DH asking restaurant staff when food will be ready

[olympicsrock]

AIBU to ask DHnot to ‘harangue’ staff in restaurants to speed up food?
We have been to two restaurants over the Christmas period. In both places they have been very busy. On arrival we were warned how busy they were/ short staff due to covid etc and to get order in.
All staff polite and doing their best.

BOTH times DH has got hangry and stressy and asked staff pointedly where our food was ie complaining. In the first place his dad was there doing the same.

In the second place he chased 36 mins after arrival when we had already had drinks , bread and starter. Not bad really. 1:36 on New Years Day. He was ‘polite’ but for gods sake everyone wants their food asap.

He either needs to have a snack mid morning or button it as far as I am concerned . He is not a toddler. Aaaagh

I don’t understand. 36 mins after arrival with drinks etc isn’t late. In fact food arriving earlier than that I would feel concerned is not freshly prepared. Agree re the toddler thought.

@Babamoyo1

As a 16 year old waitress I would have spat in your food. Not great I know, but on a low wage (£1 an hour back then) I really didn’t give a shit, and anyone who was arsey had their food spat in. We all did it. It’s not an urban myth.

That is absolutely disgusting behaviour. You really shouldn't be in the service industry with that attitude. If a customer's behaviour is awful that doesn't mean yours should be either. I used to work as a waitress and I would never dream of doing that no matter how bad the customer spoke or behaved to me.

Is he generally a rude impatient bossy man - and if so how are you married to him, and I pity anyone he works with, if this is how he usually behaves - also never never never ne rude to staff in restaurants, always remember they can spit in your food

@Bertiebiscuit

Is he generally a rude impatient bossy man - and if so how are you married to him, and I pity anyone he works with, if this is how he usually behaves - also never never never ne rude to staff in restaurants, always remember they can spit in your food

But you can kick up at the end, also no tip! However in this situation it’s obviously nothing to do with the restaurant service. Trouble if it’s the other people you are with who are most affected it’s very selfish behaviour

@linsey2581

I'm with your husband on this one! Our Christmas day booking was for 2.30pm. We were shown to our table and asked what we would like to drink as it was table service only. The drinks didn't arrive until 3.15pm and then our starters didn't arrive until 3.40pm! For our main meal it was a carvery so we had to go up to collect our own food which was fine but we were told we couldn't go up until our table was cleared and even then it took 20 mins for that to be done. It then took another 30 mins for the table to be cleared again and for the desserts to be brought out! (luckily our desserts were cake-aways so they were boxed up and we took them away). Have to say when the drinks came one of our party shouted thank the lord whilst others clapped and cheered. Our food was good but the service was terrible!

Why are you with husband it’s a completely different situation !! Main point OP being no wait at all before he’s asking.

@GrannyRose15

Service in this country is absolutely appalling as a rule. Restaurants book in too many tables and then ask people to be patient. Your DH and FIL are being perfectly reasonable in asking when the food will be ready and to leave if they think the service is unacceptable. It is only when the British start doing this more often that service will start to improve. Covid may be the reason the staff are finding it difficult, it is NOT an acceptable excuse for poor service.

But actually if you read the OP you can see there was nothing to complain about. The table had drinks and bread already. No delay. Main course being cooked presumably freshly. Perhaps the DH was used to fast food service? Sounds like restaurant dealt with him professionally even though no cause to complain “the customer is always right”.

Service in this country is absolutely appalling as arule

It really isn't. We're more likely to hear about it when things go wrong, but I've had plenty of excellent service in a whole variety of restaurants, including during the pandemic.

Alternative perspective. Agree hospitality is a bit stretched in general, but I do think being assertive gets you better treatment. I eat out a lot and I find unless you pay attention lots of things get over-looked. I often find when I chase things they've been completely forgotten. My DP is very laid back and would just wait for things to happen. I find I never relax as I'm always in charge. I'd love to be out where I'm not in charge and someone else would do something

I think 36 minutes on a busy day isn't overly long, but if it had been an hour I would definitely chase, just in case they had forgotten to serve us.

@Benjispruce5

I would be ok if there were drinks and maybe some complimentary nibbles.

He'd already had a drink, bread AND his starter!