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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To book a table for 2

76 replies

Namechanger2735 · 15/10/2017 12:48

Rang a restaurant to book a table, I said "2 and a high chair" she said, "okay a table for 3 will be 19:45 at the earliest". I then went on their website, table for 2 18:15. I've never known a restaurant to class a highchair as an extra person, we'll still be given a small table that would be given for 2 people. No extra food will need to be made as DD will eat off my plate (and it's a carverh anyway!)
Do you think I'll be greeted with a frosty reception?

OP posts:
welshweasel · 15/10/2017 12:50

Yes, probably! Plenty of restaurants have tables set close together so that a high chair wouldn't fit. And as you don't seem to want to buy a meal from them for your child I can't imagine they will be overly accommodating.

NeverEnoughSleep1 · 15/10/2017 12:50

Possibly just because tables can be quite close together so where could a high chair go? It could mean having to move tables around that people are already sitting on and cause a lot of distribution to people in the middle of their meal

Original poster
Namechanger2735 · 15/10/2017 12:53

Some restaurants like Nando's you definitely couldn't fit a highchair between a table for 2 but this is the Toby carvery, not sure if they're all laid out the same but this one is a table for two against a wall, the other three sides of the table are available so I can't see it being a problem

OP posts:
MrTrebus · 15/10/2017 12:54

YABU just stay home cook your own roast much nicer anyway and no hassle and you get it earlier!

Glumglowworm · 15/10/2017 12:56

So what will you do if you turn up and they refuse to seat you because you booked what they consider the wrong table?

As PP have said, they probably consider a high chair to be an extra person due to space.

gunsandbanjos · 15/10/2017 12:57

YADBU, I worked hospitality for years and bloody hated people that booked a table and only included the adults in the head count.

Your child might not need a normal seat but they still count as a person/space.

Had some absolute morons that asked for a table for 5 on a heaving Saturday night, then came back with 3 children in tow and had a shit fit because the table wasn't big enough. No shit Sherlock, you asked for a table for 5 and there's 8 of you.

NeverEnoughSleep1 · 15/10/2017 13:06

The Toby Cauvery by me has some tables like you did rive but also ones close together that couldn't fit a high chair in between, your not guaranteed the table you want and it's not worth risking turning up and either being turned away and being hungry at that time with a small child or risking ruining other people's dinner when you know they haven't got space for 3 people to sit at a table weather that's a high chair or normal chair

MadeForThis · 15/10/2017 13:08

Surely they know their own restaurant. You booked a table for two and a high chair. They told you the earliest time that type of table would be available.

blueskyinmarch · 15/10/2017 13:10

You are being ridiculous. Of course a high chair takes up the space of one person. They told you when a table like that is available and you have chosen to ignore it so may be turned away.

Ecureuil · 15/10/2017 13:18

Maybe they don’t have any free high chairs until then because lots of people with young children have booked earlier?

Ecureuil · 15/10/2017 13:18

I’ve never been to a Toby Carvery but surely restaurants only have a limited number of high chairs?

SoupDragon · 15/10/2017 13:29

As others have said, you need space for the highchair which takes up the same space as an ordinary chair.

BeyondThePage · 15/10/2017 13:31

Not just space for a high chair, but availability needs to be taken into account too. What will you do if you turn up and there are none available.

yorkshireyummymummy · 15/10/2017 13:34

You are not a table of two. You are a table of three. It matters not that you only have two people ordering and eating. A high chair can take up more room than a regular chair. They would be well within their rights to refuse to seat you. And you need to take into consideration that the restaurant may have all of the high chairs accounted for. Restaurants don't have a limitless supply of high chairs!!

Orangebird69 · 15/10/2017 13:36

If you need a highchair, you need 3 seats. Ffs.🙄

Original poster
Namechanger2735 · 15/10/2017 13:41

If I need a highchair I need two seats and a highchair. It's not a big deal if they can't seat us, it's surrounded by lots and lots of other places to eat so we'll sort something I'm sure.
I don't think seating three is the same as two and a highchair as a single table wouldn't fit three plates, with cutlery either side and a drink each.. but would be fine for two and a high chair

OP posts:
Floralnomad · 15/10/2017 13:42

There are 3 people present you need a table for 3 . I don't understand people who eat out and don't buy a meal for their child , does she eat off your plate at home ?

gunsandbanjos · 15/10/2017 13:45

I love an AIBU where everyone says yes you are and OP maintains they're not.

Original poster
Namechanger2735 · 15/10/2017 13:46

floral not all children that are young enough to be in a highchair are capable of feeding themselves, or have an appetite big enough to need more than a few potatoes and veg off someone else's plate.

OP posts:
TheCatsMother99 · 15/10/2017 13:48

I love an AIBU where everyone says yes you are and OP maintains they're not

Same!

Original poster
Namechanger2735 · 15/10/2017 13:48

Not maintaining I'm not being unreasonable at all. I asked for a reason, wouldn't have bothered if I knew I was right. Like I said it's surrounded by other restaurants so not really a big deal

OP posts:
FlandersRocks · 15/10/2017 13:48

I don't understand people who eat out and don't buy a meal for their child

Really? The op hasn't said how old the baby is though. My ate off my plate in a restaurant yesterday..a carrot which I mushed with a fork.

He ate it instead of me. No extra food was provided. What's the problem?

BitOutOfPractice · 15/10/2017 13:50

It’s not the space on the table. It’s the space around the table. Surely you can see that a high chair takes up just as much space (if not more) than an adult chair and the layout means they need to take that into account.

Yet another thread where the op asks if they ABU. MN answers a resounding YABU and the op says “no I’m not”.

confused123456 · 15/10/2017 13:51

I think only the number of people purchasing a meal should be counted.
My husband used to work at a Toby Carvery, and most tables are close together.
We brought our ds a child's meal, so it was 3 meals (I don't like children eating from a parents plate. Screams cheap to me).

hidinginthenightgarden · 15/10/2017 13:51

Floral, My 2 yr old hasn't a big appetite at the moment. Went for a meal on Friday evening and she touched nothing on her plate but a couple of peas.
Lunch yesterday with family I didn't bother wasting the food or our money and gave her a few bites of mine.

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