It’s fairly common for me to go out to one of my local eateries with a fresh newspaper or my tablet and linger for quite some time over a meal. This happens at least twice a month, often more. Just this morning, I sat in the booth at a diner for close to an hour and a half. If all I was there to do was consume my two up eggs, short stack and coffee, I could have been in and out in 15 minutes. I like the place though. It’s a comfortable, relaxing environment for me to do my puzzles, chat with nice people, answer e-mails and enjoy a bottomless cup of coffee that could probably strip paint. This morning, after my server brought out my order, I made exactly one request of her, to re-fill my coffee carafe. I probably drank close to a liter and a half of coffee this morning but she wasn’t pouring it for me by the cup.
I’m not demanding of the server’s time or attention and I leave a decent tip. I don’t see that I’m hurting anything - with one caveat. If I’m going to park myself in a booth for an extended time then it’s my obligation to keep an eye on how full the restaurant is. If the place is less than half full then I figure my presence isn’t denying a table to some other paying (and tipping) customer. If the place starts filling up, if there’s any reason to believe that some potential customer is waiting for a table, I need to go.
I voted you’re fine because you’re keeping an eye on the overall business level. If there’s a line out the door, that’s different. If you were in Chicago, I can’t imagine any breakfast place that wouldn’t be busy on a Saturday morning and if it isn’t, you don’t want to eat there. But, in other cities, it’s different.
Given that you aren’t taking a spot that could be used by another paying customer, and you are quietly minding your own business, I can’t see a problem. A table of 2 or more customer would surely take more than 15 minutes, they aren’t expecting that kind or turnover. An hour and a half is slow, but not crazy-slow. Yeah, I think you are fine.
I suggest that in addition to tipping well, you smile at the server and try to generally be pleasant to them. (Which you are probably doing, but it seems worth mentioning.)
My dad, a former U.S. Army cook, impressed upon me the logical and reasonable position of being polite and friendly with those who cook and serve my food. It’s kind of the same reason I try not to cheese off any police officer with whom I may interact. They can make my day a whole lot worse than I can make their day.
as someone who used (and still does )to sit in a Dennys for hours doing nothing but emptying their coke fountain
and reading a book, you’re good …but dont be surprised if they sit you in the back occasionally
most places will let you know if you’re taking too long or time limits will be posted so if the staff isn’t complaining then dont worry … if you’re a regular they probably prefer you being there than some pushy new person they’ll never see again
one place has I’ve been to had a row of tables for “tourist” and another for “regulars” you had to go there at least once a week for 6 months to score that one … the regulars all knew each other and would get lively if they had to sit in the other section
One thing to be aware of is even if the restaurant is not full, you may be seen as hogging one of a server’s limited number of tables, where incoming customers are going to be seated at other tables and those tips going to other servers.
I thought about that, but I’m not sure it makes a much of a difference at a diner type place when you’re dealing with a much smaller restaurant and the average tab is about the same per table. It’s different in a sit down larger restaurant with full alcohol service.
Most tip sharing is from the waiter/waitress to the bartender, barback, busboy and/or seater depending . The actual waiters sharing tips among themselves is much less common.
I voted “other”, then read the thread and saw my arguments had been covered. If the place is essentially empty or you’re enough of a regular that you have a favorite waitress who knows not only what you generally order, but some basic facts about you (married or single, job, hobbies), you shouldn’t worry about wearing out your welcome.
If I linger, its usually because I am visiting with someone or treating them to a meal and visit. In that case I will sometimes tie up a booth for an hour or even two. I boost my tip by a ton (sometimes basically 100%) and keep an eye on how full the place is. Worse comes to worse, we can sit and talk in the parking lot. But since I may be costing the waitress in tips from turn-over of the table I make sure his/her back is covered.
I voted ‘bum’. When the waitperson brings the check, it’s about time to finish and go, unless you order more. I’ve seen in many sit-down eateries throughout Mexico that the check isn’t brought till you signal and ask, "La cuenta, por favor." And the propina (tip) is 10% unless service is extraordinarily good or bad.
No, I really don’t think it’s reasonable to expect a customer to consider this, even if it were possible for him to know what tables are assigned to what server. If a customer is being considerate enough to linger only when there’s plenty of space overall, as a business owner I want that customer’s business. It’s down to the business to arrange sensible table allocation among servers.
I’ll add - I stayed a whole afternoon in a coffee shop recently, on a hiking trip where it just poured with rain all day and we couldn’t go anywhere. It was pretty empty, and I bought 3 or 4 coffees. I asked the manager/owner if she was okay with it (since we had a bunch of hiking gear too), and she said when the place is pretty empty she actually likes it - she said psychologically people feel a place is less welcoming if it’s completely empty, so other customers are more likely to come in if a few people are there.
In a half or mostly empty restaurant I don’t see a problem.
I was just on a business trip and ate “continental breakfast” at the motel. A woman parked herself and her laptop at a table for four during the breakfast rush, oblivious to all the other guests who were unsuccessfully trying to find a place to sit down. That was rude. If she’d done that near the end of breakfast time when there were other tables available it would have been a different story.
My eating-out routine is mostly about getting calories into the calorie hole, so it’s mostly a sit-eat-and-go experience.
But if it’s a social gathering of friends/family, we might order a final round (or three) of drinks, and sit and chat a bit before settling up and heading out (and we do usually tip fairly generously for tarrying longer than typical).
But we’ve also cut our chat session short in fairly busy establishments, especially if we had to wait some time (1/2 hour+) to be seated.
Inflexible and inefficient allocation of tables to servers isn’t a “moral” issue, it’s a poorly organized business, and it’s not the responsibility of a customer to fix it. I’ll tip a server well if I have lingered and they have looked after me well, but not because of some arcane flaw in the way the restaurant organizes their staff’s responsibilities.
Same discussion on coffee shops recently. Similar answer. If it’s buzzing with people, get out and let somebody else sit. If it’s pretty empty the owner and staff might positively want you to hang around (if you’re not scary looking enough to drive other people away).
But bringing this formula down to the server level in terms of assigned tables is too complicated IMO.
Bigger tip could factor in. I suppose if you’re willing to give as much extra tip as the next sitting of people would if you stay as long as they would have, the server might prefer that to having to actually serve the next group. The owner probably wouldn’t though.
Personally I’m antsy about hanging around in eating places once I’m done. I don’t like it when people I’m in a party with do that (who I don’t know well enough to just say ‘hey let’s go’). I’d just rather get going, generally.
Can you just be upfront about it before you are seated? “I’d like to be here for an hour, I’ll tip really well but will that be OK?” Then it’s up to the restaurant to decide if it’s ok or not.