Latest Pet Peeve: 2 Hr+ Waits at Restaurants!! (1 Viewer)

[Dewitte]

Here in Manassas (the armpit of Northern Virginia), it's friggin' chain restaurants as far as the eye can see. I'd rather be bludgeoned about the head with a frozen turd than set foot in most of the restaurants around here. The Baisch family only eats at a couple of locally-owned places on the rare occasions we do eat out.

As has been noted many a time, eating early helps a lot and saves on the aggravation. However, some localities (such as Dale City, Virginia, the rectum of Northern Virginia) more or less require the potential diner to eat at 4 or 4:30p.m. on a weekend at a chain restaurant. Guess where I never eat.

De

 

[Bob Movies]

Just curious,

What kind of restaurant doesn't accept reservations? Are they just so busy that they only admit people who line up? Are these big chains? I haven't been to many of the places listed in this thread.

Bob

 

[Malcolm R]

The "No Reservations" policy seems to be a trend gaining steam. Most all the chains and several of the local restaurants around here no longer take reservations.

It's probably a convenience thing to an extent, not having to take, maintain, or update a reservations listing. But I also think they probably get sick of people complaining when they get to the restaurant at the appointed time and still have to wait a few minutes (as described further up in this thread).

 

[Leila Dougan]

Most of the restaurants around here don't accept reservations. I think it's a matter of convenience, especially since they have no shortage of patrons. I also know they get burned with large group no-shows so it makes sense for them to just server people who have already bothered showing up first.

A few restaurants, however, do allow call-ahead seating. It's basically a short-term reservation. You just call and have your name put on the list, then show up in an hour or two when it's your time to be seated.

 

[Jason_Els]

For many people in places other than the big metropolitan areas of the country, these are fancy restaurants. The rural population frequently has to drive 20 miles or more to find a place that approaches what many people take for granted. There just isn't enough of a market to support truly great restaurants (and the attendant great prices).

I, personally, won't wait for a table unless it's a temple of world-class gastronomy. The irony is that if you have a reservation at such a place you have a table at the appointed time. I'm lucky though in that I live in an area with a lot of good restaurants, a few better than average.

What's important to realize is that everyone has different tolerances for waiting and some of that has to do with the place, who you are with, and quite plainly, how hungry you are. For those who have to make pilgrimages to the local chain restaurant a wait can be normal, regardless of the seating policy of the restaurant. The point is to make the restaurant-going experience into an event. If you don't eat out frequently it's an event for you so you might be willing to wait. If you eat out frequently and have good restaurants nearby then there's no sense in waiting unless you don't care or love the place so much you just have to eat there.

I find chain restaurant food rather bland and unimaginative, in general. A few places have some decent dishes but on the whole, they're food factories out to make a dish appear creative while offending no one. The best restaurants take risks both in new dishes and in refining or recreating old favorites. Going to a restaurant can be different things for different occasions. Certainly Chucky Cheese won't do for 50th anniversary just as La Cote Basque isn't the place to feed the kids for lunch.

 

[Shane Martin]

Alot of places here. If they reserve a table they are holding onto the hope you show up. If you don't then they can't give the table out until a reasonable time passes. Basically it makes no sense IMHO to take them. Call ahead seating is a good thing though. ALot of restaurants do that around here. I like that.

 

[Philip_G]

some do here, some only allow it after a certain time, like 8.30 when they're no longer busy and there's no point in calling.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

There is no restaurant good enough for me to wait two hours for a table. My wait limit seems about the same as many others in this thread -- about 30 minutes. We also tend to eat early and therefore miss most crowds, but if a place is unusually busy, I would rather go somewhere else than wait 45 minutes to an hour. There are enough restaurants around our area that I can be someplace else in 5-10 minutes, sitting down at a table.

We decided to try the local Outback Steakhouse last night (New Year's Eve). We tried their call-ahead, hoping to get in at around 4pm, which is early even for us. Well, we were told that their "call-ahead" list was now up to 9pm, so they were closing it (sounds like reservations, not call ahead, to me). However, they had a couple of tables open then.

Luckily, by the time we got there (10 minute drive) the wait was still only 15 minutes, so we waited. Plan B was to head to one of the other dozen or so restaurants within a 5 minute drive that we knew would not be overcrowded (we do this for many New Year's Eves). By the time we were seated at 4:10pm, the wait was already an hour.

 

[Eric Kahn]

I also refuse to wait at restaurants for more than about 15 minutes, there is always Gold Star Chili for me and the local Sams carries Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes so I have not been to the Cheesecake factory yet

 

[Philip Hamm]

Hey have you ever been to "Rosemary's Thyme Bistro" in Centreville? It's a low-priced "everyday meal" restaurant ($15 average entre), not upscale. For the price, it offers good food, nice atmosphere, and a welcome change from the big chains that seem to dominate the mid-priced restaurants in the area. Their wood-oven pizza is curiously bland, not recommended.

 

[David-S]

(threadjack)

Where is that exactly? (My fiancee lives in the area, always up to trying new things)...


Dewitte:

Just curious what the places you like are? (same reason as above)

 

[Philip Hamm]

ROSEMARYS THYME BISTRO
5762 UNION MILL RD, CLIFTON, VA 20124
Phone: (703) 502-1084

It's in the Union Mill shopping center with Giant, Outback Steakhouse, Starbucks, Blockbuster.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Chuck,

I've been there (to that one here in NE Ohio)- and ever since it opened it's been a 2 hour wait. Insane.

-V

 

[Dewitte]

We like to hit Chinese Imperial, located in the K-Mart shopping center. Verona's Deli (kind of a misnomer since they are anything but) is a decent alternative and can be found in the shopping center with Best Buy and Staples.

"Fast" food for us is normally Tony's New York Pizza or, if we're in Springfield, the Burrito Joynt. We try not to subsidize national chain restaurants if we can avoid it, but I will admit to a certain weakness for an Outback seasoned steak on rare occasions or a bowl of Terlingua red chili from the Hard Times Cafe.

De

 

[Philip Hamm]

That place is AWESOME! My wife is from North Jersey and she loves their authentic NY Pizza. Have you ever been to Little Italy in Centreville near Oak Post? It's an incredible old fashoned Italian grocery store / deli with a tiny restaurant. Great samiches.

Also Exceptional, in the opposite direction, is Spitony's Pizza, on Rt. 29 between Gainesville/Manassas Park and Warrenton. Incredible pizza!

 

[David Lawson]

Cincinnati doesn't have one yet, but it's in the works for the Kenwood area. I was expecting Forest Fair (of all places) to get it now that the mall has been taken over by Mills, as The Cheesecake Factory seems to be a fixture at most of their malls. I'm not a fan of the restaurant at all; it's a "jack of all trades, master of none" type of place.

If Forest Fair/Cincinnati Mills gets a Wolfgang Puck's like Sawgrass Mills in south Florida has, I'll be happy. In the meantime, I'll stick with The Maisonette or Jean-Robert at Pigall's...as long as someone else is buying.

 

[Chris]

My wife & I went to Cheesecake factory, one of her favorites, and were told it'd be a 2 hour wait; I laughed and we went next door to Chili's and waited 15 minutes. BS I'll wait 2 hours for food. I watched a guy come to the front and say 'hey, do I have a table yet?' and the woman behind the counter pointed out he had only waited 52 minutes. Suckers.

We went back a couple times and waited no more then 30 minutes. Verdict: cheesecake is excellent, food is way overrated; they have the worst ribs of any of the "signature" chain restaurants I've been too.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Chris, that's when you go to Cheesecake Factory and get your name on the waiting list. Head over to Chili's for dinner and drinks. By that time, you should be close to being seated at Cheesecake Factory just in time for dessert.

 

[Seth--L]

You think a two hour wait is bad? I've had The Four Seasons tell me to come back in a week. You can of course bribe the hostess, but everyone does that, so it will only get you so far. This also makes having a reservation useless, because people pay to take your spot, and you get bumped down the list.

 

[DustinDavis]

I've had Cheesecake Factory several times and I have to agree that this is one of the most overrated restaurants in Dallas. The food is not above average at all. Not that flavorful, not that original, and certainly not worth a long wait. I wouldn't wait more than 20 minutes to eat at Cheesecake Factory--which is why I haven't been in quite some time.