In a restaurant in Italy, should I be seated when my food arrives?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 19 Jul, 2023
- |
The only reason that the waiter had to chase you in the toilet is because he was looking for his money. As far as the waiter is concerned, you placed your order and ran; and they want to know if they have to bin the food and maybe call the police.
I don’t believe for a moment that the waiter really cares if you eat the pizza hot or cold – especially given how long meals last for, it’s always cold by the time you get to the end.
If you’re alone, and leaving your table, taking your bags & coat (and laptop etc etc) after ordering and plan to return, tell the waiter you’ll be back in a short while. Just imagine that once making your order, the food is on the table; and a table where there’s no customer sitting means it’s time to clean up the table.
You could have left through the bathroom window because you saw someone from the wrong mafia family enter in which case there would have been no point in preparing more parts of your order.
More seriously: I don’t know the restaurant’s topology but it may simply have been the case that he was not sure just where you went and checked the bathroom. It would have been creepy to just peep and then silently close the door again, so he told you that your dish was ready as a sort-of explanation of him looking.
In my opinion you should be seated when your food arrives, especially if you are alone at the table. But it seems strange that they will come looking for you in the toilet. How long where you in there?
I would not want my food to be served without me being there and most restaurants (> fast food category) I know, would wait with serving until I am back, and keep the food warm in the meantime.
The reasons for wanting you at the table could be:
- So you can check if the food is okay (actually what you ordered)
- So you can be sure nobody tampered with it in the meantime (it is the waiters responsible until you get it, so he cannot just leave it unattended)
- So the food is warm and fresh.
- To make sure you did not left suddenly
P.S: I am from central Europe.
- Does my wife, who is accompanying me to a conference in Australia, need a separate visa application?
- Is there a difference between green traffic lights and blinking green traffic lights?
I find it very weird. I would never expect restaurant’s staff to talk to me in that situation, not in a McDonald nor in a Michelin 3-star restaurant ; except maybe if I stayed there more than 20 minutes, and they started to worry about whether I am alive.
It seems impolite to me and I have never encountered this situation in any restaurant, nor in Italy nor in France…
Another reason could be for self-insurance/coverage. What if someone decided to steal a slice of pizza, or the entire pizza, as you’re in there? Would you believe the waiters when they would tell you “your pizza was already served”? Just another possible option.
The only logical explaination is that he was simply suggesting you to hurry up, because the pizza was getting cold and you wouldn’t taste it in its best moment (when the mozzarella is still hot). Service in Italy is generally great, so what I would think is that he was doing me a favour.
Actually there’s also the possibility that he was stressing you to finish your meal fast to make space for other guests, which could be the case if you were in the bathroom for a long time, but only in this case, otherwise it would be poor service.
In conclusion, if you are doing your business in the bathroom, waiters don’t normally come knocking “hey you have to drop everything and begin to eat”, so no you’re not expected to stay at your table when the food arrives if you’re in the bathroom.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘