Waited more than an hour at Sadie's in Albuquerque once. Worth it, plus they had free chips and salsa in the bar. ^

My tolerance level for waiting is also pretty low - 10 or 15 minutes. I don't need the "dinner" experience, so the above-mentioned Panera or Chipotle is fine. Preferred, in fact.

I've never eaten at the Cheesecake Factory. I don't eat cheesecake so I assumed that it was a dessert-type of place. After watching the last two seasons of The Big Bang Theory, I was thinking of trying it. But after reading this thread, maybe not.

The longest I have waited was 1.5 hours at 7am on a weekday at Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market. The sushi place's name is Sushi Dai.

My friend went on a weekend at around 9am and waited 3 hours.

The restaurant opens at 530am and only has 12 seats. There is a lineup before the place opens everyday and if you are #13 then tough, you'll have to wait for one of the first 12 to finish before getting in - 45-60 minutes later.. and this is 530 a.m. !! :D

http://www.youtube.com/ichinensei2#p/u/33/Y6HYn9c3LZo

Back in the 90's when I was in college in DC we would 90 minutes (or more) all the time at Cheesecake Factory and Houston's. Now, I won't wait more than 45 minutes--and that is very rare. Houston's in SF also has a huge wait as well. I no longer eat at the Cheesecake Factory, though there are a couple in the area.

Eh- don't give up; you might be able to use the economic downturn to your advantage. Back when the HELOCs were flowing freely, I used to have to make a point of avoiding my local Cheesecake Factory between the hours of 3:30 PM and 11:00 PM. Now, though, I can show up as early as 9:00 PM and get a table right away... on weeknights. :D

I'm usually willing to stomach a wait of up to around 20-30 minutes. This is not because I enjoy waiting for a table - actually I detest waiting at restaurants because my experience is that even the perpetually crowded places make surprisingly little effort to ensure the comfort of their waiting patrons - but because out here in suburbia, by the time one agrees on a different place to eat, goes out to the car, navigates through a warren of traffic lights to get down the road to the other place, finds a place to park the car, and gets inside, it's going to be almost 20 minutes anyway. Plus, if one restaurant is crowded, there's every chance of finding similar conditions at the chosen alternate.

When in the company of folks who really have their hearts set on a particular place, I've waited up to an hour at times. Fortunately, though, even my most die-hard chain-restaurant-fan friends (it always seems to be the chains that have such long waits) will question their choices when faced with a wait longer than that.

Yes Molinaris is great and I have never had to wait, either go b4 the lunch crowd or after it. Great sandwiches that's for sure

I wouldn't eat at Cheesecake Factory without a wait let alone with one. These is far better food to be found at thousands of small, independent restaurants. The Cheesecake Factory tries to make up what it lacks in quality with massive quantities. It and the people that go there are the reason America is fat and unhealthy.

Years ago I occasionally would wait up to 90 min with a reservation and after 45 min I would asked for free drinks at the bar and usually got them (having you wait is a nice juicy money-maker for them as you usually order $$$ drinks at their bar). Anymore I walk away if the wait is over 20 min and I have a reservation. I hate being ripped off!

MisterNice

15 minutes tops.

Completely agree, andf have tried to frame my encounters accordingly, in one case followed by a really tacky (and published) letter to the local newspaper complaining about a long wait, with no offered compensation.

30 minutes, and that under duress, would be my max wait time with no reservations someplace I really wanted to eat or was the only food for miles. Any place that doesn't offer to accommodate me in the bar while I wait either (a) doesn't have a bar, or (b) doesn't want my patronage. Of course, as long as the joint accepts reservations, failure to call ahead, even 30 minutes ahead, is self-defeating and wait-inducing.

When a restaurant begins to treat diners as "customers" and not as "patrons", it's time to find another place to eat.

I follow the same rule, maybe even down to 15 minutes. I cannot see myself ever waiting that long for a meal. If it's that important to me, I'll make a reservation. If I can't get my seat within 15 minutes of my reservation time, the manager and I are gonna have a little chat.

As a side question to the waiting time - do you ever notice how some restaurants use 'artificial' waits to make it look like they're busier and more popular than they are?

I will wait a reasonable time for a good restaurant, but when I walk into a half-empty establishment and the hostess says "15-20 minutes", I'm outta there.

I hate waiting and will go someplace elese if there is more than a 15-20 minute wait. There's just not much in my area that I feel is really worth waiting for.

I was in Montreal last summer and wanted to check out Au Pied du Cochon. I heard good things about it on other websites. I got there about 5:30 pm. I asked about the wait and was told the soonest I could get a table was 11 pm. I went elsewhere that night. It was the Wednesday before the Formula 1 race, but I didn't think it would be that bad of a wait. I didn't try back later that weekend because of the race.

I've been in Montreal during the week before the Formula 1 race many many times. There's no way I would go out to eat anywhere downtown that week. It's like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras.

i have never waited for a seat at some resturants... may be i do not go out much... or may be when i go.. nobody wants to see me.... hahaha...
i wait for lift quite often.... now i devised my cigar time according to the time when i have to wait... waiting for me iss a pleasure now with cohiba cigar..
Regards!!!