Table etiquette, which camp are you in…

[Chateaulaohshit]

Do you wait for everyone to sit down before you start eating or is it fair game as soon as food is placed down?!

Ive been in quite a few various meal scenarios recently, family visits, group meals out and a holiday for 17 with communal meal times and it seems such a divide what people do.

I was always raised to wait until everyone was sitting down before we begin eating and it’s in turn how I have taught my children (who still sometimes still need a reminder!) but wondering if this is now old dashboard with more people either getting stuck without even pondering or hosts reassuring to start so it didn’t get cold…

What happens in your family/peers?

I wait unless the host instructs otherwise

If its hot food, people should start eating once theirs has arrived/dished up in my opinion

Wait for everyone to sit down here. I think it’s rude to tuck in whilst the cook is still not sat down.

One should always wait until others are seated and served before starting to eat. I thought that was basic knowledge.

What @AlexandraJJ said

i was taught to wait for everyone to sit down before starting.

The exception is when hot food is brought out at intervals (maybe ordered at different times) but then it’s polite for those still waiting to say ‘don’t wait for me…’., or allow kids to start eating.

I would wait at someone’s house

i would tell my guests to start eating immediately

i would tell people I wasn’t going to wait in a restaurant or cafe…i would also tell other people to crack on if they were served before me

my children would wait…ds1 partner does not 😀

Wait until everyone is served unless host says to start.

In a restaurant it is down to the people who have not yet been served to say to those who have to just go ahead and start

This! Not fair otherwise if the cook/host hasn’t sat down and people are almost finished

It's polite to wait, unless as above.

My parents always made us wait. They are older parents and I'm 40 now. Sure they'd be the same now. We had a roast with my in laws yesterday and they told me to tuck in before everyone else was served (vegan food served first) to avoid everything going cold. Their take was that it was very old fashioned and they are 60+. But I made sure to take my time so that we were all eating together at one stage. I think its rude to leave the cook eating alone

Etiquette is such a weird thing when you deconstruct it really, why is eating food when it is served to you seen as impolite? I can understand like a PP has said to wait for the person cooking to be seated, that in my mind would be rude to start without them because if they’re still dishing up, it makes them seem like they’re providing a service instead of you enjoying their company. Food served in restaurants though, I’d tuck in and I’d tell others to do the same if theirs was brought to the table before mine.

Wait, unless the hosts says otherwise. Even at home, we wouldn’t just start eating.

I always wait for the cook/hosts, absolutely, but tardy guests are another matter entirely. Rudeness runs in both directions 😳

I find it really rude when people start to eat before everyone has been served.

Always wait, even with instructed by the host.

I love my in laws to pieces but I'm still enraged they started eating before the bride and groom had even been served at our small wedding in December.

Exactly!

The correct way is to wait until everyone has their food. If there’s a delay and the food is hot then it’s polite for anyone still waiting to say please begin without me.

Wait for everyone to be seated and their food plated (unless told otherwise).

Like pps, I would wait unless the host instructs otherwise. If I’m hosting and it’s taking a while to get everything to the table, I would invite people to start.
In a restaurant, if my meal was last coming out I would ask others to start. It’s how I was brought up (even though I’m old now!) and I find it….oddly embarrassing when others start eating before everyone is served.

Wait. Unless the host specifically says not to.

Yes, same here.

Well my late DM always used to say it was very nouveau riche to sit waiting until everyone had started but would also encourage guests (who were, of course, served first) to start straight away to avoid any doubt.

Depends.

No waiting at Shake Shack, a BBQ, a picnic, a buffet.

Yes waiting at a dinner party or lunch that’s hosted.

No waiting at breakfast in a hotel.

Yes waiting at a wedding.

No waiting on a weeknight at home when everyone is on a different schedule/ has homework/ has an evening call.

Yes waiting for everyone at Sunday lunch at home.

I prefer that as then you have a few people to carry the conversation while the later ones eat and you don't get that cutlery scraping, chewing lull while everyone tucks in at once.