Dining Out Pet Peeves

I'm sure this has been brought up before but The Dallas Observer had a recent article about their 10 Most Annoying Things About Dining Out:

1. Restaurants encouraging valet parking
2. No reservation policies at popular restaurants
3. Charging high corkage fees at BYOB-only restaurants
4. Staff not bussing silverware between courses
5. By the glass wines at cocktail prices
6. Restaurants not keeping stated hours
7. Restaurants not posting opening hours on the web site
8. The practice of seating people in clusters
9. Superlatives
10. Wait staff asking "How is everything" at all the wrong moments

What are yours?

You finish your meal completely & then it takes forever to get your check & actually pay for your meal. Last weekend was a perfect example. We had finished our meal for a good 15 mins. before our server asked if we wanted any else. We said no, please bring us our check. He leaves and comes back about 10 mins. later with the check. Before he can leave, we hand him a debit card to pay. On the way to running the card, he stops at the table next to us when they ask him a question. He then proceeds to do 5 minutes of stand up comedy at this table, not 10 feet away from us. He finally leaves them & another 10 minutes later returns with the debit card receipt. We're now talking about 35 minutes from the time we've finished our meal, in an nearly empty restaurant. His tip dropped appreciably!

I can add one:
Restaurants that allow children to run amok.  By not requesting parents to restrain their kids from committing mayhem in the establishment, the restaurant management is allowing the dining experience for large numbers of people to become soured. 

Yes, I know that it is difficult to approach parents on this issue, but why allow that kid to annoy large numbers of people?  Isn't it better to take a chance at offending just the negligent parents than to chase large numbers of people out of the restaurant?

However, I do agree with Cavandre.
Few things annoy me in a restaurant as much as the frequently long wait for the check and for my credit card and receipt to be returned.

When I hear another patron ask 'What beer do you have?" and listen to the waiter rattle off a really long list of selections and then hear the patron say "I'll have a Bud" really makes we want to slap him.

kozel


When I hear another patron ask 'What beer do you have?" and listen to the waiter rattle off a really long list of selections and then hear the patron say "I'll have a Bud" really makes we want to slap him.

Haha Now that's one I haven't heard before.

I thought of one...I don't like when restaurants use "Home-made"...home-made is made in the home..correct? I'm hoping it was made in the restaurant kitchen and not the kitchen in their house. I can see "made from scratch" or something along those lines but even still, shouldn't everything at a good restaurant (for the most part, aside from the obvious) be scratch-made? I prefer wording like "made fresh daily", I think that gets the idea across the best.

I'm a beer asker but for the opposite reason. I am alway searching for the local microbrew that I may have never had. I hate it when the waitron starts out with Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors... Then I have to interrupt and explain and then they apologize and say they have to go back and ask the bartender. I've finally learned to be more specific right from the beginning and even that tends to fluster them because they don't know what is local or what the term microbrew means.

I ask "what kind of beer do you have" on the off chance that they'll actually have something interesting.  if not, I say "i'll have a bud".

now that i know this annoys people listening to the transaction I'll make sure to do it more often.

tommyeats


I ask "what kind of beer do you have" on the off chance that they'll actually have something interesting.  if not, I say "i'll have a bud".

now that i know this annoys people listening to the transaction I'll make sure to do it more often.

I've ordered a Bud as well when there nothing more interesting.  By the phrase 'really long list' I meant to imply that there would be have to be something more interesting. Point is, some people would order a Bud no matter what is available and there is nothing wrong with that.  Just order it; it's almost universally available.

We were out for dinner once when my Step-Father ordered "A carfay" of their best wine. No, he wasn't making a joke.

-Regional Restaurants that take the one regional cool thing that was on the menu,  off the menu (ie Buz n Neds in Richmond VA taking spoon bread off the menu)
-Bad Coffee- I just accept it now- outside of the Pacific Northwest, all restaurants serve bad coffee
-Bad Beer-  Serving only Millers Coors and Bud. All restaurants should at least have Sam Adams and at least one local microbrew

One of my pet peeves is when the server recites a long ,very detailed, and  descriptive list of all the "specials" and then neglects to tell you the price.  Usually, after he recites the first "special", I will ask for the price and then politely tell him that I would like to know the price of each item that  they recite.  More times than not, they seem rather confused that someone actually wants to know how much something costs.

The reading of tonight's specials with the detailed sides and when you ask to have one of them they then tell you that they're out.

Why include it on the list at that point?

<<7. Restaurants not posting opening hours on the web site

Yes, that one drives me crazy. Why go thru the trouble of having a website and not indicating what days and/or hours you are open. Then I have make a phone call anyway.

That and loud unrequested music and/or slow-loading pointless graphics when opening the site:
http://www.krispypizza.com/frames.html

Great pizza, annoying website

I hate it when 2 guys in black suits, hats, and sunglasses are seated at the next table.

Brad

mar52


The reading of tonight's specials with the detailed sides and when you ask to have one of them they then tell you that they're out.

Why include it on the list at that point?

you're saying that a server recites the specials, you immediately say "I'll have x", and then they say "we're out of x."?  how many times could this have possibly happened.  it seems very unlikely that it happens often.

do restaurants actually run out of specials between the time you hear them and a later point at which you order?  of course.  the server should mention that upon returning to the table.

2. No reservation policies at popular restaurants

 
I will say restaurants that do have a reservation policy and hold those  times a long long  time past the reservation time thinking (hoping) that the party/parties running late or not showing at all will eventually show up while having several parties waiting for a long long time for a table actually at the restaurant.

Actually, it may be that these parties have called and explained why they are late and that the restaurant agreed to hold the table for them.

Sometimes yes. Sometimes they go to the extreme for parties that have a reservation and have not called or cancelled...and it can be up to 30-45 minutes past the reserved time. That also backs up the future reservation later in the evening when there are no tables and those that arrive late (for whatever reason) do not rush just for the sake of others who are there on time.

tommyeats

do restaurants actually run out of specials between the time you hear them and a later point at which you order?  of course.  the server should mention that upon returning to the table.

There's a place by us that really has good coordination between the kitchen & the servers. When reciting the specials, they'll add something like "and the chief says there's only 2 (or 1 or 3) of those left, so if you'd like that I'll go back to the kitchen & reserve you one". This is especially appreciated since my better half has the uncanny knack of choosing things that the restaurant is out of...she can walk into a NYC Greek diner & find the one thing on a 14 page menu that the place is out of.

CCinNJ


Sometimes yes. Sometimes they go to the extreme for parties that have a reservation and have not called or cancelled...and it can be up to 30-45 minutes past the reserved time. That also backs up the future reservation later in the evening when there are no tables and those that arrive late (for whatever reason) do not rush just for the sake of others who are there on time.

 

the types of places i go to tend to have the whole reservation thing pretty much down.  i've rarely, in 20+ years of dining out, had to wait very long for a reserved table.    occasionally, of course, a wait happens, but how would anyone know that if it was because the party before me was late and didn't call.  it's borderline preposterous to make any assumptions like this.

i've also noticed that late tables without a call are given away at some point, and rarely does it go to 45 minutes.  

regardless, as a reasonable person, when i get arrive, unannounced, to a restaurant that routinely takes reservations, i suck it up and wait, and i don't spend much energy trying to figure out what scenario left me in that position, because it's pretty clear what that answer is:  i didn't make a reservation.

EatingTheRoad


I'm sure this has been brought up before but The Dallas Observer had a recent article about their 10 Most Annoying Things About Dining Out:

1. Restaurants encouraging valet parking
2. No reservation policies at popular restaurants
3. Charging high corkage fees at BYOB-only restaurants
4. Staff not bussing silverware between courses
5. By the glass wines at cocktail prices
6. Restaurants not keeping stated hours
7. Restaurants not posting opening hours on the web site
8. The practice of seating people in clusters
9. Superlatives
10. Wait staff asking "How is everything" at all the wrong moments

What are yours?

Dining with people that whine about everything.

tommyeats

CCinNJ


Sometimes yes. Sometimes they go to the extreme for parties that have a reservation and have not called or cancelled...and it can be up to 30-45 minutes past the reserved time. That also backs up the future reservation later in the evening when there are no tables and those that arrive late (for whatever reason) do not rush just for the sake of others who are there on time.

 

the types of places i go to tend to have the whole reservation thing pretty much down.  i've rarely, in 20+ years of dining out, had to wait very long for a reserved table.    occasionally, of course, a wait happens, but how would anyone know that if it was because the party before me was late and didn't call.  it's borderline preposterous to make any assumptions like this.

i've also noticed that late tables without a call are given away at some point, and rarely does it go to 45 minutes.  

regardless, as a reasonable person, when i get arrive, unannounced, to a restaurant that routinely takes reservations, i suck it up and wait, and i don't spend much energy trying to figure out what scenario left me in that position, because it's pretty clear what that answer is:  i didn't make a reservation.

This is the pet peeve thread. Not the proclaim what is making the restaurant industry so  wrong thread.  I have experienced it several times. I know how restaurants set-up reservations and the time alloted between seating schedules. Popular restaurants often do not take reservations because the seats will be filled no matter how many reserved spots are being held...or not. Holding means waiting. Patrons at the restaurant are givens.

Some ill mannered fool blowing there nose at the table near me.. That will ruin my dining experience.

you're saying that a server recites the specials, you immediately say "I'll have x", and then they say "we're out of x."? how many times could this have possibly happened. it seems very unlikely that it happens often.

Well kind of.  I order one of the specials and then they come back from the kitchen and tell me that they are out.

It's happened a few times.

The last two were lamb shanks at Nichol's in Marina del Rey and the Cassoulet  at Soleil Westwood which is in...

Westwood.

It does seem unlikely that it happens often, but it does.

Brad_Olson


I hate it when 2 guys in black suits, hats, and sunglasses are seated at the next table.

Brad

and ordering white toast and whole chickens

harleytexas

Brad_Olson


I hate it when 2 guys in black suits, hats, and sunglasses are seated at the next table.

Brad

and ordering white toast and whole chickens

I'm so confused...

In no particular order, here are some stream of consciousness peeves of mine. I tend to frequent dives, holes in the wall and roadfood type places, so you won't see any peeves that mirror the first five from the Dallas Observer article:

01. When they serve me something from the dessert cabinet that's waaaay past its pull date.
02. "Ranch fresh". "Golden brown". "Garden fresh". "Homemade".
03. Underdone omelets. No snot for me, por favor.
04. Stuff that's supposed to be served hot, but ain't.
05. A BBQ joint that doesn't smell like wood smoke inside.
06. Weak drinks, both soft and hard.
07. Places that have AC but under use it or won't use it at all. That's especially annoying here in the land of scorching summers.
08. Hyper-saltiness. I'm not on a salt-restricted diet, and I like salt, so when I balk at too much salt, you can bet there's too much salt.
09. The ubiquity of broccoli as the veg course.
10. Wan service.

ETR-
  Brad and Harley are making reference to the Blues Brothers dinner scene in the original Akroyd/Belushi Movie. Many nearby diners were involved in their displays of poor manners!

Well I guess that ages me...I've never seen it...maybe I'll have to watch that one.

I've seen the picture at least 3 times and the reference got by me...

Charging $2.75 for seltzer. Are you kidding me?

"Hi! My name is, Sue, and I'll be your server tonight"
" What are WE having tonight"

chewingthefat


"Hi! My name is, Sue, and I'll be your server tonight"
" What are WE having tonight"

Does it also get on your nerves when they sit down at your table too then?

That would depend on the waitress.

EatingTheRoad

chewingthefat


"Hi! My name is, Sue, and I'll be your server tonight"
" What are WE having tonight"

Does it also get on your nerves when they sit down at your table too then?

Yeah, like we went to school together or something!

I know several restaurants that get around the reservation problem by having "preferred seating" You call ahead, just like for a reservation. When you get there, your name goes to the top of the waiting list. Wait may be 5 minutes instead of 30-45. 

After asking "What's good?", I hate to hear "Everything's good." This usually precedes mediocrity!

^^even better: "Oh, I don't know, I can't afford to eat here."

--Joey's Seafood, Brookfield, Wisconsin

EatingTheRoad

chewingthefat


"Hi! My name is, Sue, and I'll be your server tonight"
" What are WE having tonight"

Does it also get on your nerves when they sit down at your table too then?

Doesn't get on my nerves at all. I just get up and leave.

Do you need any change?

That "need any change" nonsense bugs me too. It's just a subtle way of coming right out and asking for a tip. Speaking as one who used to work in a tipping profession, I consider it tacky and unprofessional. 

The whole "MY name is....." and them sitting down at the table doesn't bother me at all.  What does drive crazy is waiting a long time for my bill.  I usually ask for the bill while I am still eating, just to prevent that, because it happens way too often.

My pet peeve is being interrupted by someone else's cell phone going off.

buffetbuster

What does drive crazy is waiting a long time for my bill.  I usually ask for the bill while I am still eating, just to prevent that, because it happens way too often.

I do the same thing. As soon as I know I won't be ordering anything else I ask for my check and get it out of the way. I never understand the whole "disapperaing" act that some waitstaff pull after they've served your meal. Same goes for service in general after the meal comes out...no more refills on drinks, bread, etc., no longer clearing plates, extra napkins, what have you....

...also when the check has arrived and you've placed your payment within but it sits there for countless minutes. I can understand when there busy and I'm astute enough to know when that is the issue but when it's not...a lot of times a tip will decrease greatly within the last 15 minutes of my meal. I'll have had a wonderful experience but because the last 15 took 15 when it should have taken 2 it irks me to no end.

carlton peirre
My pet peeve is being interrupted by someone else's cell phone going off.

Agreed! A restaurant is not a place to be on the phone...kindly excuse yourself and take it outside. I also hate when people don't know how to silence their phone after it rings...they just stare at it and it continuously goes off for 30 seconds....I mean, it is amusing but still...come on.

How about people (kids/teens) texting throughout a meal? It also gets on my nerves (this is more personal opinion than anything) when a family is dining together and the kids are playing on their Nintendo DS, PSP or iPhone and not have a dining experience with their parents. I don't blame the kids at all but those parents shouldn't be too proud of themselves. Eating together should be a bonding time.

Davydd


I'm a beer asker but for the opposite reason. I am alway searching for the local microbrew that I may have never had. I hate it when the waitron starts out with Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors... Then I have to interrupt and explain and then they apologize and say they have to go back and ask the bartender. I've finally learned to be more specific right from the beginning and even that tends to fluster them because they don't know what is local or what the term microbrew means.

Hehehe.  Same here.  Just had a Ruby Tuesday come into town which actually has a decent beer menu for Minot. (Look at a map, we're up in nowhere ND.  There's zero beer distribution up here outside the mega breweries.)  But as I go down the list of every interesting offering they have "Sorry, don't have it.  Sorry, don't have it.  Sorry...  It's a corporate menu, we just can't get that stuff up here."
 
So a new pet peeve is having a menu in which you do not have, nor ever intend to have, half of what's listed.

Restaurants that use flake pepper in pepper shakers with tops designed for ground pepper. You can shake forever and only few flakes. So, I have been known to remove the lid, shake a bit into my palm and put the lid back on.

CNW

CNW


Restaurants that use flake pepper in pepper shakers with tops designed for ground pepper. You can shake forever and only few flakes. So, I have been known to remove the lid, shake a bit into my palm and put the lid back on.

CNW

Totally! I do the same. Also happens sometimes with unclean Parmesan cheese shakers or red pepper...rarely but sometimes with salt (in the south, where it's humid).

I hate going to a steakhouse, ordering a $26 steak, and being told where the salad bar is, only to find either a lightly dressed caesar salad, or a caesar salad, plus bowls of iceberg, broccoli/cauliflower, onions, tomatoes, and the usual dressings.  

Really, $26 steak place? You couldn't either make the salad bar interesting, or bring a "stock" salad to the table?  

txtwister


I hate going to a steakhouse, ordering a $26 steak, and being told where the salad bar is, only to find either a lightly dressed caesar salad, or a caesar salad, plus bowls of iceberg, broccoli/cauliflower, onions, tomatoes, and the usual dressings.  

Really, $26 steak place? You couldn't either make the salad bar interesting, or bring a "stock" salad to the table?  

Wow, I don't know if I've ever encountered this....where specifically are you referring to?

I don't like salad bars, anyway, for many reasons. Germs. Stuff mixed in from other bowls. Dressing dripped all over. Just bring me a small dinner salad, please, with no crutons and blue cheese dressing. 

Recently, at a very highly regarded roadfood type restaurant in Albany, TX.  (Goes by both the Beehive and the Ft Griffin Gen. Merchandise Rest.

mbrookes


I don't like salad bars, anyway, for many reasons. Germs. Stuff mixed in from other bowls. Dressing dripped all over. Just bring me a small dinner salad, please, with no crutons and blue cheese dressing. 

Many places I've been, the small dinner salad they bring you is made fresh from the salad bar when ordered and brought to your table.  Just a thought...

You are so right  and they do this where there are buffets .  A couple of years ago,  we had breakfast at a diner in Lancaster, Pa which featured  a breakfast buffet....................................one look at that mess and the people milling around convinced me that I wanted  no  part of that  food.  I  told the waitress that I wanted to order off the menu  and  ordered  poached eggs,  toast,  and corned beef hash and  home fries.
 
Our family was seated right next to  this  buffet  table  and  I saw our waitress coming  out with a plate  which had a cup with my poached eggs, and toast on and  she proceeded to buffet  and put the  corned beef hash and  potaotes from the buffet  on my plate and  delivered it to me with a big smile.   I informed her that I did not  eat  food from buffet  tables and  that I did not want any of it.  She appeared to be totatlly confused  but was  ok with it  and  I just paid for  my cup of coffee.

Good for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greymo
One of my pet peeves is when the server recites a long ,very detailed, and  descriptive list of all the "specials" and then neglects to tell you the price.  Usually, after he recites the first "special", I will ask for the price and then politely tell him that I would like to know the price of each item that  they recite.  More times than not, they seem rather confused that someone actually wants to know how much something costs.

Ah, yes. In the past, I used that to practice my Harold Lorrayne memorization techniques. I'd wait until the waiter finished reading off the specials, and I would ask detailed questions (albeit only when the answer would affect my order), including prices.

What really gets me is when the menu has a relatively narrow range of prices, and the special has a price tag which is considerably higher (sometimes twice as much) as the price of the typical entree, and the waiter doesn't warn you. For example, where entrees are $9-16, and the special is $29.

Bart

mar52
Well kind of.  I order one of the specials and then they come back from the kitchen and tell me that they are out.

It's happened a few times.

It happens to me so often that it has become a family joke. I have gotten into the habit of having 2nd or 3rd choices ready, just in case they are out of the 1st and/or 2nd choices. I've amazed many waiters by giving him/her my next choice immediately upon their return, and then explain to them that this happens so often that I prepare in advance. Sometimes, when in a bit of a hurry, when they come back, I will give them my second choice and say, "and, if you're out of THAT, I'll have..."

Bart

bartl

Greymo
One of my pet peeves is when the server recites a long ,very detailed, and  descriptive list of all the "specials" and then neglects to tell you the price.  Usually, after he recites the first "special", I will ask for the price and then politely tell him that I would like to know the price of each item that  they recite.  More times than not, they seem rather confused that someone actually wants to know how much something costs.

Ah, yes. In the past, I used that to practice my Harold Lorrayne memorization techniques. I'd wait until the waiter finished reading off the specials, and I would ask detailed questions (albeit only when the answer would affect my order), including prices.

What really gets me is when the menu has a relatively narrow range of prices, and the special has a price tag which is considerably higher (sometimes twice as much) as the price of the typical entree, and the waiter doesn't warn you. For example, where entrees are $9-16, and the special is $29.

Bart

In our neck of the woods the entrees run around 6 to 8 bucks and the specials run about a dollar or two less.

EatingTheRoad

chewingthefat


"Hi! My name is, Sue, and I'll be your server tonight"
" What are WE having tonight"

Does it also get on your nerves when they sit down at your table too then?

I'm w/ NYPizzaNut...depends on the waitress, some I prefer to have sit on my lap...

--Not answering the phone during open hours as listed on website/web, especially if I'm out of town and not familiar with the area, or on foot/public transportation. 
 
--Getting all stuck up and **** b/c Guy Fieri visited your dive, hiring rude staff and not allowing take out anymore (yeah, YOU Jamie's, but not you Vicki).   

rainyday6


--Not answering the phone during open hours as listed on website/web, especially if I'm out of town and not familiar with the area, or on foot/public transportation. 
 
--Getting all stuck up and **** b/c Guy Fieri visited your dive, hiring rude staff and not allowing take out anymore (yeah, YOU Jamie's, but not you Vicki).   

Haha, both good ones!