Discussion on question by gsamaras: In a restaurant in Italy, should I be seated when my food arrives?

Feeds

15:46

Q: In a restaurant in Italy, should I be seated when my food arrives?

I sat at the table, ordered the pizza. While it was being prepared, I decided to go to the bathroom for a short visit. An employee came (the griller) and while I was in the middle of my business, he informed me that the pizza was served. I left the bathroom and told him ok thank you, but his beh...

Fattie

I think the simple answer is "YES". You shouldn't be "dicking around" when your food is coming. It has nothing to do with "eating in a hurry" of the other aspects you mention. How would you feel in your home, if you teen children were dicking around, going to the bathroom, getting their video games, or whatever, when you were serving? You'd be furious. Food culture is culture in Italy.

"Should I be seated when my food arrives" ... the simple answer is, in France yes, in Italy definitely.

Sabine

How long did your "short visit" to the bathroom last? No matter what the task, if you were in long enough that they bothered to send someone (who arrived "in the middle of your task"), maybe they were simply worried if you were alright...

J...

Pizza is like sushi. If it's been sitting out on the plate for ten minutes getting cold, the chef would basically consider it garbage and would not want you to eat it and take that experience away from the restaurant as your impression of their skill.

Mari-Lou A

"…while I was in the middle of of my task… (typo, I would edit but...)" Do you mean that the server/waiter actually entered the restroom while you were peeing?! I find that behaviour horrific beyond words.

JoL

@Fattie I guess cultures do vary a lot. I honestly don't get why I should be furious if someone is in the bathroom while I was serving them. It's not like I need to wait or anything. I'll just leave the plate ready for when they get out. I'm sure there's a logic behind such a reaction, but it's not as obvious or necessary as you suggest it should be.

Fattie

15:46

@JoL , I don't think there's any logic at all to "cultural differences". Food culture in Italy versus USA is just staggeringly different. Like, really really alien different.

Todd Wilcox

@Fattie Just because a restaurant is in Italy doesn't make it automatically haute cuisine. I mean, they have McDonald's in Italy also. And Burger King. And Subway. And all kinds of bars (lunch counters) that are very relaxed.

DonQuiKong

I don't care if you should be seated, that's just rude.

Michael Kay

I remember being served a vast cheesecake in a US restaurant once, when eating alone. I managed to get through half of it, then needed to relieve myself. On return there was another vast cheesecake on the table. The server had cleared it thinking I was finished, then realised she shouldn't have done that, and brought a new one...

UKMonkey

I thought it was rude everywhere in the world to not be at your table .... For comparison, where do you think it's acceptable to not be at your table?

algiogia

This has nothing to do with being in Italy. If you really have to go you just do. No waiter will come looking for you in the toilet.

gsamaras

15:46

@Sabine short, I washed my hands and then I started doing my quick job. In the middle of it, he arrived. I had been to France, but never did it happen to be away when the food arrived. A fact, I think, is that in France, they're more rude. They don't have the Mediterranean elenent in their heart, except than in Riviera. But that's irrelevant.

emory

I had a similar experience in a US restaurant. I took my 3 year old out to eat and shortly after the food was served, he told me he had to pee. Washing hands is essentially playing with water - so it took a while. When we got back, they had cleared our table. I should have told him: "No son, fancy restaurants have people to mop urine off the floor. Let us stay and eat our food."

gsamaras

@emory this is extreme, but since I spent a summer in USA, I believe you.

JPhi1618

@UKMonkey, so you're waiting for your food and have no idea how long it will take, and you have to use the bathroom. You honestly risk having an accident at the table to wait for 5, 10 or 15 minutes rather than just going to the bathroom? I certainly don't want to miss my fresh food arriving, but if you've got to go, then that's what's going to happen.

V2Blast

Reminder to everyone: answer in answers, not in comments. Comments don't have the quality assurance mechanisms that answers do.

UKMonkey

@JPhi1618 I asked OP a question to clarify their question, which is what comments are for. To answer yours though, I would tell the waiter that I'd be returning shortly so that they don't think I'm running. Even in the UK, people not paying for their food and running is a legitimate concern...

gsamaras

15:46

@UKMnkey I don't know. Haven't really thought about it before.

last day (15 days later) »

all rooms