"table hoggers" are only people who are waiting for their food for around ten minutes. The amount of time they are using a table without eating anything would be around ten minutes. It has never taken me longer to get a tray of food or go up and place an order and bring drinks back.
I am not an entitled person, I would not object to people sharing my table and you seem to be forgetting so called "table hoggers" are in fact paying customers. We have not walked in off the street with a packed lunch in order to hug table for a few hours. We are paying money to eat as a family.
Does it honestly make sense for me to take DH, a 6yo and a 2yo in a pushchair or on reins into a queue and then wander round balancing trays and possibly hot drinks and carrying shopping and hoping that I can actually sit with both my DH AND my kids?
It's nothing to do with bad manners, it's bloody common sense and it's only this handful of people on Mumsnet who are shouting "entitled" and "selfish" at such sensible solutions.
I don't expect more privileges than the next person, I would share my table and I am not exactly bringing a packed lunch or hogging WiFi with one cup of coffee.
What WOULD be ridiculous would be taking my whole family up to queue in order to buy one tray of food, attempting to balance and carry a tray and possibly not being able to sit together or sit down at all. Why would you make lunchtime so stressful? Get a seat, nominate a buyer and give your kids something to do so they are not a nuisance or a hazard.
I've mentioned this thread to (non-selfish, non-entitled) friends and family and they are nonplussed that people think it rude to get a table whilst someone fetches the food. I have honestly never come across anyone who thinks it the done thing NOT to get a seat before fetching the food. It's really strange to me.