35 things you should never do at a restaurant
Just put your phone away
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Your support makes all the difference.If you’re trying to impress someone - be they a date, client or in-law - you might want to reassess your table manners.
According to a new study, 60 per cent of people have been put off by their dining partner’s restaurant etiquette.
The top no-nos? Clicking your fingers to get a waiter’s attention, speaking with your mouth full and being too loud and raucous.
According to the poll of 1,500 adults by software partner to the hospitality industry Fourth, 11 per cent of Brits have been embarrassed by their partner’s behaviour in a restaurant, and 10 per cent have felt the need to apologise about their parents’ manners.
But the study revealed that many of us have committed embarrassing faux-pas in restaurants - five per cent of people have complained to a waiter because their red wine was warm and the same number have mistakenly thought a finger bowl was clear soup.
Many people appear to believe the manners we were taught growing up need not apply any more, with 32 per cent of people saying they think some table etiquette rules are too old-fashioned.
Case in point: 39 per cent of Brits consider it acceptable to get your phone out at the dinner table provided you only do so once or twice.
25 per cent deem it acceptable to use your phone to look up an ingredient on the menu and 41 per cent say using the calculator function to split a bill is fine.
Bad news for the Instagrammers amongst us - only one in five people think uploading a snap of your meal to social media is acceptable.
Here are the top 35 restaurant faux pas:
1. Clicking your fingers for the waiter’s attention
2. Talking with your mouth full
3. Being too loud and raucous
4. Wiping hands on the tablecloth
5. Blowing your nose in a napkin
6. Letting children come and go as they please from the table
7. Licking a knife
8. Letting children listen to videos on a phone
9. Texting at the table
10. Answering/making a phone call
11. Letting your children play with cutlery and condiments
12. Touching up make-up at the table
13. Asking for a toothpick and removing food from your teeth at the table
14. Placing your phone on the table next to you
15. Not leaving a tip
16. Blowing on hot food too loudly
17. Taking a picture of your meal
18. Not sharing a ‘sharing platter’ and eating more than your fair share
19. Asking for ketchup/mayo in a fine dining restaurant
20. Flirting with the waiter/waitress
21. Tucking your napkin in your collar
22. Holding a knife like a pencil
23. Scooping out the ice from your drink with your fingers
24. Holding a knife and fork in the wrong hands
25. Paying your exact share when splitting the bill
26. Going outside to smoke
27. Pouring white wine in a glass that was being used for red
28. Downing a drink as soon as it arrives
29. Using the wrong cutlery for the course
30. Making a signing gesture for the bill
31. Moving around chairs and tables to accommodate your party
32. Ordering a fussy meal (no chips, no dressing etc)
33. Mispronouncing the name of a dish
34. Asking for a knife and fork because you can’t use chopsticks
35. Asking if a meal is vegan, dairy free, gluten free etc
The study found that the average Brit goes out to a restaurant almost four times a month, but 51 per cent of us admit to feeling intimidated in a fancy restaurant.
We’re also likely to leave an online review of an eatery three to four times a year, with 85 per cent of Brits saying they’re more inclined to do so if the experience was positive.
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