Eating Out Etiquette

Consider the following scenario: you and a group of friends, or family, decide that they want to go out to eat. You call and figure out when an acceptable time to show up to the restaurant is. They tell you "We'll be there by 6!" Do you: a) arrive early so as to reserve everyone's seats or b) arrive late knowing your seat was reserved? Let's examine both possibilities.

If you arrive early, yea you'll be forced to save everyone's seats but so what? I'll tell you why, in most cases, arriving early is not the best option.

I just recently (today actually) went out for dinner to Buffalo Wild Wings with my family. I was the first one there and therefore got our table of 5. I didn't expect to be bothered so much by the wait staff when I clearly was waiting on other people. Our waitress (rather my waitress at the time), first took my drink order. This was okay. I was thirsty and of course, I don't need everyone there to be able to order MY drink. But, not even 3 seconds after setting my drink on the table does she ask me, "Would you like any appetizers, mozzarella sticks, ...?" I looked baffled. I almost said, "Actually, let me get a basket of mozzarella sticks for my invisible table mates. But, I suppose that would have been a little rude.

Then, maybe 5 minutes later, she returns to the table to ask another question. "Are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes to look over the menu?" I almost lost it. "No, I'm still waiting on the other people who haven't even ordered drinks yet. Why would I want to order my meal!?" That's what I wanted to say. Of course, I didn't. Rather, I just politely told her I was waiting on some other people and they should be here shortly. It's as if the waitress honestly didn't know that there were 4 empty seats with menus and silver-ware at the table. Really? Wake up lady.

Now, that same thing could happen to you. But, what if you arrive late and you're the last person there? Then the complete opposite happens. The waitress still asks for drink orders and appetizer orders however, the other table mates don't really acknowledge that they're waiting on someone else unless the waitress explicitly asks. One guy calls you as they are on the verge of getting their appetizers and ordering their meals, "Hey man! Where are you!? We've already ordered drinks and appetizers," to which you reply, "Dude, I'm still 20 minutes away!" Should you even show up anymore? Probably not. Chances are that since they didn't wait on you before ordering drinks or appetizers, they probably won't wait on you when about to order meals. They will have already eaten and you haven't even had the first sip of an ice, cold sweet tea.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is be on time to a meeting with friends or family. Don't be the awkward early person or the awkward late person. Just be on time.