Communal Dining

poadeleted21

poadeleted21

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
12,332
Please. Just. Stop.

The last 2 restaurants I've eaten at had communal seating. The one for lunch today, that's all they had. I have no desire to rub elbows with a stranger while he sucks down a dozen chicken wings and slugs 22os beers.

My list of restaurants to eat at went down by 2.
 
Why in the world would anyone eat at a restaurant that doesn't give patrons their own table?

Do you share silverware and napkins, too? lol
 
eman1200 said:
like a hibachi steak house kind of thing?
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I went with coworkers to Chipolte today, whole place was communal dining.

Went to outback the other day and they've remodeled the restaurant to be 1/3 communal. The hostess seemed offended that I requested one of the numerous open tables instead of being packed in with strangers at the "half booth half table" communal seating area. I had to make 2 requests then state "I'm not interested in eating with strangers" before she let it go.
 
If your going to be forced to eat in a communal setting,why go out to eat.
 
bartmc said:
Went to outback the other day and they've remodeled the restaurant to be 1/3 communal . . . I had to make 2 requests then state "I'm not interested in eating with strangers" before she let it go.
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More people doing this is the only way to reverse the trend.

It will probably hang around just like the self-checkout lines at stores, but at least they are saving on wages for cashiers they don't hire.

What's up with the restaurants? Don't think I'd stay to eat, unless I'm just hanging out at the bar.

Ain't nobody gonna stand up for what you want, if you don't do it yourself. Speak up or be stepped on.
 
My favorite restaurant doesn't really have a predetermined communal dining area but if a a couple sits down at a high top meant for six, I don't have any problem sitting on the other side by myself or with my fiancé. (This assumes there is absolutely nowhere else to sit and the wait time would be 30+ mins.)

Would my fiancé and I sit at a table with another couple without room in between? No.
 
Have some forced diversity white bread. Isn't this some dumb euro thing? They only do it in euroland cause their buildings are small and they ain't allowed to build new ones.
 
I don't think the communal dining is too bad. I think you get what you pay for. Most of the places that have communal dining are dives, bars, BBQ places, etc. It kind of fits the restaurant.
 
Of course it doesn't matter who you are sitting next to, no one will look away from their phones long enough to notice. You could give people foggles(old school long billed ones) and sit them wherever you want they won't know, be blissfully staring at their zombie phones. I need a pair, be funny as **** to wear them in a Starbucks while screening out.
 
To further conserve precious real estate, they are taking the urinal dividers out and moving them so close together there is a serious risk of cross-spray. And no more private closets for the toilets.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
To further conserve precious real estate, they are taking the urinal dividers out and moving them so close together there is a serious risk of cross-spray. And no more private closets for the toilets.
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Actually, urinals will be going away, with unisex bathrooms soon to be mandated.

And I'm okay with that. After the gummint mandated that urinals could no longer extend to the floor, we've all been force to stand in a puddle of **** thanks to the idjits who can't seem to hit a freaking 4 square foot porcelain target. Give me a regular flush toilet, and I'll be happy.

Of course, where the heck everyone is going to build all the extra bathrooms that these crazy new laws will require is the real question. In the end, there's nothing more efficient than an Oktoberfest-style trough.
 
If unisex toilets are mandated, opens a business model for private bathroom 'clubs.' Need a certain population density of course. Going to name my chain The Poopin Lady.:rofl:
 
Jay Honeck said:
Actually, urinals will be going away, with unisex bathrooms soon to be mandated.

And I'm okay with that. After the gummint mandated that urinals could no longer extend to the floor, we've all been force to stand in a puddle of **** thanks to the idjits who can't seem to hit a freaking 4 square foot porcelain target. Give me a regular flush toilet, and I'll be happy.

Of course, where the heck everyone is going to build all the extra bathrooms that these crazy new laws will require is the real question. In the end, there's nothing more efficient than an Oktoberfest-style trough.
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I've never regularly used "communal restrooms" but now work where there's 4 urinals and 4 stalls. People do weird **** in the restroom. ****ing directly in the floor is one of the milder things on the list.
 
When I'm feeling chatty I'll sit at the bar, when I want to be alone, I want my own table. Is that hard to understand?
 
jordane93 said:
I don't think the communal dining is too bad. I think you get what you pay for. Most of the places that have communal dining are dives, bars, BBQ places, etc. It kind of fits the restaurant.
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Yeah I don't have a problem with beer hall venues. If it's not particularly crowded, you can still maintain a level of personal space, and if it's extremely crowded, you can still normally get a seat.

But at an semi-upscale restaurant? Communal seating areas have their place - too accommodate extra large parties. Not uncommon in an Outback. Maybe they've analyzed the large party trends and decided to go ahead and allocate a certain percentage of the seating to be set up that way, I dunno. But communal seating as a trend? It will be self correcting, in terms of lost business.
 
Graueradler said:
Pretty normal in Germany.
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I used to go to Europe for work a lot, and found that common throughout. People would talk to you out of the blue also, and I found that welcoming. That custom is not so prevalent here in the U.S. where people like to associate solely with their phone.
 
Anthony said:
I used to go to Europe for work a lot, and found that common throughout. People would talk to you out of the blue also, and I found that welcoming. That custom is not so prevalent here in the U.S. where people like to associate solely with their phone.
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Yep. Part of the reason I joined the Tower Club.
 
Graueradler said:
Pretty normal in Germany.
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This ain't Germany. I ain't German. Give me a table with the folks I walked in the door with (if any), and put everyone else at another table. Or I walk out and eat somewhere else that will.

'Nuff said. I'm sounding like a Grumpy Old Man. Who wants to fly right seat with me?
 
Hank S said:
This ain't Germany. I ain't German. Give me a table with the folks I walked in the door with (if any), and put everyone else at another table. Or I walk out and eat somewhere else that will.

'Nuff said. I'm sounding like a Grumpy Old Man. Who wants to fly right seat with me?
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As long as it's not a bench seat.
 
Anthony said:
I used to go to Europe for work a lot, and found that common throughout. People would talk to you out of the blue also, and I found that welcoming. That custom is not so prevalent here in the U.S. where people like to associate solely with their phone.
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Depends where you are. Here in Texas it's quite common to have a conversation with a random stranger in passing. When I'm on travel, I hate trying to politely chat up the person checking me out at the corner store just to get the death stare and the feeling that they think I'm being a creep for trying to chat.
 
If I'm going out to eat with my wife I want to eat privately with my wife, not at a table with a bunch of gabbing strangers.
 
I met AggieMike for lunch last week at Texas Roadhouse. I said I was meeting 2 others (I lied, but hate sitting at a 2 top booth). The hostess asked when they were getting there, I said 5 minutes and I wanted to order an appetizer.

I asked for a 4 top booth.

She did not want me to sit down or give me too many seats. The restaurant was not busy and there were lots of waitstaff. (I worked as a waiter for years, so I know the ratios).

The waitress was nice and got everything we wanted. I tipped extra to make up for taking a large table.

Communal dining is crap unless there is beer involved.
 
Geez if you folks are that anti social get a room and have room service deliver. Eating out sucks, most places suck, having a veil of imaginary personal space doesn't make it much better.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Geez if you folks are that anti social get a room and have room service deliver. Eating out sucks, most places suck, having a veil of imaginary personal space doesn't make it much better.
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My wife and I at a table with 4 chairs is not "an imaginary veil of personal space." That's what separates you and your buddies from the other group of guys sharing a table for eight with 9 or 10 stools pulled up.

Been there, done that. Works well with the guys drinking beer and shooting the bull. Doesn't work when out with the wife, or dinner with good friends not involving multiple pitchers of beer and plates of appetizers.

Give me a table if you want me to stay long enough to order.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Geez if you folks are that anti social get a room and have room service deliver. Eating out sucks, most places suck, having a veil of imaginary personal space doesn't make it much better.
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Seriously? If I'm taking my wife out for dinner, we're not just going for the food, and I'm not taking her to a fast food place or a cafeteria. If it was just about the food we could do that just fine at home. It isn't antisocial behavior to expect a table for the two of us that doesn't include someone I'm not dating.
 
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At a chain restaurant who cares? It is just a feeding trough of cooked garbage.
 
mkosmo said:
Depends where you are. Here in Texas it's quite common to have a conversation with a random stranger in passing. When I'm on travel, I hate trying to politely chat up the person checking me out at the corner store just to get the death stare and the feeling that they think I'm being a creep for trying to chat.
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Good point, but they're still more likely to sit with you in pubs and restaurants in Europe, not just talk, but yes people are generally more friendly to strangers in the South.

I spent a week on St Simons Island, GA for one of our AYA fly ins, and got used to southerners talking to me everywhere. It didn't even matter that I was with the American Yankee Assoc. :D When I went back home (northeastern U.S.) I started talking to strangers in the convenience store line, and got the death stare. I quickly realized I was back up north, and shut up.
 
Anthony said:
I spent a week on St Simons Island, GA for one of our AYA fly ins, and got used to southerners talking to me everywhere. It didn't even matter that I was with the American Yankee Assoc. :D When I went back home (northeastern U.S.) I started talking to strangers in the convenience store line, and got the death stare. I quickly realized I was back up north, and shut up.
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I wonder how much of that is an urban vs. rural thing as well as north vs. south. Talking to strangers in line in the Detroit suburbs usually does get you the death stare, but here in small town VT, it's very common. In fact, when seating is limited in the cafeteria at the co-op in Montpelier, it's not uncommon for strangers to offer newly arriving diners a seat at their table. I've struck up a few interesting conversations that way.
 
If the local Pho place had communal seating, you could sit with me and your lunch would double as a broth shower. Haha.
 
I noticed the antisocial thing while I was in Boston last week. On my way out of town I stopped at a bar in Havard Square. The bartender was surprised I was willing to talk to him. The dude was from Poland and had awesome stories. I don't get why people arnt willing to talk to others.
 
I will stand a communal seating set up at Benihana's or other Japanese steak houses... Other then that.. I will do a 180 and walk back out of the door and they don't get a dime of my money...:no::no::nono:
 
ARFlyer said:
I noticed the antisocial thing while I was in Boston last week. On my way out of town I stopped at a bar in Havard Square. The bartender was surprised I was willing to talk to him. The dude was from Poland and had awesome stories. I don't get why people arnt willing to talk to others.
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It's all relative to what you're doing and who you're doing it with. I consider it normal to talk with the bartender if I'm sitting/standing at the bar and s/he isn't busy. That's just being friendly. Or if I'm at a sports pub and I'm obviously enjoying the game on the big screen that you are obviously enjoying, it would be normal for us to talk or exclaim about the game and any anecdotal stuff that comes up. Again - that's just being friendly.

But in these and similar cases, the initial interaction should be exploratory in nature. Just a few words to gauge whether the other person(s) are willing and amenable to including you in their world or not. If they are, then you may have enhanced the social experience for all involved. But if they aren't, it shouldn't come as a soul crushing event where you would feel compelled to run home and dump your angst out on a blog or message board. Maybe it wasn't about you - maybe they just wanted a modicum of peace and privacy in their crowded world. That shouldn't be so hard to understand, and it shouldn't be viewed as a social commentary on the USA or the world in general.
 
Since most of the time I go out to eat it's by myself, I would welcome the communal dining.
 
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