Do you mean like this?

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/...tore-sink.html

hey, it was his birthday!

And are stupid enough to post it on youtube.

Wow, no negativity here at all. I think you all need to take a step back and realize that for every pet peeve you have, there are people in the dining room who either reinforce this or have the opposite pet peeve. I'm amazed that so many of you would go out for a good time yet be so absolutely negative about things. To me, I go to a restaurant to have fun, but for many of you it seems like you leave your house to find something to complain about. The travel forum is laced with whiny pet peeve threads where people complain about nothing. This seems the same.

You guys? How in the hell is that offensive? Seriously. Guys is a way to reference the entire table. What should the waiter say? How are you people? How are you all doing tonight? Were they to do this, they'd have other people .....ing about being addressed differently. They're addressing a group and using a perfectly valid way to do it. Pull that baguette out of your backside and relax.

"Waitstaff who swoop in to try to take my plate when I am NOT done. I will line my silverware on the side of the plate when I am done, thank you."

You know, they're not psychic. Do you correct people at your table and other tables when they don't place their silverware together on the side? The waiters have to ask because of OTHER DINERS not because of you or their ignorance. Plenty of people don't follow the rules. It'd be nice if they all did. In the case where a waiter waited until everyone had placed their cutlery correctly, the maitre d' (or manager given that most people here are probably complaining about chains) would be fielding complaints about slow service.

"OK, you can't always predict volumes 100% accurately, but please let me know up front."

FYI, no restaurant on the planet can do this. Perhaps you should look around and find the people who didn't make reservations and complain to them. In nice restaurants in particular where there are special preparations for different dishes this can happen.

"1. Don't ever interrupt a conversation at the table except to tell me there's a fire in the kitchen and the exit is to my left."

So they should wait for your ongoing discourse to end before they, say, get your drinks, tell you the dinner specials, take your order or serve your food. Given that this happens so much that you complain about it, I'm guessing that you'd be depriving your fellow guests timely service and you'd then be complaining about it again. Perhaps learning to hush up when someone is trying to help you might make your dinner go better.

"2. Always know what beers are available on tap, what beers are available in bottles and what today's specials are. Be clear and specific if asked to describe a dish."

It sounds like hooters might be more your speed. It barely qualifies as a pet peeve though. Some restaurants commonly have 30+ beer in a bottle. I really don't think I'd want to have dinner with someone that anal to have them all recited. Lower end places have beer lists on the menu and perhaps that's more your speed.

"3. Don't ever take the check after I've placed currency on top of it and ask if I'll be wanting any change. I'll probably change my mind if you do."

Just realize that there are also people who complain when servers don't do this. Some people want to get change and want to leave. I commend you for paying cash and your servers will appreciate it. Given that your check sounds like its in a plastic bin or on the table instead of a nice leather folio, I'm guessing it was more of a fast food place where you were eating.

"to a certain degree, many of these things are valid complaints, but the only way to avoid them is by going to restaurants with higher service levels, which are usually fine dining and more expensive."

In the end, this post should be on each page. Most of the complaints here are either the fault of other diners or people just insisting on going to low end chain restaurants. There are plenty of indy places that have quality food and service who struggle because so many people, such as those on here, insist on hitting Applebees instead. For many people, you don't have the right to complain about restaurants until you start showing better taste in them.

Expensive British Hotels (typically the Country House hotels / halls) that run out of basic things at Breakfast and substitute items and hope you won't notice.

A few weeks back at a hotel commanding about £200 a night we each paid £16 for breakfast - having a bit of a hangover I went for the full cooked English Breakfast (items were listed)

The meal came with two tomatoes and no beans, and two rashers of bacon and no sausage - do you think I won't notice - when I queried whether I'd been given the wrong breakfast I was told that chef had run out of sausages and beans so they had made some subsitutions.

Only in England can a hotel charge you £16 for breakfast and then run out of the basic ingrediants at 8am on a Wednesday Morning - and then look at you as you are stupid when you suggest that, as it was only 8am, and there are probably other diners yet to come, someone should run out to the nearest corner shop (about 1/4 mile away) and top up with what I thought were basic provisions.

A colleague of mine, later told me he had to wait 15 minutes to place an order for his breakfast (there are only 30 rooms at the hotel!)- he asked for the Full Breakfast without Black Pudding - Guess what he got as his mystery substituion for the lack of Sausage and Beans - Tomatoes and ......... Black pudding

"it's not as though I ordered an elephants foot in a bun"

The same hotel that when I went down to Reception at 7.30am and said that the shower in my room was delivering no hot water I was told "oh I am sorry" - that's it, no offer to use another room, no offer of someone to come up and fix it - when I queried this i was offered a fuller explanation "the engineer wouldn't get here before 10am, sorry"

Rant over

I used to feel that when Outback/Applebees/whatever started and the waiter intro'ed him/herself while kneeling was off-putting but it at least shows me they're trying. Also its kind of awkward referring to a waiter/tress by his/her name.

Also when orders get delayed 15-20 mins and they come out to tell me so, and there is no comping (I would be even fine if they took a percentage off, not neccesarily for free). Fine, I might be cheap but you're wasting my time because you might've fudged up my order and need to start over. This usually happens when I order a combo and I'll tell the server to not bother and hopefully they get the hint (either get my order out now or take it off my bill).

Oh and your writing on the bill won't increase your tip. Your waiting on me attentively will increase your tip.

I dinged a server's tip last night because we ran out of Splenda at the table, and iced tea sat, untouched, for close to 15 minutes before she checked back. When she did stop and we asked for more Splenda, it was another 5 minutes before she brought Sweet and Low. She tossed it on the table and left so quickly that we couldn't correct her mistake until she brought the check.

"Also its kind of awkward referring to a waiter/tress by his/her name."

How exactly should we refer to people then? I'm curious what your thoughts are. I refer to people at my insurance company, coffee shop, grocery store, airline, work, etc, by their first name. How exactly should they be addressed? I think y'all should read my previous post and relax.

"I dinged a server's tip last night because we ran out of Splenda at the table, and iced tea sat, untouched, for close to 15 minutes before she checked back. When she did stop and we asked for more Splenda, it was another 5 minutes before she brought Sweet and Low. She tossed it on the table and left so quickly that we couldn't correct her mistake until she brought the check."

I thought the thread was about pet peeves not specific instances of less than ideal service. You could always ask people around you for splenda and they might have run out. She didn't exactly handle it well. Was it an actual restaurant or a chain?

I'm supposed to disturb other diners' meals because our server couldn't remember to bring the correct sweetener?

I'm kind of a weird guy in this respect, but I'm pretty much annoyed any time the waitress comes to the table short of taking my order.. Once my food has arrived, no more visits are necessary.

I'm also not crazy about phony lame preprepared lines and "fun" atmospheric behavior. Like some places that you can tell that the wait staff are instructed to act a certain way. Like one time (can't remember the place, think it was some steakhouse) the waitress actually got into our booth with us and shot off her schpeel about the specials and whatnot. Then sometime later they all lined up in the middle of the restaurant and did this really lame dance to this music that was turned up an unacceptably loud level.. It was just very uncomfortable.. I just want to order a meal and enjoy it in peace with the company I came with.

FWIW, we had a phenomenal waiter Thursday night at III Forks in Dallas who (among many other things) restocked the Splenda (without being asked) when it was running low. I left a $50 tip for a $150 ticket and booked another reservation for last night, specifically requesting this waiter.

"I'm supposed to disturb other diners' meals because our server couldn't remember to bring the correct sweetener?"

You were drinking ice tea, at night, in a 'restaurant' where they put things on the table instead of presenting them at least on a plate and you're expecting me to believe you were at a high end establishment and it would ruin people's night if you asked for Splenda? You really need to get out more if this social confrontation would cause you this much anxiety. Perhaps some less travel and more therapy could help.

"I'm kind of a weird guy in this respect, but I'm pretty much annoyed any time the waitress comes to the table short of taking my order.. Once my food has arrived, no more visits are necessary."

Sorry, but that's just stupid. Ever order a steak? Do you think the wait staff can magically guess if it is ok? Ever had the wrong meal brought ever? Any waiter who knows what they are doing should ALWAYS check back after the meals are served and people start eating. This should be within a few minutes. Otherwise, you'd have threads full of people complaining on here. Taking your pet peeve into consideration would cause some seriously bad service. Deal with it. They do it for a reason. After that, the staff should know how to make you feel attended without interrupting your dinner. Your own crazy ideas shouldn't reflect back on the wait staff. I certainly hope you don't tip less because they were doing their job.

"I'm also not crazy about phony lame preprepared lines and "fun" atmospheric behavior. Like some places that you can tell that the wait staff are instructed to act a certain way. Like one time (can't remember the place, think it was some steakhouse) the waitress actually got into our booth with us and shot off her schpeel about the specials and whatnot. Then sometime later they all lined up in the middle of the restaurant and did this really lame dance to this music that was turned up an unacceptably loud level.. It was just very uncomfortable.. I just want to order a meal and enjoy it in peace with the company I came with."

Try going to a real restaurant next time. Avoid anything that is a chain. They'll likely be named adjective verb's like Whiskey Mike's or Sizzlin' Charlie's. You'll pay a little more, but it will be less like a generic dressed up McDonald's with table service and your waiter is far more likely to do what he or she does for a career instead of something they do to get through college.

You've never dined in France, have you? Chacun à son goût. ;)

Modern Restaurant Pet Peeves
 

1. Lately I have had many servers asking me if I want change when paying for my bill. The last time was with a $100 bill on a $25 check, of course the don't know what I am paying with. Has something changed in training?

2. Eclectic restaurants that do not have any standard items on the menu. Very often out of a party of six, one person at least will be someone who has no interest in the eclectic menu. This is more of a suggestion I suppose, but if I were the owner, I would have one old fashioned dish out of every main group. Really hate to push the Goat Ossobuco on Grandpa.

3. Restaurants that advertise Sunday Brunch that do not have a Sunday Brunch Buffet, they are just are open in the late morning on Sunday. Somewhat deceiving in my opinion.

18% automatic tip for parties of 6 or more.

Wine lists with no prices.