Coffee shop - table etiquette

[Hotandbotheredaching]

I feel you are in one camp or the other with coffee shop table etiquette, I wondered how many people are split each way.

YABU - it’s fine to sit at a table and allow one of your party to join the queue / effectively reserving the table.

YANBU - only grab a table once you have ordered.

In M&S cafe with two small children today so can’t “reserve a table” and leave them alone. While I was paying I saw the couple behind me swoop off and grab the only table free then looking a bit smug that I had to wait for one to come free. Some cafes have signs saying find a table first while others discourage it.

There is always an argument that sitting at an empty table actually slows down the over turn of tables and if people sat once they have ordered it could run smoother / faster. But then it’s a worry there isn’t a table and you have to wait.

snooze you lose imo

For me it depends. If it's busy and one of us can grab a table we do once we're near the till. If it's quiet we don't. I don't get annoyed when other people do the same though

Much better to reserve a table first. If I am out with my parents we will often have two wheelchair users with us, I’m not risking ordering until they are safely seated.

If I am alone with DS I will leave something on the table when we go to order if it’s too far to leave him. Or even better go somewhere with table service!

Totally fine to grab the table first.

if you can see the table but still can't leave your kids sitting there, then just put a jumper or the change bag there.

I've got no idea what the correct etiquette is, but I find it absurd for a whole group to queue/hang around aimlessly instead of sitting down at a table whilst one of them orders.

Lol at 'smug'. I bet she looked completely normal.

If anyone's silly enough to order drink or food in a very busy place without saving a table first, that's their own lookout.

I know you couldn't on this occasion but you still took the risk of ordering.

Yes, this too. Just sit down & stop cluttering the place up!

Four people do not need to stand in a queue to order coffee - let the three sit down out the way.

Always get a table then one nominated person goes to the counter

It would be chaos if everyone stood waiting for their order.

I always get a table first if it is busy. I'm not ordering food if there is no where to sit.

It frustrates me that I can go into a place with half a dozen free tables and be the first in the queue only to end up with no table as couples have bagged them all while my drink is being made.

I always reserve a table. I don't want to be standing around with a tray of food with no where to sit. When mine were tiny I'd sit first first set up a high chair etc and leave our bits.

If it is a busy place I am not ordering unless and until I have a table

If it's busy I always get a table first. I wouldn't bother ordering food or drinks if there was nowhere for us to sit.

More relevant is the problem where someone with a laptop hogs a table for hours after finishing their drink. See this everywhere, so you cant blame people for grabbing a table when they see it free, otherwise you end up with a tray full of drinks/food and no table

Always reserve if possible. If I’m in my own shopping I and I want to drink in then I always tend to reserve a table. I also can’t manage shopping bags and a tray of hot drink and a cake or whatever.

Pick a place with table service.

I know why people do it, and can see the logic, but as someone who is by herself in the queue none times out of ten, it is maddening to see free tables taken by people queuing behind me.

I am pretty much always ordering hot tea (often with all the bits that comes with it) and with two young children in tow. If I can't save a table I am not joining the queue- I am not comfortable holding a tray with a teapot on it with littlies around my legs for long!

My local garden centre's restaurant makes you tell them your table number when you go up to order, with lots of signs saying this everywhere, so you HAVE to have a table before you can get anything. When I go on my own, I find a table and leave stuff like a book on it before going up. I'm sure it's not the only establishment that does that.

Always grab a table first before ordering. It makes zero sense for 2 or more adults to queue up together without knowing if they’ve got anywhere to sit

It get it’s harder with kids but as long as the table was in my eyesight I’d get my child to sit down while I queued

How old are they? If more than about 3 I'd leave them to queue if you can see the table from the queue.

This. They get in the way. Table first every time.

Sit someone at the table or leave a bag first. I'm not ordering food to them not be able to sit down.

One of us queues and the other grabs a table. It would make no sense for us both to queue.
If I am on my own then I wont go into a place that is really busy.