Given the choice in a restaurant – would you go with a booth or table (or bar!!!) for seating?
Booth! Every time. Even if I am in sweaty workout clothes. Booth booth booth.
Side note: the waitress last night told me I picked the drink with the highest amount of alcohol in it. GOOD. Is the work week over yet?!
Hi! I'm Kim, a 34-year-old living in Chicagoland with my husband, Steven, and our cats, Khali, Apollo, and Starbuck. I work in the design industry (architecture), follow a vegan lifestyle, am addicted to running, and am an ACE certified personal trainer (working at Essential Fitness, LLC ("Efit"))! I write about a variety of topics, and consider this a "life" blog - a place I can share anything that's on my mind. Please visit the "About" page to get a better idea of who I am! :-)
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Booth! Even when it’s all 6 of us, I like a big booth 🙂
Booth. every time. They are just so comfy.
Booth. If I’m at a bar I do like sitting at the bar unless I’m with a bigger group then take me back to the booth!
I don’t really have a preference. I do think the drink with the most alcohol is great though!
Booth for us too!
Haha I love that side note! I’m so happy the school/ work week is over for me! I prefer booths too.
I am first going to answer this as a person. Then as a waitress.
Me: I like a booth. I will always request for one when I make a reservation. If I am a walk-in and place is empty, I’ll also ask for one. I only like to sit at a bar if all I am having is a drink or if I think I will be there a long time. If I do sit at booth (or table for that matter) for an extra long time, I make up for it by tipping extra.
As a waitress: DO NOT ask for a booth once you have been sat at a table. DO NOT come in at 6pm when we are at our busiest and ask for a booth and be angry when you cannot get one because they are reserved for people who planned ahead. DO NOT take this anger out on your server. DO NOT sit in my booth on a busy Friday night to only have a drink. If you sit for more than 2 hours (people do this all the time) keep in mind that table could have been turned over 2-3 more times while you sat you should tip appropriately.
Whew. I sound like a total bitch. But I am also a waitress that depended on tips to pay my way through college, buy my first (and second) cars and that saved to buy a house with waitressing money. I make 2.13 an hour. I have to tip out every night to my bartenders and hostesses. If I am not tipped more than 10%, I literally am paying for you to eat.
I used your blog as a public forum that might be my ass whipped (because many people generally truly do not believe in tipping) and I apologize in advance for that! You know I love you and your blog and since all you wanted was a simple answer here it is: I like a booth most of all 🙂
LOL! I like your long responses. I didn’t realize wait staff got paid SOOOO low. What is up with that?
And I hadn’t thought to tip more if I sit in a booth… but you are only saying if I sit there a long ass time and don’t order much? I generally tip 20%, then more if they are kickass (like they are at the Red Robin I went to in this pic) but less if they are really bad. At another Red Robin (the one I avoid) the waitress spilled my water on me and didn’t even clean it up. Brrr…
Sorry. Now I am ranting on my own blog.
I would like to think that people who not expect to pick their table style when they are lucky JUST to get a seat, but! Alas. The world is full of assholes 🙂
We get paid so low because we get tipped. So I understand that and I am okay with that. But what most people don’t know, is that we don’t keep all our tips. For one, we obviously have to claim them. The computer keeps track of our sales and we tip out 10%. So if we have $400 in sales, we tip out $40 of that right off the bat. SO what if people tipped less than 10%? Well that is just it…we PAY for them to eat. Make sense?
In addition to the 10%, we tip our hostesses and our bartenders. It’s a total of 3%. Small amount sure, but still 3%.
After that, we keep what is left.
I make good money- usually $15-25 an hour depending on the night of the week and the amount of tables I have. But it is hard. No one sees the prep work we do. We also have sidework. We roll silverware. That is what we get paid 2.13 for.
To answer your other question- I only think people should tip long if they sit for a ridiculously long time!
With me, servers start at 20%. If they are good, I add a few dollars. If they are just ok, they stay at 20%. On a few occasions, I have tipped 15%. Once, I didn’t leave a tip at all because the server argued with me that I wasn’t allergic to tomatoes and I should just take them off. Hahah.
Maybe I’ll write a post on this 🙂
I think you should write a post on it because I find it all very interesting and I bet most people don;t know this stuff (I didn’t!) Are most restaurants this way?
Booth!!!!!!!!!!
Definitely booth, unless I’m playing team trivia (and then I’m at the bar, tipping & drinking appropriately ;)).
Booth! I love the squishy chairs and closed in feeling and then you can’t hear the people that need to STFU who are sitting near you talking obnoxiously about things that shouldn’t be discussed at dinner.
Yay Mai Tai!!!!!!!! Those will get ya drunk 😉
LOL re: people who need to STFU. Good point. We were sat at a table near kids Thursday night and I asked if we could move to the open booth in the corner because I needed to get my drink on veg out.
I didn’t get drunk though! Should’ve gone for #2!
Booth EVERY TIME!!!
BAR! Kevin and I love sitting at the bar and chatting with other people and the bartenders.
If there is no bar, then we like a booth. Execpt at the Pizza Hut in town where the table is so far away from the booth benches that you have to scoot way to the front of the bench and hunch over to even reach your plate. (I’ve seen it in a few restaraunts – is it because Americans are getting bigger? Maybe a topic for another day!)
Steven said that Thursday night! I asked if he wanted me to come sit by him and we could pull the table close to us, and he said no. LOL!
Booth! Miles even prefers it so you know it’s the best. I always hated having to sit at a table when I went out with my mom. It just wasn’t as comfortable.
When I wrote this I was thinking about a certain times I had to sit at tables because that was all the person could sit at, and it bugged me. Is that mean?
Booth or bar if I’m only with one other person! Booths are much more comfy than tables but depending on how loud the restaurant is, sometimes it’s easier to chat if you sit at the bar.
Booth all the way 🙂 So much more comfy and intimate! What kind of drink did you get?! TGIF!!
Tropical Mai Tai! TGIF x1000. I am going to be living vicariously through your cruise this week, fyi.
IT depends on who I’m with. If I’m with friends, I typically like to do the tables at the bar. If I’m with fam or on a date booth!
I prefer a booth, too. Unless I’m with a large group of people and then I want a table. I hardly ever sit at the bar because I don’t like feeling like I have to interact with the bartender.
Booth, unless the restaurant is busy then I’ll almost always sit at the bar since I only take up one seat that way.
Real question is: What was the drink!?!? This way I can order it when I go to Red Robin next 🙂
Get it! Tropical Mai Tai! The Red Zombie (hmm, or some unliving dead name) is good too 🙂
I don’t have a huge preference between the two, but I would probably pick the booth! I like being able to store my jacket on the seat next to me instead of hanging it from behind my chair.
So what was this magical drink concoction you picked!?!?!?
Tropical Mai Tai! 🙂
Yes! Good point re: the jacket!
Is that Red Robin, or do I just assume that’s where you’re usually eating out? 🙂
My preference is always booth! They’re so comfy!
LOL! Of course it is, sillypants. 🙂
I like sitting at booths if given the choice but I don’t mind sitting at a table either. I very rarely sit at the bar to eat because I just feel awkward eating up there.
Booth ftw!
Congrats on choosing the drink with the highest amount of alcohol! 🙂 What was the drink? Was it a Long Island Ice Tea?
Tropical Mai Tai! Hmm. Maybe they didn’t have those on the menu? 😉
Yes, definitely booth! I feel like my chair is always getting bumped when I sit at a table.
Booth. For so many reasons:
1. I enjoy the cushy seats
2. I enjoy people watching from the “sidelines”
3. There’s a place for my purse
4. More table surface area per person
Like duh. :p
Ha ha ha! I was going to write “duh” in my post but didn’t want to offend anyone 😉
Wow, I’m in the vast minority here. I like a table! When I sit at a booth, I feel like the table is so far away from me, and I don’t like having to scoot up to the edge of my seat to reach it!
Of course, it depends… if I’m by myself, it’s the bar. Strangers talk to each other at the bar, side by side. if I’m with someone, it’s a booth though I don’t mind tables but booths are much more comfortable.
Booth.
And from a research perspective, I think I’m going to need to know what this drink is.
LOL! Tropical Mai Tai.
Booth!! It’s my favorite!
Booth!! Unless I’m with people I don’t know very well, then table. But sometimes when we get a booth, Robert will slide in next to me and we’ll be THAT couple 🙂
I asked Steven to do that Thursday night! No dice 😉
I’m a booth person as well!
Booth for sure! Number one dislike at restaurants and bars? High top tables, who likes sitting in those tall chairs? Or maybe I’m so lazy that I must have butt cushioning.
LOL I like the little side note at the end. I hope you have a relaxing weekend! 🙂
I like a booth unless we go some place like Sweet Tomatoes..getting in and out with V every 2.3 minutes is a pain
Booth! Love snuggling. 🙂
I prefer a booth. I do occasionally sit at the bar though if I’m out with girlfriends and also having a beer and sometimes if I’m watching a game.
Table. Always a table. Booths are enemies of short people – my feet rarely reach the ground and the table is often too far away.
Booth all the way. And drinks with more alcohol in them, too.