What do you consider to be an unacceptably long wait for food in a cafe or restaurant?

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sniffing_dog@reddit

30 minutes is my where the fuck is this food moods.

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My baseline time is 45 minutes, which is the length of the the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 (it's the top end of the estimated length - historians put it at 38-45 minutes long). Anything longer than the Anglo-Zanzibar War is too long.

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paolog@reddit

"Good God, there have been wars fought and won in less time than we have been waiting!"

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EvilTaffyapple@reddit

I read this in a Niles Crane voice. I don’t know why but it fits nicely

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DefStillAlive@reddit

That sounds like a socially-awkward seven minutes when no-one's quite sure if the war has finished yet

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Lonely-Job484@reddit

Scrambled egg on toast? 15 mins unless advised there's a wait

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DoctorWhofan789eywim@reddit

Half an hour I'd be asking where it is, forty minutes I'd walk out.

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TheYetaaay@reddit

One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of restaurants are running deliveries as well as the restaurant. If the restaurant is busy, it may be even busier behind the scenes with delivery orders. No matter how busy though a restaurant should be getting food out in 30 minutes. If it's beyond that it's probably gone a bit awry backstage.

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

Customers in store should always be a priority over deliveries.

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TheYetaaay@reddit

Absolutely, but once a takeaway order is placed you have to attempt to honour the time that the customer has been told it will arrive. It's a balance.

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

Most of my jobs have been in hospitality. Anything over 20mins without being told theres a wait and it’s totally acceptable to ask whats happening.

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Miserable-Ad7835@reddit

30 Minutes then I get up and leave.

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cmsmk@reddit

I would wait like 45 minutes to an hour and then ask depending on what type of thing it is, and the amount of people at the cafe I see before I go to the counter

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Mysterious-Sock39@reddit

45 mins are u lot crazy 20 mins mav for a basic lunch

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cmsmk@reddit

Me and my family are more of the groaning introverted type. We would get annoyed after 20 minutes sure, but we would go up to someone at around 45 minutes and see what the hold up is.

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Tim-Sanchez@reddit

Maybe at a restaurant with a large order, but there's no way I'm waiting an hour for my food at a cafe!

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cmsmk@reddit

Certainly, thats a factor I missed out. How many people at my table. Normally I go with family (so a group of 4 to 5) so it may take longer than individually or a couple.

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Grouchy-Nobody3398@reddit

Twice the time it would take me to prepare it at home and I start to get annoyed internally. Three times as long and I will start to think about asking where it is.

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Greengrass7772@reddit

A simple lunch would be a max 15-20 mins wait for me.

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Dozzer_22@reddit

I worked in hospitality from the ages of 16-21, our target was always a maximum of 20minutes from first ordering to food being taken to the table. That being said anything over 40minutes is unacceptable in my opinion. By 50+ minutes i’d just stand up and leave.

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Evening-Tomatillo-47@reddit

What if you were told to start with that it would be around 40-50 minutes?

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Dozzer_22@reddit

I’d ask for a free drink at least lmao I know it sounds cheeky to do so but I handed out free drinks all the time, margins on alcohol/soft drinks is crazy high and something as small as that can turn a royally pissed of customer into a patient one.

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O_C_Demon@reddit

When I was a chef at Carluccio's in a busy city centre restaurant our target times were 12 minutes on a starter, 15 on a main and seven on a dessert. Obviously if you're ordering a well done fillet steak (😫) or a whole seabass or something that will impact as will any unusually large tables dining at the same time as you.

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Fit-Breakfast-3116@reddit

Depends how busy the place is. If the staff are rushed off their feet I’d expect a bit of a wait as you can assume the kitchen is busier. When I waitressed the guidelines were starters out within ten minutes, mains to follow within ten minutes of the starter finishing. But then, I saw someone complain when their starter came out within ten minutes it was that they felt they were being rushed 🤷🏻‍♀️

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What do you consider to be an unacceptably long wait for food in a cafe or restaurant?

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26 Comments

ljr69@reddit

sniffing_dog@reddit

No-Count-5062@reddit

paolog@reddit

EvilTaffyapple@reddit

DefStillAlive@reddit

Lonely-Job484@reddit

DoctorWhofan789eywim@reddit

TheYetaaay@reddit

dinkidoo7693@reddit

TheYetaaay@reddit

dinkidoo7693@reddit

Miserable-Ad7835@reddit

cmsmk@reddit

Mysterious-Sock39@reddit

cmsmk@reddit

Tim-Sanchez@reddit

cmsmk@reddit

Grouchy-Nobody3398@reddit

Greengrass7772@reddit

Dozzer_22@reddit

Evening-Tomatillo-47@reddit

Dozzer_22@reddit

O_C_Demon@reddit

Fit-Breakfast-3116@reddit

AutoModerator@reddit