Recently, I noticed people taking to Twitter to offer their two cents on restaurant seating policies. Namely, is it okay for them to make your party wait until everyone else arrives?
If you’ve never been a server or line cook, this policy probably seems unnecessarily punitive because it appears to punish the people who bothered to show up on time for the sins of the people who didn’t. However, if you have worked in the restaurant industry, you know this policy isn’t only wise… it’s also just. Why? Buckle up, I’ll explain.
First, imagine you’ve made a reservation for a party of eight at a bustling Portland restaurant for 7 pm on a busy Friday night. If most of you are late, and the host nonetheless seats your party, you’re taking money away from your server.
I know, I know. Hear me out. Let’s say you’re all going to wait for your last tardy tablemate to be seated before everyone orders their main courses. If it takes that last person a whole hour to show—and believe me, that happens more often than you’d think—you’ve all unknowingly committed a restaurant etiquette misdemeanor: You’ve wasted an hour of your server’s time by fumbling over cocktails and sodas, and have likely robbed them of potentially squeezing in two extra four-tops before their shift comes to an end, because it’s very likely that you’re not going to settle up until right before closing time.
To put it in terms of cold hard cash, your collective tardiness just robbed your server of maybe $80 in additional tips. And if they share their tips with the bussers, servers, runners, hosts, bartenders, and line cooks, you’ve inadvertently stiffed them, too.