How to be a dream guest in every restaurant
With these tips and tricks, you’ll be the best restaurant guest of the evening. Follow these rules and your night out will be a treat—for you and the restaurant staff. Everything will go more smoothly and you’ll have a great night.
I’ve spent my entire working life running around in restaurants. These tricks are second nature to me by now, but of course it makes sense that, as a guest, you don’t think about them at all. No problem, naturally, but with these golden rules you’ll go a long way toward becoming the favorite guest of the evening.
Make your reservation during the day
You might think you have to call in the evening to make a reservation because that’s when a restaurant is open; a logical thought. Still, it’s better to call during the day rather than during dinner service. Between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., many restaurants are simply too busy to answer the phone. People are running around with full plates and bottles of wine, taking orders, hanging up coats, and sometimes making more than a hundred cups of coffee during that time.
Naturally, it depends on the restaurant, but even if a place is only open for dinner, there are often people available to answer the phone between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Tell them what you can and can’t—or do and don’t want to—eat
Waiting until you arrive to say that you’re vegetarian or allergic to something isn’t helpful. Mention it when making your reservation so the chefs can prepare for your arrival, and you’ll probably eat better too. Menus can be adjusted in time, and different sauces can be prepared during mise en place. Less stress in the kitchen and a tastier meal as a result.
Arrange with your friends beforehand or afterward how you’ll pay the bill
If there are two or four of you, it’s naturally no problem for everyone to pay their share by card. But if you’ve eaten with a larger group, it’s incredibly helpful if the bill is paid all at once. It saves a lot of time. With these apps, you’ll quickly get back the amount you paid upfront.
Let them know if you’re not coming or if you’ll be a little early or late
If you unexpectedly can’t make it after all, try to let the restaurant know as soon as possible. When you make a reservation, a restaurant counts on you showing up. A table is set for you, and people calling to ask whether there’s still a table available will be disappointed. If you then don’t show up or cancel at the very last minute, that’s frustrating. Frustrating for the restaurant (they’re missing out on revenue) and frustrating for the people who would have loved to come in your place.
If you’re early or late, it’s also very much appreciated if you let them know. Many places deliberately accept only a limited number of guests per hour or half-hour. So it may be impossible to reserve at 7 p.m., while 8:30 p.m. is still available. They do this so they can provide you with the service you’re entitled to. If everyone arrives at the same time, the staff is screwed. They can run as fast as they like, but they’ll still be playing catch-up. Not fun for them, and naturally not for you either. If guests trickle in throughout the evening, everything runs smoothly.
Try to find out where you’re going to eat
What’s the restaurant’s style? How expensive is it? Do I like that? Only go if it suits you. Not a fan of fish? Don’t go to a fish restaurant. Think it’s ridiculous to spend a lot of money on food? Don’t go to an expensive restaurant. Are you at a brewery? Don’t order wine—there’s a good chance the beer is better than the wine they serve.
This may sound obvious, but sometimes it’s good to stop and think about it. It’s very difficult for hosts, hostesses, and chefs to send you happily out the door of their fish restaurant if you don’t like fish. Not much fun for you, and not much fun for them either. Does the whole group want to go to that new steakhouse, but one vegetarian is coming along? Maybe make a reservation somewhere else instead.
If you’re thinking, fuck it, I’m just going to try everything and broaden my culinary horizons: sure, go for it—actually, that’s great. But if you already step over the threshold skeptical and reluctant, it’ll probably be a long evening.
Listen
If you’re sitting at the table with your lover, good friends, or your favorite colleagues, it’s perfectly logical that you all chat away happily all evening. Lovely, really—it would be a shame if you had nothing to talk about. But sometimes it’s nice to pay attention for a moment. For example, when the staff explains the menu, or when the chef tells you at the table what’s on your plate. If you talk over them or keep scrolling through your Instagram feed with no interest, the person standing at your table is left looking a bit foolish. And that doesn’t feel good.
Be honest
If all is well, you’ll be asked whether the food was to your liking. Especially if you haven’t eaten it, they should ask you that question. If you genuinely didn’t enjoy it, say so when they ask. If you can explain what you didn’t like about it (was it too salty, too fatty, unbalanced, missing acidity, cold?), that’s valuable feedback. Of course, tastes differ, and the chef’s taste may not be the same as yours, but feedback like that is always useful for a restaurant. They can learn from it and improve.
Cash tip = star guest
A tip is an extra expression of appreciation, and it’s incredibly kind of you to leave one. Whether you pay that little extra by card or in cash, it’s naturally always very much appreciated. But if you really want to be the star guest of the evening and have some cash in your pocket, leave the tip in cash. Since tips are paid out to employees in cash, it’s also nicest for them to receive it that way.
Have faith
Generally speaking, you can assume that the staff is doing everything they possibly can to give you a great evening. That’s their job. Maybe you’ve had an unpleasant run-in with restaurant staff before—that’s unfortunate and shouldn’t have happened, but it doesn’t mean all servers are awful people. Walk into a place you’ve never been to with a fresh and as open-minded an attitude as possible, and have faith.
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