Partner "apologised " for me,would you be annoyed ?

[rickysally]

It's our anniversary night away.
I booked a nice restaurant and on the special request asked for a booth or a table with some privacy.
I specifically asked for this as they have form for having people practically sat on other tables knee.
We went for early dinner at 5pm
It was dead
One other couple
She walked us to the table next to the couple (a small two table )
So I said "sorry can we sit over there for some privacy please"
She looked and rolled her eyes and said yes
As we were walking over my partner said to her "sorry about this "

Sorry about what ? The place was dead
I was honestly fuming
Then other people started arriving and rather than spacing people out she sat them all next to each other (so had people on top of us anyway )

Would you be annoyed at partner ?
Why do restaurants do this ?

Sounds as if you may have form for overreacting. Do you often find yourself in these situations?

Sounds like he was reacting to her eye roll. They do say don't be rude to people who serve you food and maybe he was thinking she thought it was rude? Tbh I'd probably have said the same as him if my server looked visibly annoyed at something one of us had said.

😂

So you said "sorry can we....." and then presumably picking up on that energy, your husband said "sorry about this..."
You set the tone apologizing love, dont blame him.

what you should have said was "I requested a table/booth with some privacy, is that possible please"

Yes, he was being a limp dick about it and I think you should be furious with him. Luckily, my DH would be just as quick to request a table in a different area away from others.

You’re paying good money to eat out, so why would you put up with being seated right next to other diners when the restaurant is more or less empty?

A number of independent eateries have come and gone in our town in recent times and IMO, the food is ok but they’re useless at providing a good level of customer service. The ones still standing are the ones who have well trained/well paid staff.

Most people can cook decent food at home but we want a pleasant dining experience if we’re paying to eat out.

I'd be irritated too Op. Same thing happened to us. Big anniversary 2 years ago and we booked our favourite restaurant, they asked if it was a special occasion and we said yes it's an anniversary. We arrived and they sat us on a 4 person table with another couple 😡😡 and the man who was next to me had the flu and was making that sound when you're hawking up phlegm. He was also listening to a shit podcast 😡😡😡.

I'd probably say we didn't need to apologise but not be that bothered.

I would be bothered by the waitress putting people next to each other though.

All on all, I would have just cracked on and enjoyed the meal.

Why didn't he challenge her for rolling her eyes?

Massive over reaction on your part. I hope you didn't let it ruin the evening.

Ugh, that sounds awful. He was listening to a podcast while out to dinner? That's so weird.

This.

I waited tables when I was younger, and it was so frustrating when customers would kick up a fuss when we told them they couldn’t sit in a “closed” (empty) part of the restaurant. Even after explaining there wasn’t enough staff to cover the empty section they still would kick off. God, I could write a book about working in hospitality 😂

you and he did the same thing....said sorry for no reason.... so I don't see a problem. if the restaurant has form for cramming people together then why go there? I would hate that and would go elsewhere in the first place.

I'd be irritated by this. You made a reasonable request and the waitress rolled her eyes and your boyfriend apologised for YOUR behaviour!!

I'd have probably left at that point.

I guess it depends how you said it. I have an ex-friend who used to talk down to waiting staff. If you said it in a friendly way with a smile then he shouldn't have apologised, but if you said it in an arsey demanding way then I can see his point! The fact she rolled her eyes makes me think there was something in your delivery that warranted an acknowledgement from your partner, but maybe an apology was a step too far.

I get that closed restaurant sections are not the fault of the server and in a mid price place where there are plenty of other nice tables, its probably not a problem, but if I am paying for an expensive meal out, I expect to be able to choose the kind of table I want to sit at....privacy, window seat and so on, especially if I make it clear when I book.

but BOTH the couple said "sorry"

I'd have been much more sarcastic than you OP?

Seriously, it annoys me that no-one seems able to do their job properly.

But she's going to have more than 2 tables in her section.

Did you stay? I wouldn't have even sat down.

There are different ways of delivering the word sorry, some of which make it clear the speaker is not really sorry. But none of us were there so we don't know how the OP delivered her request/demand so impossible for us to know if her partner was being unreasonable or not..

She rolled her eyes? I'd have walked out.

Yes, but who is the restaurant run for? Is it run for the waiting staff convenience or is it run for the enjoyment of the customers?

i would be fuming

What is with people thinking it's weird to have dinner at 5pm? If somewhere is open and serving dinner then they clearly don't find it that odd or they wouldn't be open. Not everyone wants to go to dinner at 7.30pm when it's busy.

The thing that would have annoyed me the most was the waitress rolling her eyes. Sounds like your husband automatically apologised because of the way she was behaving. Which he shouldn't have, but I wouldn't have been annoyed. I had an ex who would demand to know why I apologised if say we were on a busy street and you have to move out the way for someone even if they didn't. It's a reflex.

I hope you ended up enjoying your meal!

Personally, I like a man who can say sorry and who acknowledges that waiting staff are human beings.

Even when it’s at the detriment of his partner?
As in it’s ok to put down and blame your partner in order to appease waiting staff? Even when the request isn’t crazy, the person wasn’t rude or anything like this?

Blimey. You have a low bar.