In a post-pandemic Manhattan, one of the many things that has been frustrating to me while eating out, other than the massively inflated costs and expectations of extremely high tips (I have, on more than a handful of occasions, been handed or flipped a suggested tip screen where the default tip is 30 percent), has been the time limits set on tables. When you make a reservation at a restaurant that is a notch above no-frills, whether it’s on Open Table, Resy, or over the phone, you are immediately prompted with a message stating that you will agree to abide by the time limits set on tables. This is usually different depending on the size of the party, but for a party of two, it’s almost always 90 minutes; for a party of four, it’s somewhere between 2-2.5 hours. This is particularly frustrating when you already know, going into this, that you are going to be paying a lot for your meal, and that the expectations for tipping have increased. And it’s a real whammy when you check in at the host stand, and they remind you and your party on the way to your table that there’s a X-minute time limit on your table, and they ask that you respect that. When I go out to eat, I want to enjoy the company of the people I am with, AND enjoy the food and drink. I don’t want to feel rushed to order right away, to stuff the food down my throat, and to barely say hi to my friend before looking at the menu and ordering. It’s completely ridiculous and an unrealistic expectation that restaurants have of their patrons. I understand this if the restaurant has stacked reservations, is in high demand, and people are waiting. But when restaurants are not at capacity and are even nearly empty, it makes zero sense and only makes the restaurant look stupid and stingy with their space.
Tonight, I met up with a friend for dinner at La Dong, a relatively new and modern Vietnamese restaurant in Flatiron that ended up costing over $55/person after tax and tip. So in other words, this was not a budget meal. As soon as we sat down, the server handed us our menus and at the same time reminded us that we had to leave in 90 minutes. It was such a warm welcome — to say hi and in the same breath, tell your guests to get the fuck out in the next hour and a half! And then, with a smile once again, when the server came back and asked if we were ready to order, we told her we were not and would need a few additional minutes. She smiled sanguinely and said, “Of course! Please take your time!” That response was completely disingenuous; given she already told us about our 90-minute time limit, we obviously could NOT take our time and had to get a move on with ordering everything.
As soon as we ordered our two starters, shock of shock: the food came out within minutes. Another reminder to eat quickly. And when the two mains came out, they were swift and took away our starter plates. Even as we were catching up, I could feel the staff’s eyes on us, wondering how long it would take us to eat and if they’d need to remind us again that we had to leave by 7pm, as we were seated at 5:30 on the dot.
Was the service here awful? No. They tried to be friendly and gentle. I think they are all under pressure to abide by their idiot management’s instructions to enforce the time limits on tables. But it really doesn’t go well when you are in hospitality to make your guests feel that they need to rush through their meal and their socializing. What next: are restaurants going to charge by the half-hour for the table/seating space on top of charging you for food and drink? Or will they want to charge you to use their restrooms? What the hell is next?
What was really awful, which happened a few weeks ago when I had lunch with a friend in SoHo, was when twice, I had my plate taken away while I was literally still eating from it. Both times, I had just lifted chopsticks from the plate to put food in my mouth, and servers/bus boys came to clear my plate. The second time it happened, I glared hard at the server and said I was still eating.
Hospitality at restaurants has declined pretty badly across Manhattan since the pandemic. Hospitality is barely even a word with any meaning here in this borough. How can you be hospitable when welcoming someone into your business when you immediately want to chase them out as soon as you can? It’s almost a rarity now to not feel rushed through a meal in this borough and actually feel… relaxed while dining out. Even when the food and ambiance are good, even when the company is good, it’s impossible to forget that you felt you were rushed through your meal and verbally pushed out the door.