I guess I started this when I mentioned that the coffee-only patron is being insensitive by taking money out of the waitstaffs’ pockets back in post #6, and DrDeth is going to cling to this statement like superglue fastened velcro. I apologize to the thread providing the penny on the tracks that caused the derail.
Glad you asked. I’ll attempt an answer.
Like some 60% of Americans, I’m overweight. Last spring I took a class in weight loss, and a common factor in overeating was picking at stuff in restaurants. Many is the time when I got a plate served to me, and thought that I should only be eating half. But by the time I get to that point, the waitress is nowhere to be found. So I’ll have just one more bite. Waitress? Busy at table five. One more bite won’t kill me. Waitress? Taking another table’s order. One more bite. Waitress? Sitting on some guy’s lap, feeding him steak. One tiny more bite. Before long, my plate is empty.
Now you may say that the problem here is my own impulse control, and it’s not up to the waitress to control that for me. And you’d be right. But such impulse control is sometimes beyond me, and trust me, that’s more common than you think. In fact I’d say that most people will pick and nibble until their plate is taken away. And I’m guessing that most waitresses won’t offer to do so if they see your plate is still half full. Let’s face it, table six who has been waiting for their check for 30 minutes takes precedence.
So what else can I do? I can finish the food and stay fat. Or I can go out for a smoke, after which I usually won’t pick. Or I can pour water over the rest of the food – a viable option, but a little gauche, and wastes half of what I paid for. Asking the waitress to box up half of my food – something she’d have to do anyway – seems a sensible alternative.
I don’t.
Well the wine is more than half the bill at a lot of places and the most profitable portion of the bill as wel. Groups probably order more wine per person than single diners or even couples. BTW, when did it become standard to pay a tip based on the entire bill? When I grew up, tips were 15% of the food portion of your bill and the beverages were billed separately, ESPECIALLY at nice restaurants. These day I ge tthe feeling that I am expected to tip between 18 and 25% and the tip is based on the entire bill. Is it just me or has the standard changed this radically?
Oh no, this isn’t going to end well.
I agree. That should be the subject for a different thread, rather than hijacking this one.
Or if you’re a celebrity. Then you can order whatever you want, without even looking at the menu. Danny DeVito does it.
I’m not saying management doesn’t have the right to implement a policy telling the wait staff they have to serve whoever comes to a table, and if there is a specific person who is problematic for any reason they can speak to management about it.
I also don’t have a problem with management operating a restaurant in an environment where they are a okay with wait staff telling customers to take a hike if they just want coffee during a busy dinner hour. And apparently that is precisely the kind of place carlyjay works.
Good point. I normally don’t drink at restaurants. The only times I’ve eaten at really posh places I spent $130 for two people (no drinks), and $300 for two (extra champagne, and on a holiday).
Any mention of (shh) tipping will cause an immediate trainwreck here. If there was Tipping of a Declawed cat in Showgirls, no train would ever run again. 
As to ordering “off menu”, I went to an upscale restaurant a couple weeks ago. On their lunch menu, they had a special burger (not cheap, either). It was dinner this time, but I asked my waitress if she could see if she could get the burger for me, as I thought it was just about the best I ever had. She said the chef was delighted.
I’ll make a few special request like that- when I am eating “low carb” I’ll ask what I can sub for the potato, and they usually will go along with it (Outback is happy to comply, incidentally).
That’s not about friggin’ picky diners though. That’s turning away a potential diner because he didn’t bring half a dozen of his friends along as well. What if it was a couple and there was only a four or six seat table? Or is the “come back in 20 minutes” a semi-polite way of saying “piss off. We don’t want single diners taking up space they’re not paying for”?
Most nice restaurants exist for more than just the purpose of getting food into your face, and are there to provide a pleasant overall eating and food experience.
I’m someone who follows a very strict diet, and eat “clean” meaning I eat almost no saturated fat and etc.
A long time ago I got it out of my mind that my day-to-day eating habits or the food I eat day-to-day has anything to do with enjoyment, it’s about providing necessary fuel for my body in a manner that is healthy. When I go to a restaurant it is one of the rare occasions (I like to work in a “cheating” meal maybe once per week because I think it keeps the body guessing and helps me with overall weight management and muscle maintenance) where I’m eating outside my normal dietary restrictions.
I don’t try to combine my normal day-to-day diet with an eating out experience, in fact it doesn’t even make sense for me to try and do so because my normal day-to-day diet isn’t good tasting food, it’s healthy food and most of it is fairly bland in taste (tuna, chicken, fresh vegetables, protein shakes etc.)
I’d also like to point out that asking for half the meal to be boxed in advance is a strategy suggested by many weight loss experts. (Where “experts” = people quoted in popular fitness and health magazines.)
I’ve been to a few Italian restaurants where I’ve ordered off the menu or asked if it was possible. Years ago, I would go to an Italian restaurant with my dad, I’d order the Spaghetti Carbonara. When I returned to the restaurant after a few years I looked at the menu and didn’t see it. I asked the waiter about it, he checked and came back and told me no problem. He said that they took it off the menu because their clientele were older and Carbonara was just not something they would eat anymore.
Hey, I didn’t bring it up, don’t blame me for hijacking the thread. 
And no, if it were a couple, we’d be slightly more likely to give them a 4-person seater. However, as I said, by asking a person to wait for a 2-seater we aren’t “turning them away”, we’re maximizing our seating potential. If that person chooses to leave, that’s their choice. In the end, since it’s a busy place, I know I’ll end up seating that 4-top in about 3 seconds, and I’ll almost definitely sell 4 times what I would have sold to that one guy.
Thing is, it isn’t that we’re trying to ruin the guy’s night. And in a less busy restaurant, the guy could have an 8-top for all I care. I’d give him the whole damn front half of the restaurant if that’s his fancy. But in a very busy restaurant on a Friday night, when you’re going to have a waiting list of an hour by 7pm, you want to get as many asses in the seats as possible, with a minimum of empty seats. If that means asking a single-seater to wait for a few minutes, that’s what you have to do.
Just looking at it strictly from the bottom-line perspective, he is far less likely to spend the kind of money a 4-top is. When your restaurant is hopping, you have the luxury of prioritizing your clientele.
True. If this is an important part of your weight loss strategy, I suggest taking containers with you in case there is some delay in obtaining them from the restaurant. A few ziploc bags don’t take up much space.
Back when blackening Cajun-style was the craze, I worked at a restaurant. We could blacken anything for you, fish, chicken, steak, but I had one guy that wanted the London Broil blackened.
I asked the chef if this was possible. He did a :dubious: and said since the London Broil was sliced paper thin, technically it was possible, but he’d just be getting strips of charcoal on his plate.
I think the guy ended up getting the prime rib. Blackened.
“Slightly”?
No, the person referred to earlier was told to go away for about 20 minutes. That’s turning away. Yes, I know you have a business to run and customers are so thick on the ground you can afford to be choosy who you serve but I think it’s rude and possibly bad business practice to turn away diners because they want to or are force by circumstance to eat alone.
Excellent idea. Of course that would require that I have the ability to plan ahea
Why do you think that restaurants should change their operations because of your admitted lack of self-control and inability to plan ahead?