Manners Matter: Unreasonable Dinner Wait

Dear Mary Pat,

My wife and I went out to dinner and were told that our wait would be 30 minutes for a table, when in fact it turned out to be an hour and 25 minutes. I was starting to get a little frustrated, and the hostess did not seem to think the wait was unreasonable. Am I impatient or did the hostess not get what a pain it is to wait?

Wait and Wait Some More

Dear Wait and Wait Some More,

When it’s busy in the county there are some restaurants where the wait is long, so long that it seems like a full week has passed versus the 45-minute wait that you were quoted. At the end of the day, the host or hostess is making an educated guess based on how long their patrons usually stay. But then you have to wonder, do some restaurants deliberately downplay the wait so they get you to stay? Maybe they are hoping you will leave some of your dollars at the bar while you wait? It’s certainly possible.

You might want to plan ahead the next time you dine out in the county. If it’s the Fourth of July, or any other special weekend in the county, or if you have 14 in your party, you’ll be waiting for some time. Even though it’s tough to wait for a table, the more you focus on it, the longer it will seem to take.

Good luck,


Mary Pat