How long do I wait? I don't if a table is not ready, I leave, no food, nor restaraunt is worth a wait, there are too many other important things in ones life than food.
Ouch....I must say that there are certainly establishments worthy of the wait. Not just your Food and Wine chef of the moment, but places that have been around for a long time for a good reason.
How about a sandwich in Molinari's North Beach SFO, could be 25 minutes on a busy lunch hour. Or...in Phoenix Oreganos pizza seems to always have a 35 - 40 minute wait. In Portland, Toro Bravo (good, mmmm). In France we went to La Tupina (Bordeaux) and waited 25 minutes and then another place with just flank steak and frites. We luckily got there as they opened but when we left a line at least 20 people deep and it's three floors!
Come on, you've got at least one...