to be annoyed at local chinese restaurant?

[jasper]

took dd there tonight as a treat.
She is 9 , small, with a small appetite. She only wanted soup.

I am a little older but was feeling a bit unwell but had promised to take her.

We got there at 6.30 . There was one other group of 4 in otherwise empty restaurant. It is NEVER busy.

We were given a table and out of politeness I said to the waitress we were only going to order starters and drinks . She said we had to order main meals. I said we did not want main meals . She said we had to order at least one main meal.
It would have gone to waste so we got up and left.
DD was disappointed.

AIBU to think this was ridiculous? The place was deserted - it is always deserted!

Did you take DD somewhere else instead?

yes, to local chippy

I concede that you are right in what you say but I think promises should try to be kept...couldn't you have ordered the very cheapest main course to avoid upsetting your daughter? You could have asked to have a quiet word with the manager and asked him to make an exception this time so you could honour your promise. I prefer reasonableness rather than outrage in circumstances such as this and it almost alwyas works.

Was a special occasion for dd, not that that matters. equally daft if I had been alone

I expect she was just as happy with her chips!

At 6:30, YANBU. Would have said different an hour or so later on a Friday night. No wonder they were empty, you'd think they'd be encouraging families in at that time of night.

they would have let me order starters to take out. Why not to eat in when the place was empty?
dd was disappointed for a moment about it but she too was struck how daft it seemed.

I think the waitress expected me to feel forced to order a main meal and was surprised when we got up and left

would write to the manager and complain. can't see any logic in the waitress's decision, tho could understand that stance perhaps a couple of hours later or even at that time if they were full. Which they weren't. Very unusual for a Chinese restaurant, they are usually very welcoming to families.

We were going to a play at 7 pm. I explained to the waitress (who is also the owner) we would be out in 20 minutes.

2 starters would cost more than one main course anyway

The place was EMPTY

IT IS ALWAYS EMPTY!!!

mrspoppins, you are right. She was very happy with her chips!

you were right even if DD was disappointed though I might have relented. Their loss, especially if it was practically empty. What with drinks included they would still have made some money and kept a customer happy who now probably won't return and badmouth them to friends.

You seem to be in the right and I hope you enjoyed the rest of your evening...I would post a thread on your local netmums site..it is bad publicity but no more than they deserve..

I think waitress though her stance meant I would relent and order more food. She looked surprised when I walked out

I would send a brief note to management, or speak to them on the phone. If only to verify that it is their policy. You could maybe explain that while you would like to eat there, you were concerned about this particular policy and ask if it covers maybe specific times that they expect to be busy. I suspect there is a possibility that this is not a policy. If so, fine, but if not, this brings this to the management's attention, as obviously they would prefer to keep your business! (one would think,anyway!) If I was the business owner, and staff were making these types of decisions without it actually being policy, I would be rather annoyed at losing custom due to this, and I would definitely want to know about it.

there is no pont writing as the waitress with the daft rules was the owner
yanbu
her loss silly cow

OP has said that the waitress is also the owner. Therefore, she makes the rules. They may be silly rules but it is her prerogative to make them and to decide whether to make any exceptions. It's a shame that your DD was disappointed, but I don't think letters etc are going to change anything. Is there another chinese restaurant nearby? I suspect not because if there was they would probably be grabbing all the business from this one.

My local take away will not even let you order starters only. When I was pg I had a craving for egg pillau rice. Dp would get it for me but was forced to by a curry to accompany it. It went straight in the bin. Ths smell alone made made sick. I can see your point though but personally I would feel a little embarrassed about going into a restaurant and having starters only ( even if it was a quiet time). We have however gone into restaurants before when dc were very small , ordered full meals for ourselves and asked for an extra plate so they could have some of ours. No problem.

oh sorry missed that the waitress was the owner.. nevermind

venusonarockbun that is one of the most ridicuous things i have ever heard!

jasper yes she was trying to force you to spend more money, which backfired on her spectacularly. Good.