What's Bugging You?: Restaurant Pet Peeves

There’s nothing more annoying than getting all gussied up for a night on the town, going to what is reputed to be a posh restaurant and being faced with, well, nonsense. I’m not talking about clowns running around squirting you with water from the fake flower on the lapel or strangers walking up to you and uttering the words “Take me to your leader,” over and over again (although the latter would be cause for alarm).

The nonsense that I speak of falls more in line with the little irritants that can turn a night out into an episode that is a bit off kilter--not unlike an episode of The Twilight Zone, although slightly less bizarre. A bug in your soup. A snooty maitre‘d. A martini shaken when you specifically asked for it stirred.

These types of things belong on a list. And, what do you know, I just so happened to have compiled such a list! While this compilation is more of a personal nature—personal in that these are my particular dislikes—they are nonetheless quirks that you might agree with.

Read on to discover my “Top 10 Restaurant Pet Peeves.” Then, after you’ve finished nodding your head at my list, let me know what your restaurant pet peeves are. We all have ‘em. Don’t be shy . . . let the world know. Who knows? There might be a restaurateur or two in the audience!