You will sit where I seat you and you will LIKE IT!

[FuzzyKitten99]

Ok it is understandable that you may prefer a table over a booth in a restaurant, or vice versa. But please understand the following that is pretty standard for most restaurants:

1. We can't read your mind so if you want a booth, tell us BEFORE we are halfway or all the way to the table we originally assigned you. We will do our best to accommodate your request, and it is easier when we don't have to run all the way to the front of the house to view the seating chart to ensure a server is available.

2. When we are halfway to your table or right at it, DO NOT give us attitude like we are supposed to know where you wanted to sit.

3. Understand that while we try to accommodate your request, unless you have a physical need (i.e. wheelchair that needs a table insead of a booth), we need to seat you where we do for reasons I will state next.

4. If you are not seated in your desired location, it is not because we hate you or we are trying to send you some hidden message that you are not welcome, I assure you. We are seating you at that table for the following reasons: Server availability, server load, reservations and large groups of walk-ins and the length of time the other guests have been dining. So if you are seated in an undesirable spot, please think of the latter and rethink on whether or not you really need to be seated elsewhere.

5. If you have small children, do not be offended if we seat you where they will not disturb anyone else. They may be little angels and behave very well, but we do not know everyone personally, who walks through the door. For all we know your kid could have a fetish for flicking olives or having a tantrum when they drop a favorite toy. We are family friendly, but we are also an upscale, fine-dining restaurant and we ask that guests to have courtesy for other guests in regards to disturbing them.

/rant

[ArcticChicken]

We had an upscale Italian place near my last house that had a separate family room for people with young children. I'd have preferred to sit there most of the times I went, 'cause the lighting in the other room was ludicrously low, even for a place trying to create a romantic atmosphere. I should not have to get my nose within an inch of the menu, or try to angle it so the light from the little oil lamps on the tables fell on it in order to read the menu.

[blas]

Ahh, memories from my hostess days.

I swear, people have never heard of seating charts. You don't even have to work in the restaurant bizz to understand that there's a chart that goes along with how many servers there are, and there has to be an even flow of tables to be sat with each server......duh.

My personal favorites were the people at the Norwegian restaurant (clientel almost 100% elderly people) and the old folks would try to outsmart me by pretending to not hear me ask how many were in their party, and they'd just walk right past the hostess stand, pretend to not hear me address them, and they'd just slooooooowly walk to wherever they wanted to sit, and I didn't really have a choice...they got their way.

Either that or asking "How many?" and getting the answer "BOOF!" (booth)

Or another oldie but goodie......taking the guests to their table, getting to the table, turning to tell them their server would be right there....but I was talking to myself....all alone.....I'd look across all the way over to the other side of the restaurant and the douchebags sat themselves wherever they wanted, 9 times out of 10 a dirty table!

That, and people who would take any opportunity to ignore the "Please wait to be seated" sign and would go seat themselves....then throw a huge temper tantrum over not having a menu or being served immediately.

[LillFilly]

Yeah, you just can't win in this type of situation; it will always be something. I personally prefer booths, but if there's plenty of open tables and no booths and I get seated there, no big deal; the food's still going to taste the same! I just have a thing about people walking behind me; must be a survival mechanism.

[Snowbird]

I've had to explain to my mother about table seating requirements that restaurants have, such as you've mentioned above, and she's slowly getting the idea, so I empathize how much worse SC's could be about it.

The only thing is, the last time I went to a favorite buffet (where getting out from the table is a necessity and happens more than once), she and I were steered towards the most packed end of the place, passing by four empty tables and two small two-seater booths. That wouldn't be a problem but for the fact that we're not small people and the space between the tables there was literally smaller than we could have squeezed through politely without putting our butts in the other table's food(I felt so sorry for everyone else sardined in there, and the couple at the next table looked up in what seemed like horror at the thought of yet another couple wedged in beside them).

I think I was just surprised that the hostess was surprised that we didn't want to sit there, if she was too busy to notice our size and the lack of any room at the table or what was going on.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I've had to explain to my mother about table seating requirements that restaurants have, such as you've mentioned above, and she's slowly getting the idea, so I empathize how much worse SC's could be about it.

The only thing is, the last time I went to a favorite buffet (where getting out from the table is a necessity and happens more than once), she and I were steered towards the most packed end of the place, passing by four empty tables and two small two-seater booths. That wouldn't be a problem but for the fact that we're not small people and the space between the tables there was literally smaller than we could have squeezed through politely without putting our butts in the other table's food(I felt so sorry for everyone else sardined in there, and the couple at the next table looked up in what seemed like horror at the thought of yet another couple wedged in beside them).

I think I was just surprised that the hostess was surprised that we didn't want to sit there, if she was too busy to notice our size and the lack of any room at the table or what was going on.

We've run into that booth vs. table thing when I go out with Mom and we have to get a table. The booths around here don't offer much room and my mom has to have some space so she doesn't feel squished. Some servers will automatically take us to a table, others will ask which we prefer. But so far we've not encountered any hassle over wanting a table.

[blas]

I don't think it's ever truly that much of a hassle unless the customers demand to be seated in a "closed" section, or a section where that server is currently in the weeds.

Anyone else on here who has ever been a host/ess can probably vouch for me that dealing with a pissed off server is no fun, and a lot of times, servers will pounce on the hosts for double/triple seating them when it's not the host being snarky, it's the customers demanding to sit there.

At both restaurants I worked at, after the servers would throw their tantrums, we'd try to work out a plan where the servers could try to take one another's tables if one particular server kept getting swamped.

As you can imagine, the server(s) who got the window tables were almost always in the weeds and getting double/triple sat.

[jackfaire]

I prefer a table but they don't always have them in a good position. Sometimes your gonna be bumped into repeatedly no matter what table your at.

[Plague*Star]

Hmm. Interesting thread. I've never worked in a restaurant, so I don't the how things are "usually". I do go to the Chinese Buffet near my house, and a few other places mostly similar and I notice:
1. They don't seem to have any concept of "two adults don't want to be in the same immediate area as a family of eight with three small children"
Although I am fond of children, especially with Wasabi and Soy sauce, I don't really want to hear the loud prattling and the endless rattle of silverware on the table when said children get bored. Giving Junior your keyring to play with does not enhance my meal, either. Do you *let* him throw food at home, where *you* have paid for it and *you* have to clean it up? No, didn't think so.

2. If the whole restaurant is empty, *why* do you seat the next party to come in AT THE VERY NEXT TABLE??? I'm talking the back of their chairs are banging on our chairs near. I understand they might not want to put them at the other end of the place and have more area to clean, but why not a few tables away?

Gratuitous pet peeve: Why play the music (and I use that term loosely) loud enough that it raises the background noise level to the point you have to raise your voice to talk to your dinner companion at the other side of the table?

[jadabella]

When I was waiting tables in the tropics, I worked at a restaurant/bar that was open on 3 sides - 1 faced the cruise ship dock, 2 faced the marina. There were only 2 rows of tables around the U shape, so there wasn't really a bad table in the place.

One morning we came in and it had rained (fairly rare occurrence) overnight. The floor on the cruise ship dock side was sopping wet - and slippery as all get out from the grease of the ages that had worked its way into the flooring. We closed off that side of the restaurant.

But SCs wouldn't be SCs if they respected a closed off section, would they? A group comes in, climbs over the barricade, and sits down. We kindly explain to them that the section is closed because walking is dangerous. "Oh, that's okay, we don't mind", they say.

Ummmm. You're sitting down. I'm the one who chances falling and breaking her neck running back and forth to your table. You may not mind, but I do.

So I ignored them. They eventually walked up to the bar and ordered from the bartender.

[mattm04]

I was eating out with some friends once and see the hostess walk by with a old couple trailing far behind. They stop, look at us and say "our table get out, now!" The hostess looks back, sees them and runs over. She attempts to explain the concept of occupied to them but they don't listen. The "gentleman" then tells the server to "f***ing kick us kids (college students) out" for disrespecting old people.

The manage comes over and tells them to leave. They initially refuse until he tell them he cna have them arrested for trespassing and the scurry out. Got free desserts.

[MelodiousBubbles]

I have this weird thing where I don't like having my back exposed while I'm sitting in public. It just makes me feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, tables are usually set by the windows on top of the other chairs having their backs to the tables around them, so I do prefer booths.

However, I do ask if I could have one if one's available. I'll deal if not.

[EricKei]

we ask that guests to have courtesy for other guests in regards to disturbing them.

Don' be riddikulus...Why would they have courtesy towards other guests if they have none towards you? After all, they are the most speshul snowflakes on the world ~_~

I'd look across all the way over to the other side of the restaurant and the douchebags sat themselves wherever they wanted, 9 times out of 10 a dirty table!

And of course they'd be pissed about it being dirty...even tho they could SEE that the table had stuff on it before they sat down...

I have this weird thing where I don't like having my back exposed while I'm sitting in public.

My Dad loved sitting with his back to the wall, but for a different reason -- what an old friend of his called "working the room". He had been a small businessman here for so many years that there was a 50/50 chance that, ANY time we went out to eat, he'd run into someone he recognized and would chat them up.

[venroses]

I have this weird thing where I don't like having my back exposed while I'm sitting in public. It just makes me feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, tables are usually set by the windows on top of the other chairs having their backs to the tables around them, so I do prefer booths.

However, I do ask if I could have one if one's available. I'll deal if not.

Me too! I prefer to sit next to a wall on at least one side of me.

[Andara Bledin]

I hate going into Game/GameStation/GameStop/GetYourGames type of shops because of the volume of the music.

Our local GameCrazy is always super quiet, other than random gaming sounds from the display machines.

I know the EB Games and the Electronics Boutiques in the mall both play videos on the screen that have nothing at all to do with games in any form, and they're always too loud.

^-.-^