Most annoying distraction at a restaurant?

[Deja Q]

There are many to choose from!

:evilgrin:

[Jamastiene]

1. I don't think I can honestly pick just one.

I cannot vote until you add an "all of the above" option.

[southpaw]

2. Yeah... hard to narrow it down...

For me, the most irritating restaurant nuisances involve cell phones, children and/or cigarettes.

[Deja Q]

3. How about

'That damn brat was smoking a cigarette while talking to his ho on his cell phone - how rude!'?

:evilgrin:

[southpaw]

5. Happened to me just the other night...

But that's what I get for going in a Denny's

[hunter]

4. Being next to a couple having a miserable date.

It's utterly excruciating, probably because it reminds me of dates I used to have before I met my wife.

That dreadful unspoken "this was a mistake" feeling can permeate an entire room.

[begin_within]

29. What they should do is look at each other and say,

"You know what, this was a mistake, wasn't it. Let's just forget about the date and have a good time instead." Then they will probably have the best time they have ever had. That would make it a date to remember. When you drop all pretenses and just live in the moment.

[hunter]

49. I wish someone had taught me that.

I am going to pass this on to my kids and save them a lot of misery.

Thanks!

[begin_within]

55. It's never happened to me but I've heard of it happening. You're welcome.

[NewWaveChick1981]

6. All of the above...

...plus sitting in the nonsmoking section that is RIGHT BESIDE the smoking section. Yeah, the smoke really stays on its own side... :sarcasm: Fortunately, most restaurants here have gone nonsmoking, but there are the occasional ones that aren't. I stay out of them if I can.

[Reverend_Smitty]

7. you've actually witnessed someone grabbing food with their bare hands?

ewwwwww gross! I thought people had more sense than that!

[calico1]

54. We used to go to a steakhouse years ago that

had a salad bar area where you could serve your own salad and get bread. The loaf of bread was laid out with a towel over it, the idea of course that you put your hand over the towel on the part of the loaf you were not going to use while cutting off the bread you wanted. On a few occasions I saw people put the towel over the bread, then put their bare hand over the part of the loaf that they WEREN'T cutting for themselves! Not just children but adults too. And this was a nicer restaurant. So people are stupid that way sometimes.

[MountainLaurel]

56. Could be worse

One very late evening at a 7-11 (OK, early morning), a friend and I watched as a guy ate the hot dog chili directly from the warming tray where it was kept. My friend, who was working as a restaurant manager and knew all about health code violations, let the manager know what was going on. But that was the last time I ever put chili on my hot dog at a 7-11.

[madinmaryland]

8. People talking loudly on their cellphone and letting their kids

run wild through the restaurant.

:hide:

[LynneSin]

9. Stop in at my reply to get your popcorn for this thread

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Plenty go go around



Got the big machine cranking out the popcorn

[Darth_Kitten]

69. Got some.....thanks!!!

:popcorn: LOL

Got my early morning slurpee to wash it down. ;)

[crim son]

10. A shard of broken glass in your green chili salsa.

Terribly distracting and an annoyance to boot.

[bif]

11. The two Cs=Cigs and Cell phones

[u4ic]

12. Kids puking...

x(

[Zavulon]

13. I'll pick all the ones which involve kids. ALL of them.

I have nothing against kids unless I'm in a restaurant or on a plane - in which case they're the enemy. I have disembarked from flights rather than sit next to small kids, and children are the first thing I look for when picking seats in a restaurant. I rarely eat in any restaurant in which I can't pick my own seat these days.

[REP]

21. Ding Ding Ding! Winner!

Sick kids and restaurants aren't a good match. Kids on crack in a restaurant don't mix well either. We always ask to be seated away from families if any are present in the decidedly family unfriendly (high prices, wine list, no crayons or high chairs) restaurants we frequent.

[Nye Bevan]

47. Before you go to a restaurant

Call ahead and ask if they have a kid's menu. Then ask if they have high chairs. If the answer to either of these questions is "yes" then don't go.

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. Noisy Adults...

yucky.

[miss_american_pie]

15. The man verbally abusing his wife

at the next table. That was a fun evening. :grr:

[Ohio Joe]

16. Cellphones

These things drive me more and more nuts :crazy:

[warrens]

17. Cell phones

Particularly long, involved business conversations or twits deciding where to meet after dinner.

[lost-in-nj]

18. So i'm guessing

you went out to eat last night??
and had a great time!

:)

lost

[Deja Q]

25. Been eating out the last 3 nights... buying computer hardware is fun!

:rofl:

The food was good, but as my counselor is seeing firsthand, I have more than a teensy anxiety problem in public... :D

[Ariana Celeste]

19. Loud people.

I don't mind kids, they usually make me giggle, I get upset if they are crying, not irritated. I've never experienced kids running around a restaurant but then I don't go to very many family friendly restaurants.

What really bothers me is loud adults whose conversations I can hear several tables away. Especially when it happens to be a bigoted man or a bitchy woman.

[jobycom]

20. People nagging about my kids grabbing food with their hands while they

run around and scream into their cell phones. Christ, some people think they own the restaurant! "Sir, if you don't tell your daughters to put up their cell phones and to stop grabbing food off other diners' plates, I'm going to call the cops." I get that all the time! Bastards! Stuck up, skinny, snooty-mouthed elitists--just because they are 80 and on walkers doesn't mean they can't have a sense of humor. I mean, really, who doesn't laugh when mashed potatoes hit old people? Huh? No one doesn't, that's who!

[Burma Jones]

22. Smoking, it smells bad.....

fortunately we have nothing but smoke free restaurants here. Montgomery County, MD as well as DC banned smoking in bars and restaurants. I do think you should be able to light up in a freakin bar though.....

[smtpgirl]

43. Yep that is where they went wrong,

I work in Chantilly, VA and sometimes to to Bungalow Billiards after work.

The non-smoking section it totally away from the bar.

Bar is cool, pool tables, snacks, smoking, great place!!

That is why if I want to have a drink after work, I go there!!

Another great place to go is Dogfish Ale House in Gaithersburg, MD.

You can smoke outside, but the great thing is, Dogfish has a patio and when it gets cooler outside, they fire up the kerosene heaters!!!

BTW Dogfish has great beer and good food!!! Dogfish's original restaurant in Rehobeth Beach, DE has Great Food!!

[kwassa]

57. I like Dogfish Head, too. Hate cellphones, loud adults, smokers ...

obnoxiousness in general.

[LSK]

23. matcom chasing 2 children running around a restaraunt

like it was a playground

:D

[underpants]

24. The waitress has big whobbers

:wow::wow:

[Deja Q]

26. Yeah, but if I told her that she's beat me up!

And I ain't talkin' about her hooters... :hide:

[Initech]

27. My biggest pet peeve at fast-food restaraunts:

The guy who stares at the menu like an idiot (at a place they've probably been 50 - 40 times) for at least 10 - 15 minutes, and STILL cant decide what they want!

[Fox Mulder]

28. Anything that involves kids.

Kids are the reason why I don't go out to eat most of the time.

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. Self righteous people who never...

... had kids, or were kids themselves.

My honest vote would be for cellphone talkers.

[Deja Q]

33. Don't go there.

It's not relevant and, more importantly, you'll lose the argument fairly quickly.

[lumberjack_jeff]

35. Sorry to be a wet blanket. I have a fairly low tolerance level for...

... the "kids should be seen and not heard" argument.

Particularly as a parent of a child with autism.

I'm not afraid of losing arguments... but that may be due to its diminishingly low rate of occurence. ;)

[Deja Q]

38. I can one-up on you regarding that too.

I happen to BE autistic. (well, in the relative spectrum of the disorder anyway. The actual diagnosis is "Asperger Syndrome".)

You can imagine what my parents had to deal with. (or maybe not; it's a rather complex issue for me and one that has me thinking some sad thoughts quite regularly...)

On the plus side, you might be able to imagine what I had to deal with too, both as a child and as an adult.

Just wait until your child grows up to be an adult...

[lumberjack_jeff]

45. I know.

I've discussed the topic of Autism with you before, and to be honest, I hope that my son can communicate as articulately and reason as well as you when he grows up.

That sounds like gratuitous flattery, but it's not.

I'm barely more than ignorant about what you face as an adult. I hope to learn enough that I can provide some meager help to him as he grows up.

Every kid is different, but every kid is a kid. I just don't agree with the common view that 5 of the top 7 bad things that can happen at a restaurant is to be exposed to other people's kids.

"The Look" from people who give every indication of never having seen children in a restaurant (along with financial concerns) is why my family rarely goes anywhere that doesn't serve ketchup in a foil envelope.

[Dukkha]

31. cell phone assholes

there is absolutely positively NO reason to be talking on one at a restaurant. If you do then I'll be obliged to call you at home every time you're having dinner with a sales pitch since you obviously don't mind the distraction. It's also incredibly rude and insulting to the party you're dining with.

Unless you're on a kidney donor list or your wife's 9 months pregnant it should ALWAYS be off! Some restaurants enforce this rule too.

[Scout1071]

32. The staff singing happy birthday.

Horrible. Or anything where the staff yells or sings loudly on cue. Awful.

No, some of things you listed are not only annoying, but disgusting. If I saw anyone using their hands at a buffet, I would say something. One more reason buffet's give me the hee-bee-gee-bee's, especially at certain places.

Edited to note that I am a self-admitted food and restaurant snob.

Edited again to note the kid problem doesn't happen to me as much because I really try to stay out of the restaurants where people would bring kids. No offense towards those with kids, just a personal dining preference.

[cwydro]

34. doesn't have to be a coughing kid

a coughing adult is just as bad....but what REALLY gets me is NOSE BLOWING in a restaurant. That is just wrong. Yuck. Go to the restroom for gods sake. Yeah and the cellphone talkers bother me too.

[Deja Q]

39. True, but no parent should be hauling out a sick child anywhere.

The kid needs rest and recuperation.

Not stress brought about by the ambient environment, which includes the parents often enough telling the child "COVER YOUR MOUTH!" "SHUT UP!" "STOP THAT!" and so on. x(

[cwydro]

41. Absolutely

and sick adults ought not to be out infecting others either....but, you are right, I do feel for the children; seems unfair since they have no choice and poor little tykes probably would rather be home with mom or dad and chicken soup anyway. Anyhow....nose blowing (usually it's adults) is my big big peeve.

[Katina]

61. again...the problem is the parents, not the kids

stupid stupid parents.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. I was ready to kill in my local Dunn Brothers yesterday

I was trying to get some work done (Dunn Brothers coffee shops are my auxiliary office), and some guy with a cell phone was calling everyone he knew and talking LOUDLY, as in

"Heyyah, Joe here, how ya doin, my man? Yeah, me, too. How 'bout them Twins, huh?..."

He made about five of these phone calls (which I could hear over the music coming over my earphones) before I gave up and left. :grr:

[KeepItReal]

37. Incredibly hot women all around you when you are trying to have a date

...and of course they are gonna look at me *because* I'm on a date - DAMN!

One of the curses of Los Angeles...and probably any city I'm trying to have a date in.

:banghead:

[bicentennial_baby]

40. Chilled Tomatoes, Iceburg Lettuce

Banes of my f'n existence...hence why I don't eat salad in restaurants.

[Monk06]

50. I love tomatoes but they are not a cure for a bad menu. Iceburg lettuce...

just means ordinary leaf lettuce sitting in
an unwashed, ice filled bus pan for three hours
before a pimple faced diswasher makes your salad
for you because the newly community college graduated
grill cook/chef is two busy overcooking your fish.

If a salad doesn't have Endive or Radicchio in it
I won't order it. If a salad doesn't contain lettuce
at least you know their trying to please you.

[smtpgirl]

42. I voted for the children running around

That's why I avoid those "family restaurants" because of that.

Kids are great, but when you want to enjoy a meal, that really peeves me.

I can be with my 6 yo niece for that!!

[LoZoccolo]

44. Two kids running around. Plus, I was at a wedding three weeks ago...

...and there were two kids running around the dance floor non-stop, giving people ample chance to trip over them, while the mom just sat around.

PARENTS, WATCH YOUR KIDS.

[Montauk6]

46. Two things

1. Dining at an outdoor cafe and being accosted by some beggar.

2. People who stand around the salad bar/hot-cold buffet staring at what you're getting.

[Telly Savalas]

48. I stopped for a bite on the way home a couple nights ago.

Strangely enough there weren't any annoying children during the meal.

On the way home after the meal however, as I was getting off the streetcar, some stupid fuck who skipped the drivers ed class where they talked about red octagons with the word STOP nearly ran me over. Maybe if that person's parents had been sitting in the backseat to "WATCHYeR CHILdren!!!111" they wouldn't have endangered my life.

[Broken_Hero]

51. other...the bill!.....:) nt

[wildhorses]

52. such a nagging piddly little trifle...

and must be avoided at all costs...


ever seen that game played? My Granpa was a genius at it:rofl:

[Guava Jelly]

53. The Bill

I hate that thing!!

[kwassa]

58. Bad waitstaff, and service.

Impossible to get their attention, serving food late that has been clearly sitting on a warmer for awhile, mistakes in the order, wrong order altogether.

Or obnoxiously cheerful and intrusive!

[Tikki]

59. Raising their voices in anger....

I have learned to tune out just about anything...".live and let live" an all....
But, I can not abide folks who take their anger out in the streets (public) for me to hear.



Tikki

[Katina]

60. the "quick" answer could be the kids running around

but in reality, the ones who are really annoying are the parents who allow their kids to do it. Kids will do whatever they want when they have not been given clear guidelines or limits. This applies whether it's a fast food restaurant or an expensive restaurant. Give the child(ren) your expectations of behavior and you may be surprised. It also is fair to say that there are some restaurants where it is inappropriate to bring young children. You cannot reasonably expect a 2 year old or and active primary school child to sit still for up to two hours while dining. It's just not realistic and it's not fair to the kids..
So, my answer would have to be OTHER...most annoying are adults who don't know (or are afraid of) their own children.

[Divameow77]

62. Don't go to restaurants that cater to families!

I know you should'nt have to be annoyed by obnoxious children when you are eating a meal, but I'm sick of people complaining about this when they go to Applebee's or Chili's, where they actually encourage customers to bring there children.
I have two boys and we rarely go out to eat because my 3 year old just can't handle sitting for too long, but when we do we go to a "kid-friendly" place and I do my best to keep him quietly entertained. How will children ever learn how to behave if they are not taught? I refuse to have every dining experience with a giant mouse.

What I hate, are parents that LET their kids run around, not the kids actually doing the running, they are just being children.

[Katina]

63. exactly my point

well said. :thumbsup:

[bif]

64. Bazooka fire

I hate that when I'm trying to eat and talk on my cell phone in a restaurant.

[Sugar Smack]

66. OMG! That gets on my last nerve too!

:pals: :grouphug:

[AllegroRondo]

65. I had to go with the "ignorant baked fish eater", its closest to reality

About once a month, my wife and I will go to a Chinese buffet that offers steamed crab legs on Friday nights. Not a bad deal for all-you-can-eat.

But a couple months ago, we decided to never bother again. People are just too rude with crab legs. They hover around the buffet waiting for the new batch to arrive, and its gone before you notice it. I was sure some were going to tackle the young lady bringing the trays out from the kitchen. I saw a man pile half a tray onto a 9 inch plate (yes, thats over 2 feet high!) and hold the stack in place with his hands until he could get it to a table - no regard for the people behind him, not even a "sorry".

[Darth_Kitten]

67. Thanks!!!

I never want to eat out again!! :)

Uh, it's hard to pick just one. :D I would have to put slobby table manners, and yes, picking at food with grubby fingers when there are TONGS to be used would be near the top if not at the top of the list.

Annoying kids, cell-phones and whatnot come in a close second. :)

[Deep13]

68. In truth, tobacco smoke.

That other stuff is pretty bad too.

[AllegroRondo]

70. Lucky for me, my city banned smoking in restaurants.