Never mind the servers; it is bad manners to eat significantly slower or faster than others at your table.
I think one of the little pleasures you pay for when eating out is to have someone else come take your dirty plate as soon as you are done with it, so that you don’t have to sit in front of a dirty plate. It’s just a small luxury before I go back to my otherwise dull and painful life.
I don’t want to ~ever~ feel interrupted by service staff; I want them to appear when needed, and accomplish the necessities unobtrusively.
The graceful removal of empty dishes need not be molestation, I think. And sometimes it is simply necessary.
“Unobtrusive service” is virtually unknown among the 99% of restaurants. The times I’ve been to the 1% of restaurants that featured world-class service, each one removed the plates at the same time.
I go by buffet style of used plates … if I’m done I just stack them on the side nearest the walkway … but most of the time I get asked if I’m done or not
I don’t like when people take Tom Scud’s plate when I am still eating (which I always am; he eats 2 - 3 times as fast as I do). Often there is more food on my plate than I want to eat, and often I will offer him some, which is more problematic if he has no plate or utensils left.
Are you sure? 
It depends partly on the meal and who I am eating with. If its my wife and me for our usual Saturday breakfast out I want the plates gone as they empty so I have a little more room for my newspaper and coffee. Other than that I can live with about anything they want to do.
Either that or, if the cutlery will not be changed, place knife inside the tins of fork, both to the side and push the plate away a little. If there is food left, the waiter will verify that it is all right to take away the plates, but they don’t do trips for a single plate.
The amount of plates and cutlery a veteran waiter can control will always amaze me.
And this is part of the reason, specially when we’re in a new restaurant. Often people will specifically choose different dishes and treat the whole meal as a sampler; if everybody has their plates, shuffling a little bit over to each of your neighbors can be very unobstrusive.
Mind you, I also don’t like it when the waiter comes and asks “is everything all right?”, which for some reason they always manage to do just as I put food in my mouth (I guess they’re waiting until nobody is talking, but that means instead of our talking they’re interrupting our eating). If it isn’t I’ll call them, no need to hover.
:eek:
For us, mealtimes are sacrosanct. She works long hours and commutes an hour each way. Meals are when we catch up face to face (we’re also Facebook friends).
If I ever read a newspaper during a meal, there’d be tears.
ETA: the last time we altered our mealtime ritual was during the 2008 presidential debates, when we ate in front of the tv.
You leave dirt on your plate after you eat?
Saturday breakfasts are a little different from most meals for us. Very shortly after we get up, we’re almost always on our way to somewhere where we are going to be spending the day together anyway so its our only shot at the paper that day. If either of us did the same thing at say dinner, the funeral would probably be on Wednesday.
Who sets the pace? And who determines if one is eating significantly off-pace?
I prefer that the wait staff clear the empty plates as they become empty. I prefer having non-cluttered space on the table, and don’t see how anyone can object to a waiter/waitress asking them if they are finished (with that plate or glass). It’s not like they’re asking you to leave the building.
Restaurant tables are usually too small, the plates are too large, and with the addition of creamers, multiple choice of sweeteners, water glasses, salt and pepper containers, bread plates, appetizer plates, side dishes, coffee/tea cups, wine glasses, etc., the faster they keep the dining area clear and clean, the better I like it. And the better I tip.