Through my experience in dining, I’ve noticed that I don’t seem to see my waiter/waitress waiting tables near mine. One would think that waiters would be assigned tables within a certain area, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. Why is this?
Maybe you go in off hours. After the lunch and dinner rushes, servers sections often grow to cover more and more of the store. As a general rule, servers sections are as compact as the layout of the store will permit.
Maybe they spread them apart so that the waiter will be less likely to leave a meal at the wrong table.
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Some restaurants have ‘sections’ that waiters cover and others have their servers take customers in a rotation.
The restaurant I worked in was the latter kind and when a party would come in whoever was next in line took them. Sometimes if we had an unusually large party we would ask the next waitress to take an extra table.
Two potentially good reasons (that I’m inventing) - you don’t get nearby tables vying for your attention when you’re trying to take an order, and if someone’s mad at your service, your other clients’ll never know. 
:smack:
Oh yeah. I forgot about this.
Some times sections are divided up in weird ways. It gives the server a fair amount of tables and booths. Booths tend to get sat before tables do. Also you could be a pickup table. If a server is slammed then they might give away the table simply because they don’t have enough time to get to you. There’s also the (high) possibility that the host/ess sat you in a closed section.
I am a server at a chain store, and I can give several reasons:
1)We are given a section (anywhere from 6 to 11 tables), and the hostess assigns tables by turn and customer choice*. (Thus, you could end up with several tables in various spots around a given section)
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I have “regulars” who come in and request my service, even though they may not be in my section.
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My section partner and I try to seperate our tables so that one can’t overhear the other. (I.e.; I’m in the weeds, forget a couple of drinks at two seperate tables, and use the “We were changing the syrup” excuse at both.)
Generally chain stores have set standards for the way tables are assigned, and then the servers manipulate it to the way they like. However, at a family owned store things may be completely different.
[sub]*Want to piss off the host at any given restaurant? Wait until he/she has gotten you to your table, and then ask if you can have a booth instead. [/sub]
Wait a minute – you mean the three or four times I’ve heard the “we have to change the keg” excuse (for beer), it’s really been due to a forgetful server???