11 Unspoken Rules Of Etiquette When Eating At A Restaurant

1. Do not let your kids run around.

Why would you allow your kids to run around with people carrying several hot plates of food or jump up and down on the booths? A restaurant is not a playground and the servers are not their babysitters.

2. Clean up after yourself.

If you use the restroom throw out the paper towel into the garbage can, not on top of the lid or on the sink, lazy ass! If you spill food on the menu, wipe it off. There shouldn’t be food on the floor, you’re an adult! Why are you messy at a restaurant when you aren’t messy at home? Granted, it is the busser’s job to clean up after you, but why do you have to make a bigger mess than necessary? Why don’t you act like you’re at a friend’s house, and be on your best behavior.

3. Do not order out only to eat in.

That’s just rude! You just don’t want to tip the server, you’re being cheap, and they still have to clean up after you.

4. Tip the servers.

If you have enough money to eat out, you should have enough money to tip. Don’t be a cheap tipper! If you can afford a $100 order, you can afford to leave at least $10 bucks!

5. Tip the driver.

If you place an order to be delivered to your home keep, in mind that the driver is using gas to bring you your food. A few bucks won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

6. Get off the damn phone.

Whether you’re eating in or taking out, hang up the phone, you can call back after you have placed your order. The server needs to take your order quickly so they can move on to the next customer. You are not the only person there.

7. Be patient and courteous.

There is 1 server for every 2-4 tables (maybe more) with 2-6 customers (even more), they will get to you. There is no need to be impatient or rude if the server has not approached you yet in the five minutes you have been waiting. Those five minutes should be used to perfect your order. If you are in such a hurry, why are you eating in?

8. Be kind.

If a server, or servers, has/have approached you several times, don’t be rude. They are only checking up on you to make sure you are comfortable and happy and, most likely, they want to make sure they didn’t forget anything or forget to check up on you.

9. Do not waste their time.

If you place an order over the phone and you have small children, go into another room. No one wants to hear you yelling at your kids to shut up, or hear your kids in the background fighting. Do not put them on hold or ignore them to get everyone in your family’s order. They need to put in your order as quickly as possible so that they can answer the next call.

10. Do not get too comfortable.

No matter how often you go to your favorite restaurant, there is no reason for you to be refilling your own cup. You should not be behind the counter, you do not work there, you are in the way. Unless you are a personal friend of the owner, you will not get special privileges, they will not comp you, you will not get a discount and you will not get a “special” item that is not on the menu.

11. Treat your server with respect.

Treat everyone that works at the restaurant with respect. If it were the other way around, you would want to be respected. They may only be working there to pay for school. One day they can become the landlord of the new building you want to move into or the hiring manager of a company that you are interviewing for the new position that just opened up. People remember, and they will remember the way you treated them when you are sitting in front of them trying to convince them that you are the perfect tenant or the perfect employee. They are your server for 20 minutes to an hour, they are not your servant. Do not treat them like they are beneath you.