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Restaurant Wait Time

Golf Chick

Golf Chick

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What is the maximum time you will wait to be seated at a restaurant and served?

Over the weekend, we went to 3 different places just trying to get some breakfast. Place #1, it was crowded and there was patio seating. And we were a party of 2 and wanted first available. Well, there were 5 open patio tables and 2 inside, yet we were still waiting, we gave them 5 more minutes and then we just left.

Resturant #2: it was crowded and busy and we waited about 10 minutes to get a table. Ok that's fine. However, the table next to us (with 2 screaming kids) was seated after us and the waitress came and took their drink orders and didn't even bother to acknowledge us. We put our menus down because we were ready to order, that waitress came back with their drinks and immediately took their order and just walked by us. After about 15 minutes of being ignored, we got up and left.

Restaurant #3: We were seated, had our drink order taken and was served in a timely manner. I don't know what happened to restaurants #1 and #2.
 
Usually I won't wait more than 15 minutes to be seated. Anything longer than that is just not worth the effort imho.

Worst case I've had anytime recently was last July. Went to the Uno's here for the first time after playing 18 holes on a Saturday, about 2:00 or so. No wait to be seated, and I'm all by myself. I start looking over the menu, since I haven't seen it before. After a bit I start looking around wondering where the waiter/waitress is at, as I haven't seen anyone since being seated. After probably 15-20 minutes, the bartender spots me in my booth and asks if I've seen my waitress. She was nice enough to take my drink order, and a minute later the manager show up at the table.

He was extremely apologetic, let the bartender take care of me from that point out, and comp'd one of the best calamari appetizers I've had in ages. Thanks to the bartender and manager, I will still go there. I still don't know who my original waitress was supposed to be though, LOL! :confused2:
 
15 min. is about my max although we did wait an hour and a half to get a table at Hereford House on our anniversary a couple of years ago. I was about to blow a gasket but my wife really wanted to eat there.
 
that's why we go to the early bird. Well for one we are starving by 5 because we often forget to eat lunch since we are so busy and we don't like to wait either.
 
GolferGal said:
that's why we go to the early bird. Well for one we are starving by 5 because we often forget to eat lunch since we are so busy and we don't like to wait either.
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Doesn't the dinner rush start at like 3:00 down there?:D
 
I wont wait for any restaurant. Enough of them out there & there is no reason for it.

I truly believe some restaurants like to have people waiting by the door because it makes them look popular. We waited once years ago at a place in Milwaukee...probably 15 minutes or so. When we finally were shown to our table there were maybe 5-6 other tables with people there. Had to be 30+ empty tables, never did figure out why we had to wait. That was the last time too.
 
dynarider said:
I wont wait for any restaurant. Enough of them out there & there is no reason for it.

I truly believe some restaurants like to have people waiting by the door because it makes them look popular. We waited once years ago at a place in Milwaukee...probably 15 minutes or so. When we finally were shown to our table there were maybe 5-6 other tables with people there. Had to be 30+ empty tables, never did figure out why we had to wait. That was the last time too.
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I don't know the situation at that particular restaurant but I know from working in them for years that sometimes you will see empty tables because the host/hostess knows the servers are overwhelmed and you will not get good service.
 
I have a rule. Once seated, the server has 10 minutes to get our drink order. If not done, I leave. I have no patience with poor service. After the drink order is filled, they have a few minutes to get our order or I will find the manager.
 
There are only a few places I will wait for long and all of those have a bar where we can hang out and relax with a drink. Some places don't take reservations and are so good that they are very busy, one that comes to mind is Jim's Steak House in Pittsburg, KS. I'll wait an hour for places like that, but not more than 20 minutes for an average place.

Service on the other hand is a different deal. I'm in the business and know they get what they deserve. They don't want to take care of me, someone else will. I don't ditch and moan, I just don't come back.
 
The longest I will wait is usually 20 minutes but Ive waited longer before. I dont mind waiting if its packed but if there are empty tables ill usually go chew out the manager for cutting staff on that night.
 
Food has to be really good if I'm going to wait for it. I might put in a half an hour, but not much more. What Golf Chick described is something I don't handle well. Busy is one thing, but I want to be at the very least acknowledged, and if I'm in a restaurant and there are servers or bartenders standing around, I will get up and say something. I can't stand seeing restaurant employees standing around when there are customers that need service. I really hate it when bartenders are chatting away with customers when there are drinks to be served.

I ran a restaurant years ago. I was a great boss. There are teenagers that worked for me that are my friends to this day. However, I would not stand for employees that did not pay attention to customers. Those employees usually didn't last long. I had a buddy that owned a restaurant for twelve years before it folded. His food was great, but the service was terrible, and he was way too nice to his employees. I couldn't take eating there, because I wanted him to do well so badly I had trouble not telling his servers to get their asses moving.

I love eating in all types of restaurants. Those with good food are almost invariably well run. I tip like a crazy person for those who do even a reasonable job. Lounge around on me and you get your 15% and won't see me again.

Kevin
 
If I'm traveling and it's a restaurant I read about and I really want to eat there - I'll wait longer for a table because chances are I won't get there again any time soon. If it's a local restaurant, I won't wait more than 20-30 minutes. Once I'm seated - I have very little patience.
 
Re: Restaurant Wait Time

depends on the place. I'll wait if it's worth it.

and If I have good company and a good drink....it's all good.
 
it depends on the place and how long I will wait to be seated. Once seated I should have a drink in good tme or like others have said I simply leave. Of the restaurants I go to regularly Ikinda know what times they get busy and try to get there 15 minutes before that time so i do not need to wait. It has worked pretty well up till now.
 
Around here, many places refuse to take reservations for parties smaller than six, so Saturday night waits are the norm there.

We only go to those places with a group.

There's one place we like where you have to wait, even with a reservation. It's a BYOB, so we bring plastic cups along with our bottles and bottle openers. We just start drinking in the waiting area.
 
ClairefromClare said:
Around here, many places refuse to take reservations for parties smaller than six, so Saturday night waits are the norm there.

We only go to those places with a group.

There's one place we like where you have to wait, even with a reservation. It's a BYOB, so we bring plastic cups along with our bottles and bottle openers. We just start drinking in the waiting area.
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We were watching Kitchen Nightmares a few weeks ago and they were in New Jersey and the restaurant was BYOB. They were saying how it's the norm at a lot of the restaurants in that particular area (I don't know where exactly it was) and that seemed so foreign to me. I didn't realize places did that. It's an interesting concept.
 
IIRC there was/is a BYOB gentleman's club over on the Kansas side. Is it still open Smallie?
 
MO_Hacker said:
IIRC there was/is a BYOB gentleman's club over on the Kansas side. Is it still open Smallie?
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I heard they have byob places all over Texas. Whats a Gentlemans club?
 
MO_Hacker said:
IIRC there was/is a BYOB gentleman's club over on the Kansas side. Is it still open Smallie?
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I wonder if that's their way of getting away with the fully nude law. In Florida, from my understanding, if alcohol is served then the ladies must wear pasties and a thong, however, if there is no alcohol served they can go completely nude. My stats could be off but I remember hearing that before.
 
GolferGal said:
I wonder if that's their way of getting away with the fully nude law. In Florida, from my understanding, if alcohol is served then the ladies must wear pasties and a thong, however, if there is no alcohol served they can go completely nude. My stats could be off but I remember hearing that before.
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I don't know, I never went. On the Missouri side they opened up juice bars to get around that law.
 
MO_Hacker said:
IIRC there was/is a BYOB gentleman's club over on the Kansas side. Is it still open Smallie?
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I think so, it was the last time I went, back in 2004 (Me and the other uncle took our nephew out for his 21st birthday!) It's just on this side of Lawrence in a corn field.



GolferGal said:
I wonder if that's their way of getting away with the fully nude law. In Florida, from my understanding, if alcohol is served then the ladies must wear pasties and a thong, however, if there is no alcohol served they can go completely nude. My stats could be off but I remember hearing that before.
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Exactly.
 
10 minutes is pretty it for us. I have adopted the rule that no restaurant food is worth a very long wait. It goes along with if the place is crowded, then the customer service folks are going to be in a hurry, and the possibility of mistakes rises. The fact that a great restaurant will always be busy is very true. I just won't wait in line.

We eat out quite often, and very seldom do we have a long wait regardless of where we go. We hardly ever go any place that requires reservations, except for special occasions.

High priced beverages have also been replaced with ice water, with lemon for us. $5 pitches of beer are the exception. :D

A week or so ago we had dinner at Disneyland with our Grand Daughters. Four dinners, with desert, and beverages was about $140, after a 20 minute wait to be seated. That's one of those special occasions I mentioned above. :clapp:
 
GolferGal said:
We were watching Kitchen Nightmares a few weeks ago and they were in New Jersey and the restaurant was BYOB. They were saying how it's the norm at a lot of the restaurants in that particular area (I don't know where exactly it was) and that seemed so foreign to me. I didn't realize places did that. It's an interesting concept.
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In New England, there are still dry towns. Any restaurants in those towns are BYOB.
 
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