5 Mistakes You Might Be Making At Restaurants

Bella Breakdown

Do you think you’re being polite by doing these things at a restaurant? Well guess again. Secretly, servers hate when you do these 5 things, so be wary of your eating out etiquette and try to avoid making these mistakes when you’re grabbing your grub.

Seating Yourself
No cutting in line! Patience is key, especially on busy nights. I once sat myself at a Steak ‘n Shake and had to wait 45 minutes just to get our server’s attention. Just make sure your name is on the list, and wait for them to put you in the right rotation. There’s a system for how hosts seat their guests, and if you think “I’ll just seat myself so they don’t have to worry…” guess again.

Stacking Your Plates
It’s the end of the meal, and you’re all about to leave, so you decide to pile everything in the middle of the table to “ease” the clean up process. Well, don’t anymore. Once again, servers do their tasks in a specific and orderly way. It actual creates way more of a mess than you intend, so let them do their job and tip them nicely for taking care of your trash.

Server Swapping
Patience is key in when eating out. If you grab the nearest server and order something else, it’s going to confuse your tabs and make a mumbled mess. You may think you’re being polite by taking the stress off your server to pay close attention to your table, but in reality you’re making life for both servers you’re bothering even harder.

Helping With A Mess
“You break it, you clean it” doesn’t go over well at restaurants. If you drop a glass, politely apologize, but don’t try and help cover up the mess. It could be a liability if you get injured picking up glass. It’s something servers constantly deal with, so let them handle it their own way.

Splitting Checks
Yes, it’s okay to ask for separate checks. But ask at the beginning of your dining experience, not the end. This causes chaos and will slow down service across the board. Give a friendly heads up to your server before placing an order.

Follow these five tips and you’ll never frustrate your server ever again!