Does anyone actually miss table service?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I don’t. Honestly I’ve found the service in most restaurants to be really pretty lousy in recent years as a general rule and am bothered by the whole expectation that I leave a tip of 15% to 20% for it.

I’ve learned to enjoy making healthy food at home and / or occasionally getting something to take out. For one I don’t really lament the loss of table service restaurants here in the U.S. (although I do sympathize for those who have lost incomes / livelihoods and hope they can find new careers and opportunities quickly).

In other countries where table service is considered a valued career path and pays a real wage (not the idiotic US model of slave labor plus tips) it works a lot better IMO. I guess I’ll have to wait until travel abroad opens up again...

Anyone else think differently? The same?

[Ryan_Cunningham]

I miss going out and experiencing a different atmosphere when I eat and drink. I enjoy doing it at home with my wife too, but a change of scenery is always fun.

[flatbutt]

My small town diner is great. The waitresses are almost always high school kids and there is good level of familiarity. We do have some haughty people that use our town on weekends and they can get a bit of stick, but not usually. I do miss my seat at the counter and the "mature" waitress who always greets me as "Tommy honeeeeey!".

[masraum]

Great food and lousy service < average/OK food and great service < great food and great service.

Like you said, service can be very hit or miss from restaurant to restaurant and sometimes from night to night or server to server within a restaurant. If we experience frequent poor service, we probably stop going to the restaurant. If we get the occasional moderate/bad service, we chalk it up as a fluke. Some restaurants are pretty consistently good. At the same time, two diners could go get the same service from the same server and both could come away with a different theory about the quality of the service based on personality differences.

We do like to go someplace when there's great service. It can really elevate a meal.

I enjoy/don't mind cooking or doing take-out, but often take out loses a little something after having been brought home in the styrofoam or plastic containers.

It is occasionally very much appreciated to NOT have all of the cooking before eating and cleaning after eating.

[sugarwood]

I almost never eat out. Delivery, that's where I tip bigly.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Ryan_Cunningham

I miss going out and experiencing a different atmosphere when I eat and drink. I enjoy doing it at home with my wife too, but a change of scenery is always fun.

Yep. We have a few places where going out is a treat. We went once a month. Looking forward to them opening up.

I even kind of miss the adventure of different places we hit when we traveled. I'd say the hits were less than 50%, but there were some extraordinary experiences.

[Nordwest]

Yes, because my favorite bars/brewerys/restaurants are my favorite because of the food, beer/drinks and the people that serve it.

[ADDvanced]

I used to, but it's so expensive, and I have porsche parts to save for. And boat parts. And snowmobile stuff. And ski trips. And a mortgage. etc.

For two people, it's hard to have a couple drinks each and some food for under $50.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I miss going out with girlfriend and with friends, especially Sunday night dinner and movie nights. Nothing better than talking over good food with great friends. Eating out is as much about being social as it is the food as it is the experience/atmosphere.

[flipper35]

Most places we frequent here in the midwest have very good table service.

There is a Denny's (I know) in SoCal that was as bad as anyplace I have ever been. She actually reached behind her back and grabbed a glass of water from the table next to us. Yes, the table had unfinished food on it. No, my wife did not drink it. They also brought a banana split that was 3 scoops of ice cream and a banana. No toppings, no whipped cream. The other in our party had some sort of dairy soup that was supposed to be a parfait. Those are the better times.

[vash]

i love going out for dinner and drinks. it just isnt about the food and drinks for me. it is the social aspect. i love people and i get along with them. friends and family are a gift.

i dont want to be one of those BahHUMbug guys that enclose myself with being alone and cloak it with " i prefer to be a loner" to make it all feel right.

social skills are a perishable skill. talking face to face, reading expressions and body language, etc. takes getting out there.

tableside service is an awesome venue for it. i love being out and about.

[Eric 951]

Yes. There are 20+ great restaurants within a 15 minute drive, missing some great Italian, prime rib, french onion soup, kielbasa burgers, peirogies, and fantastic breakfasts. Take out is OK, but some foods don't travel well, even for short trips.

[vash]

i googled San Francisco HOUSE of Prime Rib last night. THEY are doing take out!!

talk about a meal that wont travel well. cold yorkshire pudding? gross. cool AuJUs. nah.

if i had a Sprinter Van, i would park right outside the joint with some real plates.

[stevej37]

^^^ Hey..that's a great idea. Set-up tents, tables, and silverware just outside of fine restaurants.
Charge a couple bucks per seat...let them order.

[vash]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ Hey..that's a great idea. Set-up tents, tables, and silverware just outside of fine restaurants.
Charge a couple bucks per seat...let them order.

i am patenting that idea..back off sucka

[GH85Carrera]

Yea we do.

My wife and I have done "date night" every Friday since we got married 27 years ago. We always go out to eat on Friday nights. Usually nicer places and never fast food. Two prime rib dinners and salad can run $75 to $80 with tip. It is rare to spend less than $45 for the two of us. We have several favorites and throw in new places regularly. In the past I tipped 20% to 25% depending on the meal. A breakfast place on a Sunday morning I tip 30% For the prime rib, 20% Just because they brought me a stack of pancakes instead of prim rib does not earn the same percentage. And I round up a lot.

I plan to "blow" the entire government check I recently received on LOCAL owned restaurants, and larger tips.

[speeder]

Hell yes, I do. Depends where you are but in L.A., I eat out all the time. In Minneapolis, not as much, (though they have a few great restaurants), in rural Wisconsin, not at all. Actually, I amend that...in Madeline Island in Lake Superior, (WI.), there is exactly one good restaurant and it’s a banger. Some great chef moved there and opened her own place. It’s sublime.

There is no reason to go out for average food, you can make it better at home and it’s cheaper. I recently had a close friend owe me $50 for something I did for him, I told him that I don’t need the $50, how ‘bout you take me out for a steak dinner? He thought it was a great idea and being who he is, he took me to the best rated steak house we could find on a quick search. Arroyo Chop House in Pasadena for locals. Holy balls was it good....cost a little more than $50 a head but he had the Wagu, ($120), I had the NY Prime and a Caesar salad made table side.

I’ll remember that meal for a long time and I eat out constantly. Sometimes, it’s all about the experience.

[speeder]

I should add that my typical meal from a restaurant is nowhere near as expensive as my example above. Just needs to be good food and a cool place.

[KFC911]

I long fer the day when I can bellow out BREAD! when the service sux .

I don't do that very often tho'...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by speeder

Holy balls was it good....cost a little more than $50 a head but he had the Wagu, ($120), I had the NY Prime and a Caesar salad made table side.

I’ll remember that meal for a long time and I eat out constantly. Sometimes, it’s all about the experience.

I love that 70s nostalgia.