Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I love this list, and, with the exception of # 23, I am heartily in agreement. When I am eating out, which is not all that often these days, I want the experience to be as good as it possibly can be. And, aside from the food, the etiquette (or lack thereof) of my server is what most affects that experience.

I'd love to see a similar list for the chef, considering some of the things we know go on in the kitchen. It matters as much as what goes on in public.

Well first of all I was excited to eat at Bobby Flays place so I had high expectations but that shouldn't a affect my review. I ate at the Lake Grove restaurant. I ordered a blue burger medium rare, a dark chocolate shake and onion rings. The burger was actually raw! and the bottom half of the roll was not usable because it was saturated and I was unable to pick it up. I sent the burger back and this time I got one that was well done. They can't seem to get the cooking process right. Even that bottom half of the roll was wet. The shake was nothing more than ice cream stirred up to be soft, it was too thick to drink, and surprisingly for that price ($5.00) it was pretty small. The onion ring order was also small for the price and not so great, not crunchy or that tasty, rather bland. I have to say for the value, the whole meal was definitely not worth the price and the atmosphere was very cold and uninviting. I will definitely not be visiting this place again and I will not recommend this place to anyone either. I can honestly say that burger king is better than this place. Sorry Bobby, I think you better visit this location and straighten out your good name.

Therealchiffonade. You're assuming a reservation was made, assuming the 4th is coming shortly, assuming the first 3 will order apps and drinks, assuming the 4th will even order. We all know what happens when we assume.

Most of this is entirely too pedantic for my tastes. I don't really care if the waiter asks me "How is everything?" or "Is there anything I can get for you"...just be polite and serve me my food in a timely manner.

When I watched the movie Bridget Jones’s Diary, I laughed at her blue soup which she made by the vegetables and some blue uneatable ropes. I thought it was a joke, how could a girl be so stupid and could not cook meals? At least they should know how to cook soups. Until I met my girlfriend I knew that story is true.
As I am not fond of beauties, Air Jordan sneakers or other luxury things, my only habit is enjoying every delicacy I could find, in other words, I am a glutton. My girlfriend knows my habit and she just tries her best to get close to me, and that is learning how to cook. She is an exquisite girl, when you look at her, all you think are the cosmetics, perfume, luxury clothes, jewel and high class salon. You could never recall the kitchen from her. But she did want to be a good mate to me, a soul mate and life mate.
So the story began on one Sunday morning. She locked herself in the kitchen and did not allow me to enter, she would cook a meal for me all by herself. And after four hours the meal was ready. They seemed---- well, beautiful, but not in the food way. As I put my spoon into the soup, I found something strange and it turned out to be a rubber wristband. Well, was it a silicon soup? My girlfriend just used it to tie the shrimps. I really do not know how it happened. After finding that strange material from the soup, I did not feel well then. But in order not to let her disappointed, I, the one who care food more than life, ate up all the dishes.
Guess what, now she is my fiancée. Love has nothing to do with your cooking skills, right?

the list is...interesting, but I also gotta call BS...most of these rules are just personal preference...for instance, I WANT a waiter to give me a name; i EXPECT the waiter to guide me when I order...i expect a casual, easy-going tone...I want to know that the waiters are human beings that care about the food, the job, and importantly, me. they're not just robots.

7. No flirting and no cuteness? Sorry, that totally depends on the restaurants and the guests. Maybe not in Midtown East, but certainly it's OK with a fun young table in the EV.

11. Telling the guests there are only two lobsters left, if there are, is entirely appropriate. They may really be looking forward to lobster and order them immediately. If there were 0 lobsters, you'd tell the guests along with the specials so you look like an ass if the last 2 sell and the guests go to order it and you say "sorry, we just ran out!"

14. "How is everything?" is just as bad as "Good choice!" Everything is assumed to be great unless you are told otherwise. When the guests get their food, a proper response is "Is there anything I can get for you?" and the guest then has the opportunity to tell you they want more sauce, or their steak is the wrong temperature, or any other issue.

10 & 43. Certainly give your opinion of which dishes are your favorite or are "great" IF asked. It is not irrelevant. Some dishes are better than others. The servers have tasted all of them. The guests may have different tastes and preferences than the server, but the server knows which dishes 10 other guests raved about that night. The guest will appreciate a good suggestion a lot more than being stuck with a mediocre dish.

A lot of the listed rules are spot-on. But nothing is set in stone. Again, the restaurant and the guests determine everything. I haven't been a server for 5 years now, but in the 7 years I was, I was consistently one of the best of each staff I worked on. The best skill a server can learn is interpreting the guest's needs. You don't want to make assumptions or prejudge anyone. But if if you know your menu and can read your guests, you can improve their experience 9 out of 10 times. Some guests don't want to be bothered and just want you to take their orders. Others want your guidance and are looking for you to enhance their experience. I call those" good customers".

How would you know if drinks/ apps are going to be ordered? Should a restaurant have to deny a full party a table so an incomplete party can share an app?

Ribster - If you're having a serious business discussion try a board room. A restaurant is a public place where you are being served by strangers. Handing a glass to a server is in bad taste. It is also usually when accidents/spills happen. A good diner should always let the server place and remove items from the table not hand to hand i.e. do not reach for a plate being placed in front of you and do not hand your empty plate/glass to them, they may not be ready.

#3 has caused a lot of discussion. I've worked in a busy restaurant with 24 seats. A table for 4 is too valuable to let 3 people sit there for an hour while waiting for a fourth who is always "just around the corner." In that hour another party could have come, eaten, and left. Wait at the bar. Coordinate with your friends. Respect the restaurants time and space. You are a guest, you're not at home, you're not entitled to anything just because you walked in the door.

About the silverware. It's very common in NYC to reuse silver. Do you use five different forks when eating at home? If you're grossed out by your own fork you have serious issues. If you're grossed out by the table at the restaurant it's your fault for going to a dirty sub-par restaurant.

And my pet peeve's are:
Wait staff who reach over full plates of food to pick up a glass to fill. Too many times their arm goes right between my mouth and my fork. I don't like smelling their skanky sleeves or risking hair or something dropping off on to my plate. I prefer they ask me for my glass and I will gladly hand it to them.

Also, I do a lot of business meals with customers / prospects. So while I appreciate a server asking how everything is, many times it's an interruption to very intense business conversations. I know it's a timing thing and they're looking for feedback. Sometimes I wish they would look for signs or signals that it's okay to stop by.

Otherwise great list. Thx

Seems to me like a lot of the list is the basic courtesy you'd expect and the rest are whiny.

Never say "good choice"?

Some of the best meals I've ever eaten when I ordered the waiter gave a knowing nod and smile and told me good choice and I was going to enjoy the meal. I cant think of an instance that was wrong.

Also if a bottle of wine touches the rim of my glass I would never have thought to notice that until now. Dust is everywhere! you probably breathe in more than would touch your glass in a day.

I'm not a server, nor have I ever been, but this list seems excessive to me. Steaming the labels off of bottles of wine? Never introducing yourself or giving any sense of person? I am also going to assume that not giving opinions means don't do it unasked, because if I ask your opinion, I want it.

Also, what insecure person feels insulted because their dining companion was complimented? Or that the other choices were poor because the server said "good choice" with their order?

And I imagine that sometimes a waiter can not be standing there waiting for you to finish a conversation so they can do their job. I mean, they can politely do it without rudely interrupting, but if you sit there and chat for too long, they are unable to do their job. There is a science to how restaurants function.

Obviously, some of these are great tips, but it seems the author was reaching to hit the magic number of 100 (I can't imagine what the next 50 will be like).