me to wait.

[Chris Hennes]

Heidi, I was presuming that anyone I was dining out with where any wait was acceptable was someone whose company I enjoyed. For "business" dinners I am strictly a reservations-required kind of guy.

I also forgot to mention that I am almost always willing to spend more time in line for someplace I have never been, than for someplace I have been to before. Gotta work that into the scheme somehow.

[Chris Hennes]

If I just walk up, I'll wait 10 minutes or so. In general I won't go to a place that won't take a reservation and expects me to wait.

Wow - I can only wish my time was worth that much (to me or anyone else!) It sounds to me like that would eliminate nearly all non-high-end dining establishments of any sort of repute, unless you eat at off hours. Is that your strategy for those sorts of places?

[Moopheus]

My wife and I have little tolerance for waiting. Unless it is something really special, maybe 15-20 minutes tops. Often times, if we get somewhere and there's a long wait, we'll just go somewhere else. I think any place that has a longer wait than that should take reservations.

[JAZ]

The factors that Chris listed do make a difference -- I'll wait a lot longer if I have a drink at a bar rather than getting jostled by the door as people come and go, for instance. Another crucial factor for me is getting a realistic wait time from the staff if it's a sit-down restaurant. If they tell me 10 minutes and 15 minutes have gone by I start to get edgy, but if they tell me 20 minutes and I get a table in 15, then I'm happy.

The one circumstance where I really hate waiting is if I have reservations. If I don't get seated within five minutes of a reservation time, I expect an apology. If it's 15 minutes, I expect a complimentary drink.

[Slamdunkpro]

The one circumstance where I really hate waiting is if I have reservations. If I don't get seated within five minutes of a reservation time, I expect an apology. If it's 15 minutes, I expect a complimentary drink.

It really pushes my hot button when we arrive (on time or a little early) somewhere with a reservation and they shuttle us into the "reservation que" where the host/hostess explains that the wait is only 20 minutes vs an hour if we didn't actually have reservations.

[Mjx]

If I'm eating out, it's because I want to relax, or am in a hurry; combine that with the fact that I really hate crowds, and that means I'm willing to wait ten minutes, tops, unless I'm seated at the bar and have a reservation. In that case, I'd be inclined to leave if nothing happened by the twenty-minute mark (which I can't recall ever having been exceeded).

[Simon_S]

Yeah, I'm in the 10 minutes category. I have very little tolerance for waiting for meals at the best of times, and that tolerance decreases if I'm paying for the privilege. Of course, such plans go out the window in the major cities I've visited in the US, since to stick to this approach would often mean going hungry or eating badly. There's definitely a cultural difference at play here.

[Moopheus]

I would have to add that I am particularly impatient with places that are set up to make you wait so they can sell you alcohol at the bar.

[Foodietopo]

I've waited more than an hour to eat fresh oyster okonomiyaki at a tiny 10 seats shack near the Inland Sea in Japan. It was cold, but the owner provided gas stove to keep us warm, they brought us tea and super tasty mikan. Waiting for food was actually fun.

I've been to the Cheese Cake Factory only once in my life and they gave us an electronic pager to tell us when the table was ready. It was totally not worth the wait.

In Japan and to a certain extend in Asia, waiting for your food is a sign that you are getting really amazing food. I remember that waiting in line is part of the experience in Shanghai or Singapore.

I've attended two major food festival in Japan and I found the 2 hours wait for some stand totally ridiculous. I rather drive 100 km to eat at the original restaurant than wait 2hr to eat food in a plastic bowl.

I guess I've learn to be a bit patient in Japan... thinking about waiting in line, I would not mind to wait in line for a smoke meat at Schwartz in Montreal...

[jorach]

I'm guessing the people waiting in line for Applebee's and the Cheesecake Factory are there for the same reason I am: they're with their parents who don't care about food and arguing is only going to make the wait worse.

Only two more hours until we can eat at the Texas Roadhouse. Send help.

[ScoopKW]

What are your rules for waiting in/on a line for food?

I recently waited almost 2 hours for a mediocre Vegas buffet.

When we arrived, the line was moving fairly well. We made it 80% of the way to the front in about 30 minutes. (The things I'll do for decent free champagne.)

Then, it just stopped. The hostesses disappeared for what I'm guessing was a union-mandated "smoke a carton" break. Seriously, nobody was seated for 30 minutes. We saw a couple dozen diners LEAVE the establishment. But nothing doing.

When a hostess finally grabbed a deuce from the line, there was spontaneous applause. Then it was another TWENTY minutes before we saw her again.

And then the line moved normally again.

In retrospect, I wish we had called it a morning halfway through the first stoppage. By the time of the second stoppage we were already in, "By God we've waited this long, we're getting our free champagne" mode.

Oh well...

[jsmeeker]

What are your rules for waiting in/on a line for food?

Out of curiosity, which one?

To me, Las Vegas is a good place to see "line culture" since there are so many dining establishments in close proximity. You;ll see people lined up for the buffet, while just around the corner, there is another place that serves good food and has no line. Or you'll see people queued up at a place that takes no reservations while there are easily obtainable resos at numerous other places in the same hotel.

[gfweb]

I would have to add that I am particularly impatient with places that are set up to make you wait so they can sell you alcohol at the bar.

Me too.

But are the same time I do want a drink.

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[janeer]

10 or 15 minutes, and it has to be for something I want--like Saturday-only doughnuts or a pizza craving. If I know a place has long lines, I go when I know I can get in. 15 min, btw, is my outer limit when I have a reservation; I leave if they don't seat me. Ditto for business appointments.

[Country]

My wife and I have little tolerance for waiting. Unless it is something really special, maybe 15-20 minutes tops. Often times, if we get somewhere and there's a long wait, we'll just go somewhere else. I think any place that has a longer wait than that should take reservations.

I'm with Moopheus. I think it has something to do with when I was in the Navy back in the early 60's. Chow lines. Especially when our aircraft squadron was out at sea on an (old) aircraft carrier. Wait in lines so long the tail end would sometimes be on the deck above. You get there for breakfast and find out it's fried baloney with something made out of "reconstituted" (dried) eggs. Then eat as fast as you can cuz you know there are more guys waiting in line on the deck above...

Anyhow, ever since then, twenty minutes max, and it's got to be some pretty damned good food to make me wait that long.

[jsmeeker]

In Japan and to a certain extend in Asia, waiting for your food is a sign that you are getting really amazing food. I remember that waiting in line is part of the experience in Shanghai or Singapore.

This brings up a good companion discussion.

Does a line or wait usually equal something thing good? I haven't been to Japan, but in the USA, it's certainly a mixed bag. People will wait for a long time to be seated at Olive Garden. But it's really pretty poor. On the flip side, you may wait a long time for BBQ or a pizza and be rewarded with something spectacular.

Are chains more likely to not be worth a long? I'll say "yes". Maybe not because the food is always terrible, but more because of their ubiquity. Watch Cheesecake Factory? You *can* get it without a long wait. Of course, non big chains are certainly not immune to not delivering on hype and long waits/lines.

[Florida]

People like to wait in lines because everyone else is waiting in line. Herd behavior and conformity I suppose.

I used to work at Houston’s and it was common for us to go on 3 hour waits on Friday and Saturday nights. Now I ran the kitchen, so being busy was good, but logically I could never understand why people would wait for so long. What was even more quizzical was many people, after that three hour wait, would just order a damn burger and fries. Why would anyone do this for?

Personally, I’m rather impatient and I can’t stand waiting. However, most of my meals out involve my 3 year old daughter and since she eats dinner at 5:30, I eat dinner at 5:30, and most places aren’t on a wait at that time.

[gfweb]

People like to wait in lines because everyone else is waiting in line. Herd behavior and conformity I suppose.

I used to work at Houston’s and it was common for us to go on 3 hour waits on Friday and Saturday nights. Now I ran the kitchen, so being busy was good, but logically I could never understand why people would wait for so long. What was even more quizzical was many people, after that three hour wait, would just order a damn burger and fries. Why would anyone do this for?

Personally, I’m rather impatient and I can’t stand waiting. However, most of my meals out involve my 3 year old daughter and since she eats dinner at 5:30, I eat dinner at 5:30, and most places aren’t on a wait at that time.

I just don't get it either. We have an Olive Garden/Longhorn/Red Lobster trifecta near here. Each will have lines stretching out the door that move at a glacial pace. How can that be fun? Esp for that kind of food as a reward?