Restaurant Annoyances

[higgmond]

I hate when there is an automatic gratuity for large parties.

[Matt_Likes_Analysis]

@emichan

@robertucla

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

This is from the business perspective- no need to get personal. Sales is tied to volume, if you can’t get a decent turnover from a table you’re costing them money. This is true for even fine dining- now, exceptions can be made, such as with vip regulars, etc. But they are treated as vip regulars because they make up for the loss from their one check. But if your check doesn’t make up for the extra 1-2 hours, then yeah you might as well be at a park bench.

yes. to take it further, if you like the restaurant, you should leave soon after you’re done actively eating/drinking because if everybody who walked through the door sat at a table providng the restaurant with no revenue for 1-2 hours after eating/drinking, particularly at dinner time, the place is going under.

you are personally destroying all of the restaurants you frequent.

[Matt_Likes_Analysis]

as for pet peeves. overly loud music or bad acoustics that amplify everyone’s conversations. this can ruin a dining experience even if the food and service is spectacular.

aside from that, hiring quality service and kitchen staff should cover almost all other peeves. you’ll never get it 100% right in this regard.

oh one other thing. when the waiter/waitress asks if you want flat or sparkling water and you say flat and they bring you fancy reverse osmosis water for $5 a glass when you thought you were receiving you know, regular filtered tap water for free. having to argue with the waiter/waitress to remove a $20 charge for water makes the experience less enjoyable than it should be. this has happened twice to me in the past year and its annoying, particularly because i live in a smaller city where upcharging for this kind of stuff is completely unexpected and unheard of.

[krazykanuck]

One of the most annoying things is when you’re presented with a drink menu, or a menu/special board that doesn’t have prices on it. I’m not going to order something without knowing the price, and I don’t really want to have to bother asking because it wastes time and also run the risk of the employee telling you the wrong amount.

[Greenman72]

@robertucla

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

I, for one, like Emichan a lot more than Robertucla.

Just wanted to get that out there.

[Robotech]

Being seated at a table right next to another couple when there are plenty of open spaces abound. And vice versa, having another party seated right next to mine when there is clearly a lot of room. How about some privacy when obviously available. Sheesh.

[roberto]

@Greenman72

@robertucla

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

I, for one, like Emichan a lot more than Robertucla.

Just wanted to get that out there.

Can’t comment on liking one of them more, but I definitely agree with emichan here.

[Sweep_the_Leg]

@roberto

@Greenman72

@robertucla

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

I, for one, like Emichan a lot more than Robertucla.

Just wanted to get that out there.

Can’t comment on liking one of them more, but I definitely agree with emichan here.

I too would like to clutter up this thread by agreeing with both Greenie and roberto. This useless clutter could be avoided if there was only some way to give an upvote to emichan and downvote Robertucla. Hopefully technology will one day provide an answer.

[robertucla]

@Sweep_the_Leg

@roberto

@Greenman72

@robertucla

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

I, for one, like Emichan a lot more than Robertucla.

Just wanted to get that out there.

Can’t comment on liking one of them more, but I definitely agree with emichan here.

I too would like to clutter up this thread by agreeing with both Greenie and roberto. This useless clutter could be avoided if there was only some way to give an upvote to emichan and downvote Robertucla. Hopefully technology will one day provide an answer.

Yes, because your finance-bro movie quote was so much more interesting.

[roberto]

@robertucla

@Sweep_the_Leg

@roberto

@Greenman72

@robertucla

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

I, for one, like Emichan a lot more than Robertucla.

Just wanted to get that out there.

Can’t comment on liking one of them more, but I definitely agree with emichan here.

I too would like to clutter up this thread by agreeing with both Greenie and roberto. This useless clutter could be avoided if there was only some way to give an upvote to emichan and downvote Robertucla. Hopefully technology will one day provide an answer.

Yes, because your finance-bro movie quote was so much more interesting.

This would get a downvote for me – I liked the quote.

[naren]

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

^This.

I see that Robertucla has been roundly castigated for drawing the exact wrong lesson from my Starbucks example. Let me join STL in adding to the clutter. Also, note to Greenie, I like the subtle ways in which you keep enticing Emichan. Please don’t comma stop

[former_trader]

@krazykanuck

One of the most annoying things is when you’re presented with a drink menu, or a menu/special board that doesn’t have prices on it. I’m not going to order something without knowing the price, and I don’t really want to have to bother asking because it wastes time and also run the risk of the employee telling you the wrong amount.

My pet peeve is when their internet site doesn’t contain prices on it. I want to know the prices before I show up.

[stratman]

@robertucla

@emichan

@robertucla

@naren\_

@robertucla

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

• The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

• Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

What’s your problem man?

[stratman]

Loitering at a table, especially after you’ve paid your check and people are waiting for tables is such a Dbag move. If you need to converse at the table for 4 hours, then you should be eating a 13 course meal that takes that long.

[rawraw]

@gringo\_bob

Having decided that public equities investing isn’t something I want to do for the rest of my life, I’ve recently diversified my personal portfolio into a few private business ventures. One of which is a reasonably sized investment in a small local restaurant chain with 2 sites looking to expand to 10+ over the next 5 years.

The place is asian fusion, casual dining and the food is outstanding. The team are very experienced and know what they’re doing but one thing I aim to bring to the table is to fine tune the service so it is best in class.

I know that you fine people of AF love to eat out at a range of places and most of you hail from the service capital of the world. Do you have any common annoyances you experience when eating out? Anything that really pisses you off?

For example, mine are:

-Having to wait even 5 minutes past the time of your booking

-Getting prompt service up until it’s time to settle up, at which point there’s nobody around to get the bill/cheque and then same again to get the card machine to pay. Once I’m done I want to settle up and leave, not faff about for another 15 minutes.

-Rows of tables for 2 all really close together.

I work on the side as a restaurant evaluator. Most people know the industry by the term of ‘mystery shopper.’ At any rate, if I was you I’d 100% recommend using this. If you aren’t familiar with how this industry works with restaurants, PM and I’ll explain from my perspective. I wouldn’t have a restaurant chain without one

[igor555]

things i dont like:

1. tiny portions for anorexic people
2. no “chef special” dishes
3. slow drink service
4. slow check service
5. tables too close
6. have less than 2 bahrooms
7. the bathrooms need to be unisex
8. no option to make reservations online
9. fake dish pictures on website/menu/yelp
10. ugly/cheap decor
11. bad bartenders
12. small drink menu (if you serve beer have something besides bud, coors, corona, amstel)
13. no autographed picture of numi on the wall

[krnyc2008]

@former_trader

@krazykanuck

One of the most annoying things is when you’re presented with a drink menu, or a menu/special board that doesn’t have prices on it. I’m not going to order something without knowing the price, and I don’t really want to have to bother asking because it wastes time and also run the risk of the employee telling you the wrong amount.

My pet peeve is when their internet site doesn’t contain prices on it. I want to know the prices before I show up.

Never encountered either. Is that a Canadian thing?

[former_trader]

@krnyc2008

@former_trader

@krazykanuck

One of the most annoying things is when you’re presented with a drink menu, or a menu/special board that doesn’t have prices on it. I’m not going to order something without knowing the price, and I don’t really want to have to bother asking because it wastes time and also run the risk of the employee telling you the wrong amount.

My pet peeve is when their internet site doesn’t contain prices on it. I want to know the prices before I show up.

Never encountered either. Is that a Canadian thing?

Maybe it is.

Right now I’m looking at the site of the place I’m going later in the week and it contains no prices on its menu. At the bottom of the page in the fine print I see:

“* Prices may vary by location and are subject to change.”

Yet, when I filter for my city it’s the same menu with the same fine print and no prices.

[krnyc2008]

@former_trader

@krnyc2008

@former_trader

@krazykanuck

One of the most annoying things is when you’re presented with a drink menu, or a menu/special board that doesn’t have prices on it. I’m not going to order something without knowing the price, and I don’t really want to have to bother asking because it wastes time and also run the risk of the employee telling you the wrong amount.

I can see how that can be frustrating. Maybe you can gauge by decor if it’s a high end place or more normal…

My pet peeve is when their internet site doesn’t contain prices on it. I want to know the prices before I show up.

Never encountered either. Is that a Canadian thing?

Maybe it is.

Right now I’m looking at the site of the place I’m going later in the week and it contains no prices on its menu. At the bottom of the page in the fine print I see:

“* Prices may vary by location and are subject to change.”

Yet, when I filter for my city it’s the same menu with the same fine print and no prices.

I see how that can be frustrating. Maybe try to gauge how high end this place is by décor pictures? That will give you an idea of price range.

[igor555]

@former_trader

@krnyc2008

@former_trader

@krazykanuck

One of the most annoying things is when you’re presented with a drink menu, or a menu/special board that doesn’t have prices on it. I’m not going to order something without knowing the price, and I don’t really want to have to bother asking because it wastes time and also run the risk of the employee telling you the wrong amount.

My pet peeve is when their internet site doesn’t contain prices on it. I want to know the prices before I show up.

Never encountered either. Is that a Canadian thing?

Maybe it is.

Right now I’m looking at the site of the place I’m going later in the week and it contains no prices on its menu. At the bottom of the page in the fine print I see:

“* Prices may vary by location and are subject to change.”

Yet, when I filter for my city it’s the same menu with the same fine print and no prices.

sounds like tgi fridays