Restaurant Table Manners and Tips

Ok, ok, I know that you all have excellent table manners and there’s no need in creating such a post. But nevertheless some people tend to say that Americans don’t behave properly at the table in a restaurant, so only for the sake of repetition, here are some basic and most obvious rules which everybody should follow:

Don’t Talk Loudly 

Respect The Waiter 

Be Patient 

Don’t Chew With Your Mouth Open

Don’t Talk With Food In Your Mouth

Don’t Lick Your Fingers 

Don’t Burp or Belch Loudly 

But what to do if we find ourselves in a totally new situation? 

For example in a Chinese restaurant in where we get chops instead of fork&knife? 

Or at the formal dinner with the British Queen? 

Here are some general tips taken from the Internet site ehow.com:

For all questions involving etiquette, just use your brains..

Never do anything until the host does it first.

If you're not sure whether or not you can eat something with your fingers, just use a utensil.

If you're not sure what to do, wait and see what your neighbor does. If that offers no clue, just fake it :D

Lunch time = student's time

The importance of sharing meals is obvious. It should be practiced since early childhood, that is why in every school there are school cafeterias where students and teachers can eat together. However, those places are not prepared to be what they are meant to be - the best part of a school day. =D

Lunchtime at school is way too short. Students have no more than 10 or 15 minutes to reach the lunchroom, eat, talk and relax. Quarter of an hour is of course not enough, that is why young people eat in rush and mostly unhealthy food that doesn’t take too much time to be ready to eat ( fast food and sweet snacks).  That can lead to lifelong problems like obesity or going further; depression. 
Eating is also a time to chat, making friends in 15 minutes is impossible. No wonder kids spend their time in front of the computer as they are not used to talk face to face for more than a few minutes.
Cafeteria should be an enjoyable place:, always clean (!), with interesting posters or paintings. Tables should be round not long rectangular ones, so that none feels left aside. Also, make sure that there are enough chairs for everyone; no one likes to stand when everyone else is sitting.

All things considered, school administration should definitely extend the lunch brake ( remember that students need time to reach the place, eat, relax, socialize and go back to the classes) and eliminate “eating in silence” – the habit that is still present in Polish elementary schools, since it denies the vision of meal as a time required to socialize. 

Sharing meals? Yes, we should!

An image of a perfect family?
Everyone’s mind immediately pop out a dinner table with a tasty-looking food and happy, smiling members of a typical family: a caring mum, responsible dad, brave son and beautiful daughter. Sounds stereotypical? Perhaps yes, but you what's inside our head.

So why, in our heads are they sitting at the table? Why not playing chess or other cool game?
Because from the very beginning people associate sharing meals with good emotions.
While eating together we have time to cherish our strong relationship.
Take Barney for instance - one of the characters in sitcom
“How I Met Your Mother”, who has no problem with going to bed with random chicks but rejects eating a dinner with them. At the table we have an amazing opportunity to discuss, express our opinions or just show that person whom we are eating with is extremely important to us. Moreover sharing meal is an easy way to keep in touch not only with our family but also with our friends. So don’t hesitate any much longer and invite every person that is close to you to have a dinner together.

Cheers!