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Original poster

Restaurant sitting each other close together ...would it bother you?

22 replies

curtainscloseds · 15/12/2024 20:01

Went out for a meal today
4pm
It was dead
We walked in and just us
They seated us.
Two other people come in
They have so many tables and they sit them right next to us.
Literally can't pull your seat out close.
There must have been 50 other table.
It was 1 open restaurant so not like it was sections

Does this bother you ?

OP posts:

fisherhatesgravel72 · 15/12/2024 20:16

Can't stand seating like that. If we go out and seats are lined up with a foot between them we walk straight out. Sounds like they don't want the hassle of walking to different areas of the restaurant

Floralnomad · 15/12/2024 20:17

Can’t stand it , I like a bit of room even when somewhere is busy .

Spirallingdownwards · 15/12/2024 20:21

Yes and if our food had not yet come we would ask to be moved

WalterdelaMare · 15/12/2024 20:22

Yes. I’d hate that.

GreyBlackBay · 15/12/2024 20:23

I went for work Christmas meal the other day and not only was there no room between tables they had put extra seats around the tables so there was no elbow room and you couldnt even get out to go to the loo without asking the person next to you to scoot over.

This was a nice restaurant and the food was lovely but id never go again.

At least you're not allowed to smoke in restaurants any more. It's hard to imagine it was acceptable for the table next to you to light up between courses.

ShadowsOfTheDays · 15/12/2024 20:24

Oh that would annoy me!

I went into an empty cafe alone the other day, sat at a table with 2 chairs, and they made me move to a table with one seat, and an old heater on the other side.

I left. Just let people sit where they're comfortable!

DarkDarkNight · 15/12/2024 20:26

Yes it would bother me. Fair enough in the same section the waiter/waitress is responsible for, but there’s no need to be on top of each other.

Justsayit123 · 15/12/2024 20:26

Hate it! I would move!

SidekickSylvia · 15/12/2024 20:26

I hate it, too. My husband's hearing isn't great so I have to talk quite loudly and it's really inhibiting to have someone you don't know able to hear your conversation.

AmazingGraze · 15/12/2024 20:31

I leave if the tables are too close together or ask to sit somewhere else.

Helixpoint · 15/12/2024 20:39

yes this happened to us at Mildred’s in London. They said they were going to be busy so wouldn’t move us. It was ridiculous.

loropianalover · 15/12/2024 20:41

I hate this 😭 really puts me off and honestly it happens more in the ‘nicer’/more expensive restaurants. No privacy at all.

Ja428 · 15/12/2024 20:45

Yep, puts me off. No privacy for conversation and no personal space.

I don't eat out anymore, there is always something really disappointing and it feels like money wasted.

parietal · 15/12/2024 20:47

In some restaurants, the seating is so tight that I'm closer to the stranger sitting adjacent than to Dh sitting opposite. I always hate that and move if possible.

Livelovebehappy · 15/12/2024 20:47

Sometimes people actually choose to sit close to you! I’ve gone to a cafe with dh, empty, sat down, then another couple will walk in and sit at the table right next to you. I’m like, wtf, why can’t you sit at one of the other twenty empty tables (in my head of course, not out loud).

Chellybelle · 15/12/2024 20:49

Yes I hate this. We went for breakfast the other day and we were sat in small nook area right next to another couple, away from the main part of the restaurant ( which had loads of free tables). It felt like we were sat with them, cramped and awkward.

RandomMess · 15/12/2024 20:53

Tried to do this to me and I asked to sit elsewhere.

It's easier for them to sit you all close together.

Devastated999 · 15/12/2024 20:56

I hate it, along with tables in the middle of a room (unreasonable I know). I love a booth more than anything, but that’s not usual in really nice restaurants.

SirChenjins · 15/12/2024 20:56

I absolutely hate this - I would refuse to be seated next to other people if the place was empty or would ask to be moved. It’s done for the benefit of the waiting staff, not the customers.

Deathraystare · 16/12/2024 16:33

It would if the person(s) next to me had a right pair of flapping elbows, like at a wedding I was at....

ProfessorInkling · 16/12/2024 16:38

I quite like busy places with a bit of a buzz and lots of people but this, I would hate! I’d ask to move.

dynamiccactus · 16/12/2024 18:28

A few months ago I went into a quiet restaurant with DH and a friend (only one other table filled as it was mid-afternoon) and they wanted to seat us next to the other people so I asked if we could be one table away.

They agreed, but a while later another group came in and you guessed it, they put them in the middle table! At least we were close to being ready to leave by then.

It is so annoying!

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