To hate restaurants with tables this close together? (Pic included )

[ohchristmastrees]

Just the two of us and we will be stuck on one of these tables.
Does anyone else hate being this close to other people when you are eating ?

I agree. If they’re so close it’s difficult to get out for the loo, they’re too close

No offence but that looks more like a cafe, no decent restaurant will have seating like this.

They aren’t my fave but they are often places you are in & out quite quickly.

I hate tables being too close together, but I suppose they can cater for more people that way if it's a restaurant that gets busy.

I quite often find that a table for 2 is not in the nicest of places in standard restaurants.

Yes I do! I'm old, eating out is expensive these days and I want to enjoy it. I don't want to be shoe horned into that space, to hear each other's eating and conversations and for the best part of £60 to £100. Oh and be in and out in 45 mins. No it's not an enjoyable experience.

I get all the reasons they do it but I'm parting with my hard earned cash for an enjoyable evening. This isn't one. I recently walked out of a restaurant because they couldn't and wouldn't accommodate me on the empty tables around the rest of the restaurant. I vote with my feet and purse these days and other places will accommodate you

Yes I agree and I hate those uncomfortable spindly chairs too.

I'd prefer a bit more space too. Why don't you eat somewhere else if you aren't happy with it?

It's my partners choice for his birthday otherwise I would avoid it
I'm hoping at 4pm it won't be as busy and I can ask for a bigger table for more space

Why are you going there? It’s obvious the food will be as bad as the dining experience will be. They don’t care about the customer at all. Those chairs are a laugh.

I was at a NY restaurant and was deafened by the couple beside me.

This definitely isn't strictly true in London 😂

We went to a Mayfair restaurant recently with exactly this. I agree - it spoils the evening. The food and wine at the restaurant we went to was deffo worth it though.

I was just thinking it's not true of London at all!

It's a pet hate of mine and I'd never choose to be that close to other diners.

I also have a few very overweight friends/family members who would not be comfortable squished into those hard chairs.

I would not eat somewhere like that. Not even for my partners birthday. He could go with friends or something. I'm autistic and seating in a restaurant is something I struggle with often. I could not sit in the back and be 'trapped' but equally I can't sit with me back to the room. I would hate to be so close to others. I'm also fat so would not fit in the back without putting my arse in someone dinner, fat also means those chairs are uncomfortable.

A lot of people don't realise how expensive it is to run a restaurant these days. The cost of running has risen dramatically and the prices we charge still don't reflect the cost as people can't pay them

I don't agree with tables that close together. But to even the and break even the footfall needs to be massive compared to pre covid times.

Add up, rents, business rates, utilities, food stock, alcohol, then staff wages, national insurance payments, paye payments, pension payments, insurances, corporation tax (if applicable), VAT, music licenses, BID payments, replacing cutlery/glass ware/ furniture/machinery repairs etc, advertising, accountant fees, accounting software fees, the percentage for using card machines plus everything else that may be needed routinely or as a one off. It's not a profitable business anymore unless you are fully booked 7 days of the week. Just the cost of oil soared alone and the utilities together made everything very very hard to keep open.

And don't forget it's not just the business owners. They are responsible for the salaries of the staff and higher costs and less footfall due to the cost of living means needing to pay less staff.

Hence why they cram as many people in as possible!

Not trying to justify it but explaining a possibility.

I think you'll find most people know this, especially since Covid?

However, very few people are going to be altruistic when it comes to how they spend their hard earned money, if they can't spend it in comfort.

Is that Dishoom? I agree - it’s awful to have to sit cheek by jowl with strangers. Also tables for two are always tiny - yesterday dp and I had Indian street food and the table was so small that my drink got knocked over. It’s like couples are being punished.

I hate it too. Admittedly I need a lot of personal space and that is too cramped for my liking.

My favourite local restaurant, which regularly wins European and world awards, has tables this close together on one wall— the space is tiny, and the chef-proprietor doesn’t want to move as he owns the building and the restaurant has been there since the early 1990s. (But they’re certainly my least favourite tables, and I’m never sat there as a regular, unless it’s a very last minute booking).

Various hotel breakfast rooms are like that. Makes for not wanting to linger. I wouldn't actively choose a restaurant with that set up as a special meal.
You might well get lucky at 1600.

Me too!! Can't bear it.

I wouldn’t go there. They are literally packing people in like sardines to make as much money as possible. Greed.

Yes, I wouldn't like that at all, but I think at 4pm you'll be okay.

Looks more like a pub with a dining area

I went to ivy Asia for my birthday and you were just about touching elbows with the people next to you. Hideous

Or a fast food place, you are encouraged to eat and run, horrible!