# don't tell me to wait when there are 10 empty tables! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 14, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522 "2003-09-14T05:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/21 "2003-09-14T17:46:24Z")
Let’s get back to the reservation thing. Is that not also a possibility? Back in my 20s, I spent a lot of time in the hospitality industry, and on occasion, had angry customers who saw the reserved tables and couldn’t understand why they couldn’t sit there. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/22 "2003-09-14T17:47:46Z")
**lezlers** 15-20 minutes…not a big deal, I’m talking 30 minutes to an hour…or two :eek: with no lounge. ie: standing on a sidewalk, forget it, not happening. ---
**Author:** ![iwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a87d85/32.png) [@iwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwire)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/23 "2003-09-14T17:51:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lezlers \* > [ If 20 minutes is too much for you to handle, go somewhere else. Like I told **corndog man** , I’m sure the restaurant won’t miss you. \*\* Yes to me 20 minutes is to long to wait and I will move on to the other 50 restaurants in this area. I do not give the staff a hard time about the wait, I simply move on. No they will not miss me, although the waitstaff might as I tip well and treat them with respect, I met my wife while she was working in a restaurant. But if enough people refuse to wait they will miss the business. Why do you think customers _should_ wait? I will not wait in long lines for anything, I have better things to do with my time. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/24 "2003-09-14T20:36:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > Do people actually wait this long to eat at a restaurant? We tried to go to Outback once and were told the wait was 2 hours - needless to say, we took our business elsewhere and were seated immediately in another steakhouse. I’m serious, though - why would people wait that long for dinner? Are their lives so pathetic that camping on the bench in a restaurant is preferable to any alternative? I don’t get it. \*\* When I lived in Pennsylvania, you generally had to wait at least an hour or more to eat at Outback, TGIFridays, Red Lobster, Chillies and all of the other chain restaurants during peak weekend hours. That’s where everybody and there cousin would go so if you have settled on a “fancy” night out, you have to wait. Usually a 15 to 30 min wait is ideal for a nice dinner. Too short a wait, I don’t feel the place is busy enough. Too long and I would rather go somewhere else. I refuse to wait for pizza places. I don’t care if it is the oldest brick-oven pizza in SOHO. It’s still just pizza. Now not to hijack this thread away from restaurants but I never understood the idea of waiting in line for 2 hours to get into a bar or club. I don’t care how “cool” it is. I’m not waiting in line all night in the hopes of getting inside 10 minutes before it closes. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/25 "2003-09-14T21:01:48Z")
My husband hates to wait. I can’t count the number of times we’ve been told there’s a half hour wait, so we leave, drive around and around looking for another place, and after searching for 45 minutes find one where there’s only a 15 minute wait. Duhhhh??? Had we stayed at the first place, we’d by then at least be enjoying our appetizers. iwire, the waitstaff won’t miss you, either. If the place is that busy, they’re just getting their tips from somebody else instead of from you. I’m glad you tip well, but there’s no evidence that the people who waited tip less well. Sometimes there’s a long wait for a place because they happen to be the best place around. Sometimes they’re the best because they do food and service right. Sometimes, it’s worth it. Not always, of course. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/26 "2003-09-14T21:36:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > \*\*\ Outback, TGIFridays, Red Lobster, Chillies and all of the other chain restaurants during peak weekend hours. \*\* Same here - same restaurants, plus Olive Garden, Applebees, and Cracker Barrel. I always try to find local places, altho some of them have long waits too. I’ll sign up for a 30 minute wait, but if it’s longer than that, I’ll look elsewhere. Of course, now that I’m on the verge of AARP membership, I’ll be dining at 3:30, so none of this will be an issue for me any more. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![meara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/27 "2003-09-14T23:34:48Z")
Okay, so a restaurant is short on servers and makes you wait for a while, despite being 60% empty. Why oh why, then, do they eventually sit you 6 inches away from the only other patrons there? I don’t get this at all! At least give me some peace and quiet for my trouble. Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/28 "2003-09-14T23:58:50Z")
Because they want the servers to have their tables in the same area. ---
**Author:** ![iwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a87d85/32.png) [@iwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwire)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/29 "2003-09-14T23:59:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\*iwire, the waitstaff won’t miss you, either. If the place is that busy, they’re just getting their tips from somebody else instead of from you. I’m glad you tip well, but there’s no evidence that the people who waited tip less well. \*\* Now my feelings are hurt no one will miss me.😉 MLS I agree they will not miss me if the restaurant is full, but the OP was talking about a restaurant that was not full. As far as who tips better again we agree, the people that wait may very well be better tippers than me, but if it is between my tip and no tip I think I can say they would rather have the tip.🙂 Originally posted by meara > [@](#): > > why, then, do they eventually sit you 6 inches away from the only other patrons there? I don’t get this at all! At least give me some peace and quiet for my trouble. I am glad you brought this up, can anyone explain this? I always thought this was some sort of inside joke with the hostess.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/30 "2003-09-15T00:15:52Z")
I don’t wait for restaurants. It’s amazing how many people will sit and wait for chain crap (Chilis, The Outback, Cucina, Cucina, The Olive Garden). My boyfriend and I have our favorite little restaurants which are GREAT and they never have waits. But yeah, from my days as a waitress, they aren’t seating you because they have a lack of staff coverage. Sure, buffet is pretty simple but people still need drinks and extra napkins and stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/31 "2003-09-15T00:25:49Z")
At our recent Dopefest, we waited about an hour and a half for a table, but it was okay because we were a group and had a lot of “getting-to-know-you” to do, and the bar was accessible. Plus, we all knew it was going to be a “crapshoot” because we nixed the reserving a room idea. (This was at **Dave and Buster’s** ), but had it not been for the fact that we were partying with each other (10 total) I wouldn’t have hung around, and I sure as hell wouldn’t try slipping someone a 50 for a table. Never have. Never will. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/32 "2003-09-15T01:19:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > \*\*I think the asshole part is the attitude he demonstrates: “I am a customer, I don’t wait for you, you wait for me.” Yes, customers should be treated with reasonable respect, but that doesn’t make them all-holy important enough for the world to revolve around 'em. \*\* Please warn us what restaurant you work in. [Former table server.] ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/33 "2003-09-15T03:03:18Z")
**t-keela** I was referring to **iwire** ’s post, in which he mentioned a 20 minute wait being too long. I agree it’s nuts to wait an hour or more for a table. As far as the seating close question goes: servers have sections. These sections typically consist of a cluster of tables near each other. When hostesses seat, they usually seat one server, then another, then another. You may have been seated near the other waitresses section. That, or there’s only one on duty at the time, and so it’s a lot easier for all of her tables to be near each other. Of course, I don’t think that they have to be _right next_ to each other. That’s a little silly. And irritating. I sure as hell never did that when I was a hostess, or a server. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522/34 "2003-09-15T03:32:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j66 \* > \*\*Please warn us what restaurant you work in. > > [Former table server.] \*\* That’d be Jack Shit’s. You might know it as the place that doesn’t exist. I believe in good customer service; I just don’t believe that any one customer deserves preference over any other customer, which is how “the customer is always right” and similar sayings seem to be interpreted by the customer who’s bandying them about. I should make this my signature and use it any time I post in any thread even remotely related to customer service. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-tell-me-to-wait-when-there-are-10-empty-tables/201522.md?page=1)