> Put the whole order in at once. Incomplete orders are one of my big restaurant pet peeves. I hate them for the same reason most restaurants do — getting the order in all at once helps them pace your order correctly and avoid a long gap between service of appetizers and mains. It also saves the wait staff time. So when dining with a gro…
> Put the whole order in at once. Incomplete orders are one of my big restaurant pet peeves. I hate them for the same reason most restaurants do — getting the order in all at once helps them pace your order correctly and avoid a long gap between service of appetizers and mains. It also saves the wait staff time. So when dining with a group, I do my best to enforce all-at-once ordering. It’s really in everybody’s best interest.
This is one of those times where you hear about a new concept or mode of behavior so legitimately shocking that you feel like you might have flipped a bit in the world simulation. Like when you find out that Alabamans call shopping carts "buggies".
I have never, in 10,000 years, ever heard of or remotely contemplated the notion of a table ordering the same part of the meal in multiple incomplete groups.
I'm talking about ordering appetizers and then not ordering your entrees until the appetizers have been delivered, which is a thing I see people try to do with alarming frequency.
I also prefer to order everything at once, but wait staffs often encourage this! They’ll ask if we want appetizers when ordering drinks (within minutes of sitting down)!
Thank God. I can at least wrap my head around people behaving this way, even if it falls short of best practices.
(It is a very weird asterisk of modernity that I'm replying to you in a comment chain in the very instant as I am listening to Serious Trouble--I had to pause. It was just too weird.)
Is it permissible to order a shared appetizer along with the drinks, so that it’s in progress while you’re perusing the rest of the menu? E.g., a plate of nachos or whatever.
That seems like normal behavior, whereas yes, everyone ordering an individual appetizer and then refusing to order entrees until they’ve all arrived seems like space-alien stuff.
I don't think this is a best practice, but I've noticed waiters increasingly prompting diners to order in this way, which I guess must mean it's not a problem for their workflow. We did this the other day because one of our dining companions had gone to the wrong restaurant and was late. It happens.
As I said below, and this confirms, this has a wider spread that just Alabama
> 5 also grocery buggy, shopping ~: A four-wheeled cart with a metal or plastic basket provided by a supermarket or other large store for customers to use while shopping. chiefly Sth, S Midl, OH, PA Cf carriage n 1
They were from Scranton, so not quite that part of PA.
They had some other weird idiolectical things that I always attributed to growing up bilingual with Russian. This is really the first one I've actually found out was a regional saying somewhere else!
edit: Sharty's link above confirms that's not just Alabama
> 5 also grocery buggy, shopping ~: A four-wheeled cart with a metal or plastic basket provided by a supermarket or other large store for customers to use while shopping. chiefly Sth, S Midl, OH, PA Cf carriage n 1
> Put the whole order in at once. Incomplete orders are one of my big restaurant pet peeves. I hate them for the same reason most restaurants do — getting the order in all at once helps them pace your order correctly and avoid a long gap between service of appetizers and mains. It also saves the wait staff time. So when dining with a group, I do my best to enforce all-at-once ordering. It’s really in everybody’s best interest.
This is one of those times where you hear about a new concept or mode of behavior so legitimately shocking that you feel like you might have flipped a bit in the world simulation. Like when you find out that Alabamans call shopping carts "buggies".
I have never, in 10,000 years, ever heard of or remotely contemplated the notion of a table ordering the same part of the meal in multiple incomplete groups.
I'm talking about ordering appetizers and then not ordering your entrees until the appetizers have been delivered, which is a thing I see people try to do with alarming frequency.
I also prefer to order everything at once, but wait staffs often encourage this! They’ll ask if we want appetizers when ordering drinks (within minutes of sitting down)!
Thank God. I can at least wrap my head around people behaving this way, even if it falls short of best practices.
(It is a very weird asterisk of modernity that I'm replying to you in a comment chain in the very instant as I am listening to Serious Trouble--I had to pause. It was just too weird.)
This seems like it would be unsatisfying even to most of the diners who order this way.
But, basically every waiter initially asks for a drink order. Is it OK to order drinks first or should we be ready with the full order at that point.
No, of course it's fine to order drinks first.
Is it permissible to order a shared appetizer along with the drinks, so that it’s in progress while you’re perusing the rest of the menu? E.g., a plate of nachos or whatever.
That seems like normal behavior, whereas yes, everyone ordering an individual appetizer and then refusing to order entrees until they’ve all arrived seems like space-alien stuff.
I don't think this is a best practice, but I've noticed waiters increasingly prompting diners to order in this way, which I guess must mean it's not a problem for their workflow. We did this the other day because one of our dining companions had gone to the wrong restaurant and was late. It happens.
"Can I start you off with anything?" is something I hear not-uncommonly, which seems like a house invitation to do that.
Drinks usually go to the bar and not the kitchen so it’s different
> Like when you find out that Alabamans call shopping carts "buggies".
What.
Couldn't make it up if I tried
https://dare.wisc.edu/words/quarterly-updates/quarterly-update-9/buggy/
As I said below, and this confirms, this has a wider spread that just Alabama
> 5 also grocery buggy, shopping ~: A four-wheeled cart with a metal or plastic basket provided by a supermarket or other large store for customers to use while shopping. chiefly Sth, S Midl, OH, PA Cf carriage n 1
In Brooklyn, I have seen grocery store signage referring to shopping carts as "wagons."
My PA-bred grandparents also called shopping carts buggies, so I’m wondering if it’s a generational thing that Alabama just never gave up.
Could be an Appalachian thing? - it's further in extent than one imagines.
They were from Scranton, so not quite that part of PA.
They had some other weird idiolectical things that I always attributed to growing up bilingual with Russian. This is really the first one I've actually found out was a regional saying somewhere else!
edit: Sharty's link above confirms that's not just Alabama
> 5 also grocery buggy, shopping ~: A four-wheeled cart with a metal or plastic basket provided by a supermarket or other large store for customers to use while shopping. chiefly Sth, S Midl, OH, PA Cf carriage n 1
so there you go
I wonder if it's linked with the geographic distribution of Piggly Wiggly, one of the very first self-serve grocery stores in the modern style.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piggly_Wiggly