Restaurant/Bar Annoyances

[Lounge Lizard]

This ones been on my nerves for awhile. Resaurant names. We have a place in town that was/is an English pub. they started to calling themselves a Brew pub and now is calling itself a Bistro. Obviously trying to be trendy but it has not changed its menu or decor.

Please someone tell me what the hell is an "eatery". I saw that one all over the place on vacation this summer.

Could be a new thread if it hasnt been done...bad restaurant names.

[herbacidal]

yea, that's true.  don't understand why they can't either wait, or finish chewing before stepping onto the floor.

I guess part of my annoyance is that they shouldn't be chewing in the first place. A whole batch of issues -- food cost/sanitation. I'm not terribly impressed by one who is eating food with their fingers then touching my plate that is going to be presented to me, or my guests, to eat just after their little fingers were in their mouths. Also, the server that just helps themself to a french fry from that fresh batch dropped into the stainless serving tray in the under the heat lamp of the window shows little or no respect for the heart of the house management.

i agree entirely. mealtime is mealtime.

floor staff shouldn't be eating otherwise.

with regards to eating outside of that,

i'm just saying that if you're gonna break the rules,

know how to break them.

[Pan]

I HATE it when the wait staff interrupt a conversation.

This really makes me angry. I went to a restaurant on a date and our conversation was interrupted three times by different members of the wait staff asking "are you still working on that." What's more, they had plenty of tables free, so they had absolutely no evident reason to want to rush us. I glared at them and have never been back, even though I've always liked the food there and the place is less than 2 blocks from my apartment.

[Pan]

Where is it they make you create your own doggie bag (box)? I'd remember if I'd ever seen this. This would be high on my list.

It happens a lot in middle-of-the-road restaurants.

I've never experienced it. Could it be a regional thing?

[Pan]

I don't mind being asked if I like the food if the question is sincere. That is, if I'm in a high-end restaurant and I'm asked whether I like the food, I'm likely to take the opportunity to point out anything that doesn't fully satisfy me, especially if the waiter makes it clear s/he really wants to know. When I'm asked the question in a lower-end restaurant it's very often though not always insincere: i.e., the server won't take something back unless there's something seriously wrong with it (it's cold, it's spoiled, it's the wrong dish, etc.). When I complained that it seemed like the dishwashers at Teresa's were using a different dishwashing soap at a certain point and that I could taste the perfume of it in my fresh orange juice and even the tap water, do you think they replaced the orange juice or refunded the money? Nope. But my complaint might have done some good because it does seem like they may have stopped using that soap, despite the fact that the waitress seemed to find my remarks weird. Sometimes, though, the wait staff want to know that I really like the cuisine. If I go to a Sichuan restaurant and order tripe in hot oil, they may doubt that I'll really like it, so when they ask and I tell them it's delicious, that's important data for them, if they actually file it away and remember it.

[Mark Sommelier]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. GIGANTIC menus. I don't mean a menu with a lot of items, I mean in terms of square footage. I've sat at a two top holding a 2 foot high menu unable to even see my dining companion, and then once I've decided on what I'll have, wondered where I should put the damn thing.

What gives?

Ah, for the good old days!

The menu at Taillevent is gigantic. Its way cool.

[mighty quinn]

13) Waiters who need to ask if everything is okay

What? Should they ignore you and not ask if you are finding your food to your liking?

Yes. Exactly.

If there's a problem, I'll signal them to come over. Otherwise, don't bother me while I'm eating.

Bruce

exactly why i enjoy dining in europe- i live to be ignored!

[deb@zydecos.net]

We used to box food in the kitchen but I had several customers state that they didn't want anyone they don't know touching their food. We now box it in front of the customer. Also, we always remove plates when people are done eating. Waiting until the whole party is through seems negligent to me. I would rather not have a dirty plate with food drying on it in front of me while my 4'9" friend Kim spends another hour on three green beans.

[bloviatrix]

We used to box food in the kitchen but I had several customers state that they didn't want anyone they don't know touching their food.

This seems completely illogical considering they don't know who made their food in the first place. (where's the perplexed emoticon?)

[tommy]

We used to box food in the kitchen but I had several customers state that they didn't want anyone they don't know touching their food.

This seems completely illogical considering they don't know who made their food in the first place. (where's the perplexed emoticon?)

there's *some* logic here, as the people preparing the food are food-handlers by nature. whereas servers are servers and often money handlers.

[hjshorter]

I always ask to have my plate removed when I'm done eating, whether the rest of the table is done or not. A dirty plate sitting in front of me grosses me out, but I understand that this is a personal peeve and not good restaurant etiquette.

[Catness]

Also, we always remove plates when people are done eating. Waiting until the whole party is through seems negligent to me. I would rather not have a dirty plate with food drying on it in front of me while my 4'9" friend Kim spends another hour on three green beans.

My friend, who owned a fine dining restaurant, will seethe with fury if a plate is left in front of her when she's done eating, whether or not the other diners are finished with their meal. "Once I'm done eating, this is a dirty dish."

I think make-your-own take away box thing might be a regional and chain restaurant occurence. I had never experienced it before I moved to the West Coast. During a trip back to the Midwest a few years ago, we dined in a variety of restaurants (fine to chain) and not one of them made us box our own leftovers.

Al Dente, if you hate oversized menus, you'd hate Galerias here in Seattle. Not only are the menus tabloid size, but they're about 10 "pages." The pages? Yeah, they're about 1/4 inch thick with a deep and heavy pressed tin border, bound with three big loose binder rings. At a two-top they're a nightmare.

[rshorens]

Stale or ordinary bread. I've been to some lovely restaurants with excellent food that serve the most awful characterless bread.

Roz

[tommy]

I always ask to have my plate removed when I'm done eating, whether the rest of the table is done or not.  A dirty plate sitting in front of me grosses me out, but I understand that this is a personal peeve and not good restaurant etiquette.

right. there's a "correct" way handling this. and that, i believe, is to wait til all diners are done before clearing.

[elfin]

Peeve No. 1-Failing to disclose prices of the Specials either on table card or by server if no table card. Peeve No. 2 -no table card explaining Specials-sometimes hard to remember preparation/ingredients (if number of Specials is high)with verbal rant.

Peeve No. 3-Thai restaurants that do not put the condiment tray{chilis in vinager, dry red chili, chili sauce and crushed peanuts} on the table. In the past the tray was already on every table. Now you have to ask for it and the server typically has to ask another table to fork it over while they are eating (or vice a versa).

Peeve No. 4-Dirty high chairs or booster seats.

[bobdavis]

I hate when you pay with cash and the waitress/waiter asks if you want change.

"Don't worry if I want change or not, just bring the money back and collect your god damn tip after I leave"

I second that.

If I want them to keep it, I'll say.

[hjshorter]

Peeve No. 4-Dirty high chairs or booster seats.

Ugh! Yes, I have to agree. Why do places clean everything but the place where the babies are going to eat?

[Al_Dente]

Al Dente, if you hate oversized menus, you'd hate Galerias here in Seattle. Not only are the menus tabloid size, but they're about 10 "pages." The pages? Yeah, they're about 1/4 inch thick with a deep and heavy pressed tin border, bound with three big loose binder rings. At a two-top they're a nightmare.

Sheesh, sounds like it must weigh 80 lbs.

[tommy]

I hate when you pay with cash and the waitress/waiter asks if you want change.

"Don't worry if I want change or not, just bring the money back and collect your god damn tip after I leave"

I second that.

If I want them to keep it, I'll say.

hehe. there's a korean restaurant in midtown manhattan that tried this with me and a friend. the manager and server got an earfull, needless to say, and we've never returned.

[Malawry]

Around DC, I thought Charlie Palmer Steak's menus were outrageously annoying. They're very large cards stuck upright in metal holders at each place setting. When Edemuth and I were seated we couldn't see one another over the menus, so I started playing peek-a-boo around the edges of the damn things.

[Catness]

Galeria's menus are probably two or three pounds. Helps you work up an appetite, certainly. The food is really good, and I put up with the menus for it.

Edited October 16, 2003 by Catness (log)

[Chad]

Also, we always remove plates when people are done eating. Waiting until the whole party is through seems negligent to me. I would rather not have a dirty plate with food drying on it in front of me while my 4'9" friend Kim spends another hour on three green beans.

I consider this extremely rude. Not just my pet peeve, though, it goes against the general rules of etiquette. The idea being that those who are still eating will feel very self conscious, especially if they're the last to finish. They feel like everyone is watching them and waiting. Which is, of course, true, because you can't (or shouldn't) order dessert or coffee or light a cigarette until that person is finished. Just plain courtesy, then, to leave all plates on the table until each diner is finished with his meal. I've had to forcibly restrain waiters and waitresses who swoop in and grab my empty plate before my wife has finished her meal. That's why I always leave something on the plate as a decoy so I can claim that I'm still eating.

Chad

Edited October 16, 2003 by Chad (log)

[bobdavis]

One thing will always get me - no matter how well they do everything else.

If it's not a truck stop, the wait staff better not call me "Buddy".

Sitting in a nice restaurant and having a waiter touching my shoulder while he calls me "Buddy" will instantly end our budding relationship.

Ugh....

If it is a truck stop, I almost do want to be called Buddy though. Funny, eh?

[hjshorter]

I consider this extremely rude. Not just my pet peeve, though, it goes against the general rules of etiquette. The idea being that those who are still eating will feel very self conscious, especially if they're the last to finish.

I only do it when it's my husband or other family with me, because it is an idiosyncracy and not acceptable etiquette. And I'm the one who asks the wait staff to take it, not the other way around.

Edited October 16, 2003 by hjshorter (log)

[bloviatrix]

If it is a truck stop, I almost do want to be called Buddy though. Funny, eh?

Where do you stand on sweetie and hon?