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Well, food should never come out one plate at a time of course, that is just bad timing in the kitchen. That would bug me a lot if it happened often (luckily it really does not.)
As for having a different person running the food out (assuming it comes out at the same time, not plate by plate) that is called having a runner. In a busy restaurant, if runners (usually other servers or backups/alley etc.) did not pitch in to get the food out when it was ready to go and hot, and instead it sat and waited for the server to be there every time, it would often get cold/weird waiting. Not because the server was at fault, but because of simply being busy.

Naturally a server wants to take the food out themselves whenever possible, as it looks better and of course they will remember who got what dish (or have it on the sheet) and it helps a tip. However, when a place is packed, or your server is in the weeds, having help getting the food out to you the minute it is ready is a wonderful thing. No matter how much a server wants to be the one doing all the serving to make the best appearance, getting the food out right and on time (and hot/cold/unwilted/sizzling etc.) is their first concern.
Don't hold that against a busy server on a packed night.
The runner asks who had which dish rather than guess if they don't have the sheet or ticket in front of them, or just to be sure.

As for my own gripes, don't really have any. We all get frustrated with clearly bad service of course, but I have worked in the industry for many years, including serving, so I can be a little more forgiving. Barring that, after a dish or two came out in the manner you describe, or after having SO many meals served that way, I would either speak with my server or a manager, or cease patronizing that restaurant.
Better to speak up and have it fixed or bring the issue to the attention of management than fuss about it later when nothing can be done.

I have no problem with plates coming as they're ready. Things don't always run smoothly, cut 'em some slack. How about this situation: 4 people at a table, all 4 plates are ready at once, somebody bumps somebody and 1 plate ends up on the floor. Obviously they are going to remake the plate as quickly as possible, but should the other 3 plates sit, waiting for it? And having a team of people serve is fine, the tips are likely to split to some degree anyway, why punish people for getting your food to you in a prompt, timely manner? Eating out is supposed to fun and a pleasure, don't get wound up, enjoy dinner.

Complain, complain.

I think the problem here is that you are not understanding how many of these restaurants work, and in turn are deciding your plate of hot food coming out before the person next to you makes your server lazy.

However, this is not the case. Sometimes food comes up before other food. You order pasta and someone orders pizza and a restaurants is busy, they're going to try and get everything out as soon as possible. The servers bringing out your food have a manager breathing down their necks most likely yelling things about the hot food getting cold. They are not doing this to get you out of a restaurant sooner, they are doing it because they know if you get cold food you're going to have a hissy fit

People who work in restaurants do not have magic powers, they are people too.

Maybe in the future if you're so concerned about food coming out at the same time you should pay the extra money to eat somewhere where the focus is more on getting the food out.

Oh, and PS. If your food comes out separately, servers have nothing to do with it. It's up to the person expediting during service to decide when food goes out.

Honestly,
I know that this is a policy issue, but I don't really care to hear all the excuses from a group of previous/current restraunt employees. The food should come out together, and great emphasis sholud be put into assuring this. Nobody should have to sit awkwardly with a plate of food in front of them whilst waiting for the rest of the orders to come out. That is not acceptable.
Believe me when I say that I tip WELL and always have. Also, I complain to the management when I'm not satisfied.
The problem does not lie with me, it lies with the restraunts around my area. The trend is all about getting people in and out asap, not about ser vice. The servers realize this and, more often than not, this effects their peformance. I'm not talking about load, kid filled, 8 dollar burger places with a bird as their mascot, I EXPECT crappy service at those places (which is still wrong). This policy is spreading rapidly in my area, and I seen it in some NICE places.
You can't tell me I should be understanding when my wife and are are dining at 60-70 dollars a plate and the food is brought out seperately by a runner 5-10 minutes apart. Ridiculous
No I refuse to accept this trend, it is ruining the dining experience.
I would really like to see a response to this by someone who is not and has never been a restraunt employee. An unbiased opion, in other words.

Welcome to Serious Eats, whatseatingme. I want my mommy.

Separate entree arrival is annoying. I don't think I've waited more than 10 minutes, and I never eat my dish despite the encouragement to do so. Then again, I was raised to wait for other people's food or for them to arrive back at the table to start eating. It actually irritates my husband more that I'm not eating.

Most restaurants ask me if something is wrong with my untouched dish. When I tell them I'm just waiting for [person]'s dish to arrive, they rush off to the kitchen to check, and oddly, the dish comes right out. Ironically, this conversation never happens when there are loads of onions and cilantro on my dish, after succinctly specifying their exclusion.

I don't care if someone else gives me my food, as long as it's the right dish, they aren't coughing on it (happened), or if it's touching their skin/hair (happened). Yuck.

I was at a restaurant where I was told I had to eat the wrong dish delivered to me. The manager refused to have it sent back. Plus, I had to pay for it or they'd call the cops. Of course, we didn't eat our food, threw the money at them, and walked out. There's more to the story that I've explained a while ago, so I'll leave it off...

To me, a good server (any customer service professional), regardless of the class of restaurant, will update you on the status of your meal (whatever service), esp. when a delay is anticipated.

It's the lack of communication that makes me perturbed when there's something abnormal going on, not obvious like seeing flames coming from the kitchen or a packed house. I've wondered if the server/order fell off the face of the Earth. Did they have to run down the street to buy the ingredients (happened once)? Where has my server disappeared to for the past 45 minutes? What is going on? We've had incidents where the order was not placed, as well as the meal given to another diner.

I feel it's the (skilled) kitchen's job to juggle the cooking so the meals come out w/in an acceptable time frame, just as it's the server's job to appropriately time visits, checks, etc.; just as it's my job to prioritize which patients need to be contacted first or placed on the back burner. If something strange happens, the diner should be made aware of the mishap. The cook burnt the dish so he's making a new one for you -- the diner will probably say "thank you."

Last night, we went to Famous Dave's, an inexpensive BBQ joint w/ awesome food. All I wanted was a soup and salad. We got a server that would not answer my questions directly. Example:
Me: Does the salad have onions?
Server: What kind of dressing do you want?
Me: Uh, ranch.
Server: The salad has lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, bacon, red cabbage, and egg.
Me: Ah, good - no onions. Thanks.

I asked a few questions that were answered in a similar manner, which made my eye twitch. Even my husband sat there perplexed.

The redeeming part about her service was that, even as PACKED as this place was, she updated us on our dishes. There was an (undetected by us) delay in the appetizer, so she apologized and explained that she felt that the flatbread came out too charred so she sent it back to have it redone. The drink refill service (water and iced tea) was spot on, she checked on us a couple times, and the check arrived in a timely manner.

I pay for our meals and decide the tip unless my husband chimes in when he's upset about something. The odd Q&A was overshadowed by her actions, so I gave her a $15 tip on a $35 meal.

I have a feeling that some people haven't grasped the concept that sincere sounding apologies are FREE to give in customer service. Most people lower it a notch when there is an apology given versus facing someone copping an attitude and being almighty/right all the time. The latter just puts the customer on the defensive; as a result, the employee instigates an incident where one may have been avoided.

I once went to brunch with some family friends after church (8 people). Two of us ordered the same egg dish, with almost identical sides. Well, everyone's order came except mine. We waited. And waited. After 20 minutes we went looking for the waitress, who went to check on the order. 15 more minutes later, she came back and said it would be out "soon." It took another 15 minutes, and a manager, before my food finally came out. The restaurant was not that busy.

At least I got my food for free.

@whatseatingme: Your attempt at a Jeffery Steingarten persona fails. He's reasonable.

There's a difference between reasons and excuses. The people here who have been in the restaurant business are giving you valid reasons why you shouldn't assume your server is being lazy.

If you didn't want to know the inside workings of why this might be happening, and you just want to vent with like-minded souls, that's fine too. You may, however, be picking the wrong target to vent about. A lot of people have been servers at various points in their lives, so when you assume they're simply being lazy and unworthy of your tip, it probably touches a lot of nerves.

If this service is totally unacceptable to you, I think the only reasonable answer is to not go back to places that serve like this. Frankly, I don't think a lot of people share this gripe of yours, or it wouldn't be so common where you live. From a diner's point of view, my priority when choosing a restaurant isn't the dishes coming out together. Although, to be fair, I can't recall the last time they didn't arrive at the same time.

I agree with dbcurrie. All of her points are valid. If you really dislike the way the service runs, you might phone and ask to speak to a manager during a slow time regarding their policy on service or write a letter with your complaint. If there aren't any restaurants in the area that meet your expectations of service perhaps you should seek out a personal chef to meet your needs a few times a week. That all being said, a friend of mine once said to a persnicketty dining companion, "Yeah, I like good food and good service and don't mind paying for it. But in the end, high brow or low, it all makes a turd."

Sorry,
I can be sort of a pitbull on crack at times.
Call me crazy, but I go out to dine, not just stuff my face. To me, service is a key ingredient to the dining experience.
I am definately serious about my eats, which is what attracted me to this site, but I really have never heard of Jeffery Stiengarten.

@whatseatingme - If you don't know Jeffrey Steingarten, you don't watch Iron Chef (Food Network). He frequently acts as a member of a 3-judge panel @ the show. Some viewers find his critiques well-founded, but he's also been known to disagree disagreeably w/ other panel judges during the show. (His background includes being a lawyer as well as a food critic and book writer.)

Regarding the problem you cite, why not tell the waiter that you'd appreciate having all of the orders timed to be served together?

Huh, I never really thought about this. I guess this doesn't bother me. The only thing that I get pissed off is when a server has a attitude that sucks and that is usually a very rare occastion, (knock on wood).

Okay, so I went to lunch today with one person. We ordered the exact same thing. His food arrived (I timed it) 17 minutes later than mine. See, that's the thing - there often appears to be no rhyme nor reason for it. It was the same meal. Exactly. The restaurant wasn't particularly busy. While I'm not crazy about food coming out at different times, I DO get that some things take longer, some things take less; that it's really hard to do large groups at the same time. Really, I don't like it, but I get it.

But this? Honestly, I think that standards are being lowered at a remarkable rate. This was not a Denny's. This was not a diner (which BTW, diners usually, in my experience, manage to get everything out at the same time. Short order cooks are the unsung heroes of the restaurant world.) This was a restaurant that cost the two of us, with no soft drinks, wine or dessert, $42 bucks each. And I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous The food was good, but I would never go back there. I wonder, is it just because I'm midtown during lunch so they think they can get away with it? If I go to Smith & Wollensky, or Nino's, the food comes out at the same time. And yes, I could only go there, but frankly, I can't afford it. And why should I have to? I'm old enough to know it did not used to be this way. It gets worse and worse every year. We accept it, they do it more. We continue accepting it , they continue to lower the service.

@whatseatingme - Based on the comments I read, it sounds like most of the former restaurant employees were actually agreeing that all of the dishes should be brought out together...however, that decision isn't up to them. They even said that, as servers, they'd prefer to bring the food to the table themselves, too. Also not always possible, and not up to them. So, it seems that the appropriate response (as suggested by other commenters) is very obvious: Complain loudly to the management. That's all.