Not clearing own table at cafe

[BallandBoe]

I always, as a general rule, clear my table - and will continue to do so unless I have been given reason not to (poor customer service, bad meal, etc).

There is a couple sat next to me discussing whether or not that they should clear their table. He says yes, she says no.

Does it depend on how much you paid for your food? Does it depend on the setting? Just curious!

YANBU - You should clear your table
YABU - That's what the staff are paid to do.

I do if there are places to put the stuff. If not, then no.

Nope. That's part of what I am paying for. Apart from in IKEA where you clearly have to, and the racks are so large and obvious.
And my local M&S does not have racks.

I don't generally clear the table as it's unlikely it will be cleaned between customers if it's clear

My local M & S or Tesco cafe don't have racks. So I don't clear my table.

Is it Asda cafe? [I'll get my coat]

It depends entirely as to whether there are facilities for you to do so, i.e. most places that "expect" you to clean your table provide racks. Generally speaking, most "canteen" style places where you order/pay at a counter and where you take your own food from counter to table will expect you to clear your table afterwards and rack it up. However, where there's waiter/ress service, i.e. restaurants etc., then you'd normally leave your table for them to clear up. So, M&S, Morrisons, McDonalds, etc are "rack it yourself". If there's nowhere obvious to put your plates etc., then that means they want you to leave them on the table - nothing worse than you trying to hand over a load of cups/plates etc to the poor sod at the counter trying to serve other people (not to mention risk of cross contamination of having "dirty" stuff too close to "clean" stuff!).

We ate at the restaurant ds worked in, and after the meal he rearranged everything on the table. He did not stack as we would at home, and he put some things on one of the chairs. I told him off, because I thought he was playing a practical joke on his colleague, but ds said that he was making things easier for them by arranging everything in the way they would.

Next time we went to that restaurant I watched the waiters and saw that ds was correct. They all put the condiments and drinks menu on a chair before clearing, and stacked dishes into sets of diminishing size on each large plate, rather than stacking all the plates in same size groups with all the cutlery on top.

This reinforced my practice if not clearing unless I a was in an obviously self-clear eatery.

@TheOrigRights 🤣🤣🤣

Generally agree with this, however some of the cafes people are talking about here are more like canteens and I think you’re supposed to clear your table afterwards. They’re not restaurants as such. (I’m assuming no table service, service charge, etc.)

If it's busy, that just means the next customer has to clear away your crap. When there are racks and it's a "canteen" style self service rather than waiter/waitress service, then it's pretty clear you're expected to rack up your own plates etc. After all, you're not paying a service fee or tip to pay for waiting staff.

Our M&S isn't self clearing. There are staff who clear and wipe tables. I wouldn't know where to put the stuff.

If the cafe is self-clear, i.e. they have a designated space for customers to leave things, then I clear my table, however if these aren’t available then I leave things as they are. I’m not sure where you’d put everything if there isn’t a designated spot.

My theory is, if there's a readily accessible place for trays to go, yes, I'll clear my table.

If there isn't, I make sure everything is piled back on my tray neatly, so nothing will fly off as the person clearing tables walks off with it.

I used to do it as a job when I was 16, so now stack the tray as I liked to do it when I cleared tables.

I didn't mind people not clearing their own stuff away, as our tray racks were in a designated cleaning area that didn't look like it was for customers.

In a way, it's helpful to leave it as if you're out the back and you come back to discover a tray put away, you may not remember exactly which table they were on to go and clean it.

What I hated though were the customers who just assumed that as it was my job, they could leave it in a total shit state with no attempt to being tidy. The worst one I had was a family group of about 10 that came in, moved a load of tables together and then proceeded to let their toddlers smush their food in to every surface within arms reach and throw it all on the floor. When they finished, they literally got up and walked away. It took me about half an hour to clear up their waste then rearrange the furniture and clean it from top to bottom. I always wondered whether they treated their own homes like that.

Sp, from an ex-cafe worker, please just put things back on your tray, stacked neatly, with all food waste on the top plate. If there's something you haven't used, like jam pots or sauce sachets, put them to one end out of the way, as they may be able to be saved.

In M&S yes.

In Le Gavroche, no.

I don't think it should be an expectation for the customers to clear it and pop the cutlery/crockery on the counter, (or chuck the rubbish in Maccies say,) but it's a nice thing to do as it takes the work load off the waiting and serving staff/lobby staff. I don't think anyone is a bad person or a lazy arse or anything if they don't do it, as technically that's kind of in the job description of the staff. But yeah, it's nice if the customer can do it.

Me and DH always do it. Always chuck our rubbish at fast food places, and take the mugs, glasses, and plates back in cafes.. (We wipe the table a bit too if we have made a spill or two.) We always get a massive mcflurry at our local maccies, and an extra large scone at the local cafe we go to owned by a lady and her young adult daughter, and 3 little mints with the coffee rather than one. So it looks like they might appreciate it.

As I say though, the customer doesn't have to do it, and I wouldn't think badly of them if they didn't. I would only think badly of them if they treated the staff like shit, and talked down to them.

It’s very simple, are the cafes set up for self clear? If not then don’t. I’ve worked in cafes, we don’t want want people pilling up dirty dishes on the counter etc or trying to hand it to the serving team.

if cafe has a set up for self clear, then do.

I'm currently sitting in a small cafe area in a mall and noticed people were clearing their tables..not been here for ages so didn't know the protocol..earlier I wondered whether to or not but will just follow on with the majority...
.having said that the guy at the next table just cleared off without doing it..personal choice I guess.

If there are racks to put your trays in - then clear. It there aren't then don't. Maybe put your stuff on a tray, but leave it on the table. It doesn't really help serving staff to have people shoving trays of dirty crockery at them over the counter.

I don't know the set up at M&S. are there places to put your tray and rubbish? Then yes clear it. If not then staff will do it.
I generally stack my plates though or put all my things back on the tray if I've removed them to eat.
A friend used to work in a cafe snd she said it was annoying if customers came up to the counter and handed the cashier dirty plates/cups as they then had to go put them in the washing bins and stop serving customers. Normally the kitchen staff came and collected the plates off the tables or staff did it when not taking orders.

Eek - we were told to never, ever, put things on chairs!

Imagine someone with not the best hygiene sitting on one of those chairs, that you've then put the salt and pepper shakers on.

What on earth might you be shaking on to your chips?!

Depending on where I am.
In a fast food place I always clear away.
Last few times I was in one though I did notice that even though others before had cleared the tables they hadn't been wiped clean by staff, not always anyone floating about to ask, as I know in a certain fast food place where the cleaning products are I'm happy to clean it myself but 9 times out of 10 the cleaning products aren't in there.

Pub/restaurant if nowhere to put dishes I leave them stacked ready to be collected.

The one thing I always take with me is the paper napkin, for some reason whether it's been used or not I feel no waitress/waiter should be left with my dirty napkin. Just MO though.

Clear your table to wear? Eg in Costa they never clear tables, but there is no where for customers to clear them to either? If I pick a dirty table I'd clear that to another dirty table, possibly the floor if it was safe to do so ( never done this ). So unless I dump it on there serving area, there's no place to do it. Implying I shouldn't be cleaning up anyway. So I voted yabu.

Unless it's ikea, a food court or somewhere like McDonald's. But I don't consider any of those a cafe. Cafes do not have trays, bins or racks for dirty plates where I visit.

I do quite w joy putting my tray on the ikea conveyor belt. And sorting it into the right section. Was very disappointed when I had to just put it on a rack last time 😁

Depends on the place. I usually do, if there is somewhere to put it and I have a tray or can chuck things in the bin easily. I draw the line at carrying a stack of plates around if there is nowhere obvious to put them. Though I'm happy to help voluntarily, I generally frown on places that put a sign up with obligation on customers to clear though as someone should be coming over and wiping the tables down regularly. It's a café, not a school canteen or YMCA hostel. Too many places don't clear properly and have sticky tables. Was better a couple of years ago with Covid rules but they have now slipped back into old habits.

Yep, when I've worked in restaurants and cafes I always hated it when people stacked plates, even though I know they were trying to be helpful. I prefer by far to have plates left for me to stack myself in the way I know works for me!