Gage & Tollner

[Wilfrid]

Actually, I do order a cocktail at table at Le Croc so these are not rigid rules. 🤷‍♂️

[Sneakeater]

I WISH appetizers came that quickly!

[Sneakeater]

You know, at G&T I generally eat at the bar.

And they know me and my love of their Turfs well enough that they not only time the appetizer to appear after my cocktail, but after a period seemingly designed to tempt me to order a second.

I'll admit that the second Turf is drunk under the rushed circumstances you outline.

[Sneakeater]

Now that I think of it, the rushed cocktail problem never really comes up at table, at least in restaurants like G&T with good service.

The server invariably takes the pre-dinner drink order, brings the drinks, disappears for a while, and comes back to take the food order when the drinks are nearly finished.

This isn't something I have to negotiate.  It just happens.

[Wilfrid]

Most restaurants that ain’t true. Come on. They are slow bringing the cocktail, zippy with the app, and they lose my first wine order because I am still on the martini with the inappropriate charcuterie pairing. 

You really don’t have this problem ?
 

 

[Sneakeater]

At the bar I of course never have that problem.

At table, I definitely have the slow wine problem, and it infuriates me (and I'm not shy about communicating that infuriation, as you can imagine).

But since I almost never am asked to put in a food order until I'm well through most of my cocktail, the cocktail/food overlap just doesn't happen very often.

Unless I improvidently order a second one when putting in my food order.

[joethefoodie]

13 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

At the bar I of course never have that problem.

At table, I definitely have the slow wine problem, and it infuriates me (and I'm not shy about communicating that infuriation, as you can imagine).

But since I almost never am asked to put in a food order until I'm well through most of my cocktail, the cocktail/food overlap just doesn't happen very often.

Unless I improvidently order a second one when putting in my food order.

I have actually told servers I won't even look at the menu until I'm at least starting my cocktail.

Sometimes you just have to take them out of their zone into yours.

[Evelyn]

I tell them upfront that I will be finishing my cocktail before I order. Because I prefer wine with my food. Never had any pushback.

[Evelyn]

Except after dinner. Which usually involves an aged dark rum. Or a Madeira or tawny port if there’s something interesting.

[voyager]

12 hours ago, joethefoodie said:

I have actually told servers I won't even look at the menu until I'm at least starting my cocktail.

Sometimes you just have to take them out of their zone into yours.

 

11 hours ago, Evelyn said:

I tell them upfront that I will be finishing my cocktail before I order. Because I prefer wine with my food. Never had any pushback.

Good points.    I have found that serving people are “happy” to learn and abide by one’s preferences.

[mitchells]

What do you do at the restaurants that say that you only have the table for 90 minutes? (other than not going there.)

[joethefoodie]

2 hours ago, mitchells said:

What do you do at the restaurants that say that you only have the table for 90 minutes? (other than not going there.)

It's not that I can't eat dinner in 90 minutes. It's more like - fuck you 90 minutes.

[Sneakeater]

I think the parenthetical kind of swallows the question.

[Sneakeater]

The interesting thing, though, is that back in the early days of the post-Lockdown reopening, when just about EVERYPLACE had 90-minute limits so you couldn't avoid them as you can now, I never actually had one enforced on me.  When I noted the time limit was approaching and told the staff we had to hurry up, I was always told not to worry about it.

[mitchells]

My wife and a friend got into it with the host/manager at Red Farm a few weeks ago. It was handled really badly by the manager.  He basically told them they needed to leave a few minutes after they ordered another round of drinks and he cited the time limit on the reservation. Then why take their drink order? And plenty of tables were open but the people waiting (probably good customers) wanted THEIR table.