How long do you wait to be served?

LEJC

Last night we headed out for a free movie screening,and decided to have tea out before it started.

We chose a chain resturant/diner serving burgers/pastas/pizzas with a deal on at a set price for 2 courses...I wont name the specific one but there are several generic ones dotted around the country.

We arrive and are seated to our table,drinks and food ordered very quickly....and then we wait....

Its not particularly busy maybe just under a quarter full and there seem plenty of staff around but our drinks take 20 mins to arrive..3 diet cokes so hardly difficult to prepare.
We drink them back fairly quickly and as they are unlimited refillables ask for 3 more to which we are told that they have run out but we could have something else...we choose regular coke and that is delivered to the table after another 10 min wait

Our starters arrived 50 mins after ordering...no appology...which we eat reasonably quickly as we can now see the time ticking on to the start of the movie.
When they cleared our starters we ask that the bill is prepared and delivered with our mains as we need to get a quick getaway to make the start of the film.
Its an hour and 10 mins after originally ordering our mains of 2 burgers and a calzone pizza that they finally arrive only to discover that the calzone has been sandwiched together with a sandwich wrap rather than a pizza base and then browned on the outside to within an inch of its life leaving the inside raw and the outside like cardboard.

Manager came over and it was quickly decided that we didnt need to pay for the meal the calzone went back and we were not offered a replacement but the other 2 ate their burgers....but it got me thinking of what is a reasonable amount of time to wait for your food?....

There are times that I want to sit and enjoy the surroundings of a resturant,but other times I want to order eat and go within a set timeframe.
Ive also perhaps overlooked slow service in the past when the food that finally has been delivered is delicious but when you have to wait for something that then turns out to be "wide of the mark" I'm perhaps not as accomodating!!!

Whats the longest anyones waited for a meal...and are you prepared to wait for something which then appears to have been an after thought of your original order?

Tigsteroonie

When warned (and with nothing scheduled after) I have waited an hour.

Without warning, I mention the delay after 20 minutes and walk out at 30 minutes.

aileth

Agree with above, if I ordered something specific and was told, "There's a 45 minute wait time for that, is that okay?" I'd either say yes or no depending on my time restrictions.

I think the main thing is getting drinks quickly, as when you have your drinks you don't mind so much if everything is a bit slower. We have been in restaurants, sat down, trying to catch the eye of the waitress and after 15 minutes without even giving our drinks order have left as we feel totally ignored.

I'd probably wait 20 minutes after that for starters, then the same after that for mains, but it would really depend on the restaurant. If it's a chain burger type joint I wouldn't expect to wait long, but a gourmet/michelin/gastropub restaurant I am quite happy to laze about with drinks for hours.

A huge bugbear of mine is when you are waiting a long time and tables that came in after you get served before you. I have been in another chain restaurant, we've been waiting 10 minutes for someone to take our drinks order, another couple come in and get drinks straight away. Stood up and left straight away, chased by the manager offering free drinks.

double_mummy

5 minutes to take drinks orders
10 mins for drinks (15 if cocktails)
15 minutes from drinks to starters
15 minutes from starters being cleared to main
10 from mains being cleared to dessert

we make it very obvious when we are finished each course as we stack the plates to the side for easier collection

if i order something and i am told a specific wait time then i am happy with that (if i have the time) or i will choose something else

after the table has not been cleared 10 minutes after it is obvious i have finished my course i have been known to take the dishes up to the bar or til area and hand them over i dont do it at home so why should i sit looking at dirty dishes when i am out

i worked as a waitress whilst pregnant with my eldest and we always managed to stick to these times in quite a large busy pub restaurant if memory serves me it was around 80 seats, if they cant they either have too few staff working or their staff are rubbish

if i am going somewhere expensive i am willing to wait a little longer but no loads more than that

Nick_C

Staying at the Hilton Douglas a few years ago, I ordered kippers for breakfast. After half an hour, they had not arrived and the waiter was no where to be seen, so I went into the kitchen to talk to the chef.

Walking out was not an option on that occasion, as we were residents on a B&B rate, but normally I would walk after 20 minutes.

wiogs

I recently walked out of a restaurant after 10 minutes as no-one had come to show us a menu or speak to us.

aileth

wiogs wrote: »

I recently walked out of a restaurant after 10 minutes as no-one had come to show us a menu or speak to us.

The worst episode of this happening to us was in a certain french chain restaurant. We sat down, caught the waitress eye, she was serving people while looking at us, but didn't acknowledge us. Other people came in, she brought them menus, all smiles, but then went back to serving others while casting an eye at us like she was hoping we would leave.

15 minutes later, we got fed up and left. As we were leaving, I looked over at her and she was almost throwing a mini tantrum that we had left, lots of eye rolling, pretty fake to be honest. We were either invisible until we walked out or she just didn't like the look of us!

Smithy7876

I'm all for naming and shameing where you get attrocious service. Sounds like Frankie & Bennys in Chichester?

Ive been there twice and now refuse too go. First time it was about an hour before main course which I ended up collecting from under the hotplate myself after it sat there for 5 minutes. Refused to pay unsuprisingly.
Second time I left after 30 minutes as we too had to go to the Cinema (On the same complex)

Both times it wasnt exceptionally busy and we were not warned off the waiting times so very similar situation to yourself

Georgiegirl256

wiogs wrote: »

I recently walked out of a restaurant after 10 minutes as no-one had come to show us a menu or speak to us.

Yes, about 10-15 minutes waiting time is enough for me too. Fair enough if they are really busy/understaffed etc, then of course we would wait abit longer.

You have patience OP, I wouldn't have waited that long!

maman

aileth wrote: »

The worst episode of this happening to us was in a certain french chain restaurant. We sat down, caught the waitress eye, she was serving people while looking at us, but didn't acknowledge us. Other people came in, she brought them menus, all smiles, but then went back to serving others while casting an eye at us like she was hoping we would leave.

15 minutes later, we got fed up and left. As we were leaving, I looked over at her and she was almost throwing a mini tantrum that we had left, lots of eye rolling, pretty fake to be honest. We were either invisible until we walked out or she just didn't like the look of us!

Maybe she was trained to do that to give the place authenticity? Any Gallic shrugs?;)

I loathe inefficiency. I do sometimes feel sorry for waiting staff as they are sometimes let down by the kitchen being slow/understaffed. I'm particularly irked at places where drinks come quickly and food takes an absolute age. I'm cynical of that as I think they try to get you to buy two rounds of drinks where one would have been enough. It's hard to put time limits on these things but I certainly wouldn't suffer in silence.

What about places where they bring the courses in such rapid succession that you feel you're on a conveyor belt? I certainly tell them I want 10 mins or whatever before another course comes. Those are usually places where they're trying to get rid of you to 'sell' the table again or staff who want to go home!

LEJC

Thanks everyone for your replies...its been quite a while since I've felt that we've had poor service when out...I think as I said I could overlook slow service if what was delivered at the end of it was delicious....the other 2 enjoyed their meals albeit eaten very quickly in order to get to the cinema...but my meal was simply "raw".

I did wonder afterwards that perhaps we should have paid a portion of the bill as 2 meals were fine,but the whole point of the trip out was to feed 3 of us 2 courses in a time frame of about an hour and a quarter,and in not achieving that I felt a little let down.

I would say however that once we spoke to the manager ot was very quickly decided that we could leave without payment.....
Would I use them again...probably not that branch...but the chain maybe...