Restaurant asked us to leave after 2 1/2 hours. Should this bother me?

[Anonymous]

Last night we got together with good friends that we haven't seen in person for 6 months. We chose a new restaurant in Old Town - mid-level, $250 for 4 people. We made a 6 o'clock reservation, had drinks, appetizers, main course, and dessert. Service during the meal was unhurried, but as soon as we finished dessert the check came, we paid it, and we continued talking. 2 different people came to the table to ask if everything was okay and if we needed anything else and finally a third gentleman came to the table and apologetically asked us to vacate because people had been waiting 1/2 an hour for a table. I was quite put off by this. What does DCUM think?

[Anonymous]

1. How lon g were you sitting there after the bill was.paid?

[Anonymous]

The man should have offered a round of drinks for your party at the bar.

[Anonymous]

You were wrong. You shouldn't linger for that long after eating when there is a wait. If you wanted to continue your night, you should have gone to a bar or something and ordered drinks. You were preventing the restaurant and the server from making money on another table, and you were causing the wait times to increase for the other customers. It's very rude.

[Anonymous]

How long were you sitting there after paying? It's pretty rude to hold up a table just to chat. Plus, $250 isn't a crazy amount for 4 people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The man should have offered a round of drinks for your party at the bar.

+1. A very tactful way of doing this.

You spent enough that sitting there 2.5 hours shouldn't be a big deal. At the same time they were busy. A good manager would have merged these two issues.

[Anonymous]

Move it to the bar. I could see being tweaked if you had only been there an hour or so, but at 2 1/2 hrs you were being unfair to the business and their other patrons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The man should have offered a round of drinks for your party at the bar.

+1. A very tactful way of doing this.

You spent enough that sitting there 2.5 hours shouldn't be a big deal. At the same time they were busy. A good manager would have merged these two issues.

At a busy place he was probably more concerned with getting rude people to leave. Better than taking up room at the bar not spending money after their free drink.

[Anonymous]

I've never had it happen - but we never stay for more than a few minutes after paying the bill and our tabs tend to run much higher. We had dinner with friends last night - was $240 a couple and we didn't have dessert. It was about two hours from sit down to departure for us. The restaurant business is so tough and I feel for them that there were people probably with 8 pm reservations waiting for your table to turn - they may have even told them that their table was almost ready and you were just paying the bill and then you sat there. During a week day, I doubt they'd need to do it - but Saturday nights is the big money making night and they need tables to turn to do so.

[Anonymous]

You were rude but I don't expect you to admit it

[Anonymous]

It should not bother you. They have a business to run, and are trying to accomodate other paying customers. If you were the ones waiting for a table, in a crowded waiting area, you probably wouldn't be happy to see a table there for an extra 30 minutes. What if you were holding up a group who hadn't seen each other for 6 months? And their bill is going to be the same price and they would also be asked to leave once they were done if someone else wanted the table.

I think it makes sense to pick a restaurant for your needs. Either pick one that isn't busy so you can linger or then continue the conversation at a bar or coffee house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It should not bother you. They have a business to run, and are trying to accomodate other paying customers. If you were the ones waiting for a table, in a crowded waiting area, you probably wouldn't be happy to see a table there for an extra 30 minutes. What if you were holding up a group who hadn't seen each other for 6 months? And their bill is going to be the same price and they would also be asked to leave once they were done if someone else wanted the table.

I think it makes sense to pick a restaurant for your needs. Either pick one that isn't busy so you can linger or then continue the conversation at a bar or coffee house.

+1. I've been in this position before and DH and I say, "let's free up the table and move on to a bar." I've waited tables, and I've also been a hungry waiting customer. It's just considerate.

[Anonymous]

This seems pretty obvious to me. If you want to socialize indefinitely, you can go to your home or your friends' home or a bar or a coffee shop or just walk around Old Town on a nice evening. What you can't (or shouldn't) do is tie up a restaurant table indefinitely, affecting patrons who, like you, made reservations and messing with the restaurant's ability to do business and the staff's ability to make a living. In a busy restaurant you basically rent that space for the duration of your meal, not for the whole evening. I hope that you left a really, really big tip.

[Anonymous]

I find it comical that op is so rude and self centered she can't even apply common sense like every one else who posted. Would love to know how obnoxious she is on a daily basis.

[Anonymous]

Sitting there after the bill has been paid and you're not still finishing a drink or food is rude, especially in the middle of dinner rush (at least until 9 on weekends). My husband is a restaurant manager and deals with this from time to time by moving guests to the bar, though most people leave because they don't want to spend more money.