Turning tables is the name of the game in the dining business.
When I was a kid, my mother told me it was rude to eat and run, but your favorite restaurateur may not think that's so. When things get crowded, he wants you to gulp your dinner, pay and get out. Pronto. Leaving room, of course, for the next guy to do the very same thing.
There are ways to make that happen.
Cornell University restaurant design lecturer Stepohani Robson, whom I spoke with for a recent story, surveyed data and discovered that when guests are seated in a banquette attached to a wall where they are comfortable, they tend to linger longer.
At a "bad" table (near the kitchen maybe), they leave fast. Admittedly Robson did the research in a moderately priced restaurant, and if you've wondered why the seats in some chains are so uncomfortable, now you know the answer.
Not that upscale restaurants don't do the same thing if they have to, but they can be more subtle. If it's a busy night, you might not be offered dessert as a matter of course. Actually, you might have to make a special request for the dessert list.
You certainly won't get an extra pour of coffee without asking. And how about those servers who whisk away your plate while you're still gripping your fork?
And that's just the relatively polite stuff.
I just heard from a diner who was asked to leave his table in a fine restaurant because his "time was up." I even heard from a woman (she insisted she was blameless) who was actually escorted out by the cops. Those are certainly extreme examples, but I have a feeling this bum's rush happens more than I realized.
Any horror stories? Any thoughts?
