Restaurant demanding table back?

[Wildflower123]

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?

wtf I live & work in Germany and it is the norm to pay for your own, even in groups

The wait staff have no problem, as they note down on their machine / notebook / memory who has what
I refuse to believe German staff are any cleverer than Brits - maybe different training ?

Our Christmas works do had about 100 people;
the tables didn't all leave at once, so the staff managed without problem.

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.

But again, this misses the point. The restaurant might want you in and out ASAP, but the customer doesn’t owe the restaurant any favours. It’s not a reciprocal relationship.

Totally out of order. They should have told you when you booked the table that they wanted it back at a certain time,

OP didn't book - they were a walk in.

Walk in or book in advance it doesn't matter, they should have clearly told you there is a time limit for the table.

They obviously should have told you. Restaurants make a lot of money from wine and you wouldn't have ordered another bottle if you knew you were going to be hurried out before finishing it.

quite common surely?

quite common surely?

No. I eat out all the time and have never been asked to leave a table without warning when I still had wine and had just finished my food.

It doesn't matter whether OP was a walk in or booked 1 year in advance. They should have told her before she ordered deserts/more wine they'd need the table back by a certain time.

It doesn't matter whether OP was a walk in or booked 1 year in advance. They should have told her before she ordered deserts/more wine they'd need the table back by a certain time.

But if they were getting loads of on a whim walk ins like the OP they wouldn't know in advance. If all the tables were taking their time there'd be no turn around.

I agree 5 mins is too short notice though.

It doesn't matter whether OP was a walk in or booked 1 year in advance. They should have told her before she ordered deserts/more wine they'd need the table back by a certain time.

But they wouldn't know that if all their other customers were walk ins too.

if all their other customers were walk ins too

If all of the other diners were walk-ins, then the ones that arrived once all of the tables were occupied should be told that there were no tables available or that there would be a wait for a table.

I can't imagine walking into a restaurant without a reservation and expecting the existing diners to be ushered out.

I think it depends entirely on the situation.

If it's a chain place with quick service where you can comfortably have had 3 courses in 90 minutes then I dont think its unreasonable for them to expect 2hrs to be ample turnaround time without having to tell you as soon as you arrive that you're on a timer.

If after 2 hours you've finished your meal and have just been sitting, finishing the bottle of wine for a while then I dont think a 5 minute warning is too bad, they probably thought "they're finished with their meal and just drinking, no need to rush them" up until the point they needed the table clear. If however you literally finished your food 5 minutes prior and are finishing the glass of wine that accompanied the meal when they come over to ask you to move then I think their turnaround time is either too short or should have been made clear earlier.

Equally, if it's a restaurant where the service is slow and there is an expectation of lingering over a meal I would expect a longer turnaround, or for them to be clearer if they had a set time they needed the table back.

If all their other customers were walk ins then they would obviously need to tell the walk ins that no table was available - and they would have to wait they can't just throw people off existing tables before they finish their drinks! If OP had finished drinks and was ordering even more or just sitting around hogging the table it would be different. The restaurant can't have it both ways - happy to take money off OP ordering bottles of wine but not happy to have her sit there and drink it.

need to tell the walk ins that no table was available - and they would have to wait they can't just throw people off existing tables before they finish their drinks

But there would be tables available if the drinkers were moved to the specific area reserved for drinking. Why should a restaurant have to lose out on custom because people are still drinking at a table, when they could ask the drinkers to move to the bar, allowing the new diners to eat? I dont think customers should be rushed off tables the second they swallow their last mouthful of food, but if you have been finished with food for more than 5 minutes, showing no sign of leaving and the table is needed then I dont see the issue with them asking you to relocate elsewhere.

If you go to a restaurant for a meal, once the meal is finished you dont need the table if they also have a bar area. If you are just sitting drinking then you can do that at the bar, freeing up the table for the next sitting.

I have never had a issue with a waiter/ess coming over to my table once our meal is over, we have confirmed we are ordering no more food, and them saying "Would you mind moving to the bar area to finish your drinks as we are quite busy this evening and have customers waiting for tables?"

The only issue would be if that request came literally as they were removing plates or seconds after finishing.

If all their other customers were walk ins then they would obviously need to tell the walk ins that no table was available

And how long do you allow people to sit there drinking a bottle of wine or nursing a coffee? If you have to give people a thirty minute "notice" - your walk-ins are going to go elsewhere. Most people are not going to stand around for half an hour to wait for a table. They'll just go to another restaurant that has a free table.

If people want to sit and chat over a bottle of wine, they should be prepared to move and sit in the bar, or finish up the meal and go to a pub or something. You don't need to hog a table just to have a drink.

And how long do you allow people to sit there drinking a bottle of wine or nursing a coffee?

More than 5 minutes. Restaurants make most of their money off mark ups on drinks. Unless this was a really cheap place with a high turn around on tables. Even Pizza express will let you finish your bottle of wine for more than 5 minutes after your desert.

But there would be tables available if the drinkers were moved to the specific area reserved for drinking. Why should a restaurant have to lose out on custom because people are still drinking at a table, when they could ask the drinkers to move to the bar, allowing the new diners to eat?

Given we don’t know the name or location of the restaurant, it’s a big assumption to decide there must have been a bar area. Why have you made that assumption?

Another way for restaurants to lose out on custom is to deliver a poor experience, rushing customers out of the door. The customer you retain is far more valuable than a one-off. The OP is unlikely to go back to that restaurant, and will probably leave a poor review into the bargain.

Jamie’s Italian, Prezzo, Byron, Chimichanga, La Tasca... there’s no shortage of mid-market chain restaurants either closing branches or going bust altogether. People will vote with their feet if the service isn’t up to scratch. There’s always somewhere else offering a different 2 for 1 or 30% off deal. Restaurants can’t afford to annoy customers who could become regulars.

Unless it was a very cheap restaurant and you were very slow eaters YANBU. Restaurants charge a huge mark up on wine and you pay it so you can enjoy the wine in the restaurant at your table. I don't think you should be able to sit around for hours after a meal but they can't just kick you out because there are others waiting.

I was told by the manager of our regular restaurant, is table is allowed a maximum of 2 hours per booking.
Don't know if you were there that long. X

Maybe they made a genuine mistake and someone should have told you when you arrived that the table was booked at x time for another party.
Maybe people shouldn't be so hard on resturants where staff have been working flat out over christmas and new year
Maybe the people waiting for the tale were pushing for it - it sounds as though you and most people on here wouldn't be very understanding if you were told you had to wait until the people at the table finished their wine

Not great

Hard to say unless you tell us how long you had been sitting at the table really. If, for an acceptable time, about an hour and a half would do it, then yes, they were in the wrong.

Depends how long you’d been there since being served your food. You can’t sit there for another hour nursing a glass of house plonk. They need to sell more meals.
It’s pretty standard practice but more that 5 mins would be nice - I suspect that they thought you would leave after your meal and then realised that you had no intention of moving.

It's not great service, you should have been warned when ordering that they needed the table, we do that. We even do it when a walk in sits on a table with a wacking great reserved sign on it - we tell them we need the table for X time (to allow clean and reset) if they insist on staying there.
However as a pp said mistakes do happen (yes! Even to service staff! I know you all like to think we're some kind of cyborg and expect 100% perfection every second of the day, but actually we're human just like you, and just like you we occasionally make a mistake!) And I've known it that someone books that table at reception but the message isn't relayed to the restaurant etc.
And as for turn walk ins away or ask them to wait 😂😂😂😂 you'd get less hassle trying to split up two scrapping dogs! I've had customers stand there and point at customers like the OP and shout "Well can't they move?!" (To which I replied no, they can't and didn't ask them to either) but we got 2 shit reviews that night, one from the couple that said they were "Rushed out" and one from the couple who said they had a 30 minutes wait because people were just sitting around and the staff did nothing about it 🤦‍♀️

I always find it slightly odd when we’re told at the seating stage that they need the table back by x time - they know how long it will take them to take our order and serve our food, I haven’t a clue! It doesn’t take me 2 hours to eat my dinner, most of the time I’m there will be waiting on them to bring menus, take order, prepare and serve food.

Interesting. I don't live in the UK, but eat out a lot and have never ever been asked for a table back. You have to put up with a lot of crap in the UK, don't you?