Food allergies aside, my main peeves are:
1) Not coming over to take a beverage order as soon as possible or at least putting down glasses of water in places that still do that.
2) No condiments on the table, yet no offer when the meal arrives.
3) Disappearing for the entire meal because they really don't want to know that the cook spilt the shalt shaker in your stew or the steak has the consistency of shoe leather when you had ordered it rare.
4) The server is nowhere to be seen to order an additional drink/refill.
5) The server asking if you're "done" instead of the correct and much more polite way "May I take your plate?"

#4 above really perplexes me due to the fact that tips are calculated on percentage and #4 is such an easy way of increasing their tips through a few additional beers or even a single glass of wine.

So just had a meal that managed to check off several peeves:

1) walk into restaurant and tell the hostess one person. "Oh ma'am you'll have better luck at the bar." Explain I don't want to sit at the bar. "Okay I have a table available right this way.". Then why did you just tell me I'd have better luck at the bar.:rolleyes:

2) Get seated, waitress comes eventually and I order a drink and an appetizer. 10 minutes later she comes back and I order dinner (soup to start, and an entree with a side salad). 5 minutes later out comes appetizer and soup (okay fine, I'll eat soup while appetizer cools for a moment). Except that 2 minutes later comes the rest of my meal. So I finish my soup and start on the appetizer as waitress walks up and fails to notice everything basically came at once. At least acknowledge this shouldn't have happened but nothing. She did apologize that my drink still wasn't here - it was being remade.

So I eat part of appetizer and then part of my soup, and start on my now lukewarm entree, and 3) finally over 30 minutes later, and after I am finished eating, I get something to drink - because remaking a margarita really takes 15 minutes.

Guess I should've taken the advice from the hostess and gone to the bar - at another restaurant.

I generally don't hesitate to tell the server or whoever is delivering my food that I'd really prefer they take my entree back until I'm ready for it. They tend to listen. :)

I was met with a shrug when I said something to the person delivered it. Basically no one there cared last night. I should've taken the hint when I was being seated.

I've had this happen a couple of times when I've been dining alone, but never when I'm with other people. Kind of feels like some places really want to get rid of lone diners fast so they can reuse your table for more lucrative customers.

I HATE when you mention an allergy, confirm they understand, and then your food comes with your allergen all over your plate. Allergies are not a joke!

And it's a shame too because the OP was ordering alcohol, an appetizer and an entree so they sound fairly lucrative. It's not like they got water, a sandwich and worked the crossword for two hours.

Plan was to order more than one drink too - their loss.

It may sound crazy but when my wife is back in England and I do my traveling bit, I actually prefer to sit at the bar.

Pet peeve is similar - I get the soup salad and entrée all at the same time. But at the bar I ALWAYS get my drink first. In fact I check the menu while I am drinking.

If I'm by myself, I generally prefer to sit at the bar too, in that I can usually get a little conversation with the bartender while I'm there.

I prefer a table when I'm by my lonesome as I like the extra room. I can spread out my paper or a book and have my phone all at arm's reach, I don't want to feel like I'm encroaching into other's space.

Sometimes I like the bar sometimes I don't. I'm short so my legs dangle in tall chairs, which I can deal with some of the time, but other times is highly uncomfortable to me. Thursday night was one of the evenings, but I shouldn't have to explain to a hostess that.

I find it kind of depends on the place, and the atmosphere. Walking in through the door set on sitting at a table, I've sometimes changed my mind and taken a seat at the bar instead.

1,2,4 and 5 happened yesterday as the server was in complete disarray. So the bartender started filling in on the drink orders, dessert orders, grabbing dishes off the table.. excellent service provided by the bartender. The waitress however was peeved. Well.. then get over here and serve us.:-:

Based on the rest of your story, maybe she knew you'd have better luck (service, not seating availability) at the bar!

My pet peeve is when they wipe down the table in front of me. I know they use the same ever-dirty towel all shift, but SEEING it happen right in front of me just screws with my appetite.

As for service, I hate when they use smartphones for my order. I've seen the at more casual restaurants the past year. I get the experienced wait staff who are great at service but need 20 minutes to poke my order through, or the young staff who whiz through my order but lack experienced service skills. My peeve is this digital transition.