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Original poster

Restaurant demanding table back?

149 replies

Wildflower123 · 03/01/2020 16:28

Came over and (we’d only just finished our food and were still enjoying the rest of our bottle of wine) and said we need this table back in 5 minutes.

There was no prior warning given at any point. Sing to think this is bad service?

OP posts:
BackforGood · 03/01/2020 19:27

Too many variables and only one side of the story.

Intensicle · 03/01/2020 19:28

Ok, forget the thread, why haven’t you had dinner out since 1997 Jux?

Original poster
Wildflower123 · 03/01/2020 19:31

Too many variables and only one side of the story.

2 people
Popular chain restaurant (not Nando’s Grin )
Ordered off evening menu

I’m not sure what the other side of the story is. A prior warning when seated would have been absolutely ok ... even a half an hour warning but to say we need this back in 5 minutes and they really did mean 5 minutes.

OP posts:
SawingForTeens · 03/01/2020 19:36

Exactly, Jux, I need to know too

Mlou32 · 03/01/2020 19:40

As another posted has pointed out, it really depends on how they asked. Was it a "we need this table back in 5 mins" or was it a "I'm really sorry, we'll need this table back in 5 minutes, could we maybe move you to the bar area to finish your wine?".

chardonm · 03/01/2020 19:48

Nah that's unacceptable. 5 minutes ?!

crustycrab · 03/01/2020 19:52

Haven't eaten out since 1997 ShockSad

ohwheniknow · 03/01/2020 19:55

I just want to know which chain now.

LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood · 03/01/2020 19:56

I think in a chain restaurant (not Nando’s but presumably similar if you made the comparison) then I wouldn’t expect to keep the table for longer than about 1 1/2 hours. Not much longer after finishing the food really. They should have given more then 5 mins notice. But 10/15 mins would suffice. I wouldn’t have expected a chain restaurant to tell you when you are seated that they will need the table back.

C8H10N4O2 · 03/01/2020 19:57

A 90 minute turn-around is pretty standard

No its really not outside busy city centres and they tell you at book in or walk in. Its the restaurant's job to tell diners, especially evening diners, if they need the table back by a certain time. So they still have the choice to go elsewhere if they had planned to enjoy a full dinner with wine, without being rushed out in 90 minutes.

thejollyroger · 03/01/2020 20:00

Like Prezzo or Pizza Express or something? To be honest, I suspect most chain restaurants do see people coming in and out for a couple of courses in a lot less than two hours, most of the time, so they probably gave you a table that was booked for two hours later than the time you walked in off the street, assuming you would be out by then. That’s a pretty reasonable assumption for me, in a chain restaurant that’s not Nando’s.

Oldbutstillgotit · 03/01/2020 20:35

I was on the opposite side a few weeks ago; some friends and I booked a table at a local restaurant for 7.30. It is a very popular place . Arrived and a flustered waitress ushered us to the bar saying it would be a few minutes . 7.45 we asked about table , told another 5 minutes . At 8.00 we asked again . Turned out a group had arrived about 6 and assured staff they would be out by 7.30 but then settled in for the night !
We left at 8.20 ( hungry !)

Singlebutmarried · 03/01/2020 20:39

We’ve gone to a local restaurant on spec before for lunch with friends.

They said they’d need the table in 90 mins.

We said if they could bring the food in that time we’d eat it, and if we could then go thru to the bar afterwards and carry in with wine we’d be fine.

WTFdidwedo · 03/01/2020 20:41

In my restaurant it's 90 minutes for 2-4 covers, 2 hours for 5-8 covers and 2.5 hours for 9+ which is pretty standard I would assume.

Just suffered through the usual Christmas crap of apologising profusely to tables of 20 who'd booked months in advance that the previous table had decided to split the bill 20 ways and leave their shit all over the floor (sometimes literally!) throwing our turn times completely off. Much easier to move an unbooked table to the bar and buy them an apology drink (if they really haven't been there very long) than it is to recover a 20 top booked Christmas party seating 20 minutes past their time.

ivykaty44 · 03/01/2020 20:43

starfishmummy

I would have vacated but refused to pay for the desserts & coffees and certainly not left a tip

How blardy rude

WTFdidwedo · 03/01/2020 20:51

Also people can boycott these places all they want but don't be surprised when businesses close and people lose their jobs. A 90 minute turn around instead of a 150 minute turn around on every table can add a large amount of sales to a restaurant, unless you're planning on sitting there for two hours with several bottles of champagne.

BlueCornsihPixie · 03/01/2020 20:56

wtf if this is happening regularly sounds like you aren't leaving enough time between tables of 20

Splitting A bill 20 ways is pretty commonplace for Christmas parties. I'd be pissed off that you hadn't expected that

Verily1 · 03/01/2020 20:57

No tip!

Misscromwellrocks · 03/01/2020 21:02

Totally out of order. They should have told you when you booked the table that they wanted it back at a certain time, or alternatively offered you a seat at the bar. Demanding the table back in 5 minutes was very unprofessional and I wouldn't be going back.

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 03/01/2020 21:16

If I’d been spoke to like that at the table my answer would have been ‘er... no.’

WTFdidwedo · 03/01/2020 21:17

blue splitting a bill is fine, expecting your server to remember what 20 people ordered and then expecting individual change from 20 transactions is not. Either tell the server the exact amount you want to pay to input on a card machine or all put money in together and split the change between yourselves after. Everything else is adding about 20 minutes on to a table.

It is not a regular occurrence during the rest of the year, it is only ever Christmas parties and they are normally booked by people who come for food once a year and don't seem to understand basic restaurant etiquette. But I digress.

Tigger001 · 03/01/2020 21:35

I think between 2 hours and 2.5 hours is standard. But it is definitely good practice to advise any customers if you need the table before that.

To be honest, if we had finished eating and they needed the table and could move us to a seated bar area, I would be OK with that, but to just request I left the table would be really annoying.

adaline · 03/01/2020 22:07

To be perfectly honest, I'd be bored stiff if I was sat at a table eating a meal for two hours! It's why I hate Christmas meals and work dos - they always go on and on...and on!

Restaurants are about making money, and chains especially are hardly the place to go for a long lunch. They want to get you in, fed, and out again so they can serve the next customers. Most places don't want you hanging about taking up their tables while you have a coffee and a chat.

I tend to think that the people who spend hours over their coffees at the end of meals are the same people who want to come into Tesco and buy their weekly food shop at one minute before closing Wink

Not saying that's what OP did but it's certainly what springs to mind!

IHaveBrilloHair · 03/01/2020 23:31

If you go to a nice restaurant it's about the food, not about being fed.

starfishmummy · 03/01/2020 23:32

Im pretty old and have eaten im many types.of restaurant from the cheap and cheerful to expensive and thise in between. The only place we have ever been told of a time limit was one of those all you can eat chinese buffet type places and I think that was more to stop people eating too much as it was never full.