Was she a sucky customer?

[Broomjockey]

I'm also going to go with foot-in-mouth syndrome. I usually take 30-45 minutes when I'm by myself in a resturant. Buffet it goes up to an hour easily. With someone to sit and chat with? I can see 2 hours going by without being sucky about it. You're right, it isn't like they needed to turn the table around for tips, so unless there was a huge crowd (I mean HUGE) waiting for a table, he was just being slightly stupid, and not malicious or anything like that.

[Gravekeeper]

I'm voting foot in mouth. It just sounds like a bad choice of words for what he was trying to say.

I'd say 2 hours is a bit sucky if its say a lunch/dinner rush/really busy and the restaurant's trying to keep tables turning or keep up with reservations as not to turn people away. But otherwise <shrug> I can see 2 hours.

[Sliceanddice]

two hours is not a long time, not for two people who are friends. I mean my immediate family tends to eat then leave so the waiter can get more tips. My extended family will sit and talk awhile. But if i was having a meal with my friends me sitting and eating and talking for 2 hours isnt weird. The waiter was either being a snotty jerk, telling a bad joke, or just put his foot in his mouth.

Your mother and god mother did nothign wrong

[WSDuckie]

I say she was definitely *not* an SC! My friends and I have lunch once a month and we always are there for 2 if not 3 hours... It's our chance to catch up on what's going on with each other, face to face, and to drop all our shields and just bask in the glory of being with people who love you...

[infavorofnaturalselection]

Your mother and god mother did nothign wrong

It was foot in mouth. Likely the guy was trying to make a favorable comment and it came out wrong. Now as others have said if it was during rush or busy that people were waiting in line then yes you should eat then leave.

waiterrant.net has lots of stores about people that stayed talking for four hours even past closing time without leaving any sort of compensation for the lost tables/tips or keeping the staff in the restaurant. Really nasty hate towards social ladies who only eat a chicken salad then talk for four hours when it is busy.
Plus if the social chat is boring or uninteresting stuff that could be easily said in ten words or less but somehow takes hours to express then the waitstaff would think the social chatters were sucky customers.

[Jack7957]

If it's similar to the Brazilian steakhouse that I know near Syracuse, 2 hours is the average time for dinner.

[The Distorted Kwi]

Yep, but a lot of restaurants in New Zealand haven't grasped the 'relaxed dining' concept too well. I stopped eating at one steakhouse chain due to their habit of delivering the dessert menu as I was still masticating the last piece of eye fillet. on Sundays, they could have you crammed full of cow and cheesecake in about seventy minutes, tops.

I hate being rushed.

[CaroPhoenix]

I've been to that type of restaurant before. There's one near my house as a matter of fact and hubby & I love it! (We don't go too often because it's pricey!)

Anyways, it's always taken us about 2 hours because of the buffet style for the side items, and then you have to wait for the guys to come out with the meat to serve you and it's not like they're walking around continuously.

The Head Waiter had a case of foot-in-mouth syndrome.