Restaurant regulations you'd like to see

[Randy_Bowman]

I wish perfume and cologne could be outlawed, but absent a shower, washer & dryer at the door it’ll never happen. Worse, before I drank wine and went on dates, I wore the amount that offends me now. Our family and most of our friends are pretty good about no scent. The majority of restaurants we eat at have the tables far enough apart it’s not so noticeable and it’s very rare I find a waiter/waitress wearing anything beyond faint.

No a fan of kids either, but you know, families with younger children usually dine early so we try to get reservations around 8 PM , or a second seating. What’s more, the mouthy boys from the office are usually gone or going by 8 PM.

It’s not hard to work around some issues.

[Brian_Tuite]

@Bruce Leiser_owitz

@Brian Tuite

No dogs - it’s a CA thing
No smoking - smoking sections are ridiculous
No child haters like Joe B - you were a child once, weren’t you?
No Chilis
No Chipotle
No Applebees
No Olive Garden
No Outback
No Red Lobster
No… You get the idea

If you’ll accept a friendly amendment, how about requiring ALL parents with kids to go to Chilis, Chipotle, Olive Garden, etc. Then they get their
restaurants and the kidless adults and me can have our own. Well, I guess you have to eliminate Chipotle, because it’s probably not healthy for ANYONE
these days, but… you get the idea.

Bruce

You know… You have a great idea right there!

[craig_v]

IF, you think you’re fine dining restaurant and especially if you charge corkage…

1. No thick wine glasses. Doesn’t have to be top shelf Riedels but no pop btl glass stems please
2. Have decent champagne stems
3. Don’t offer Pinot Noir or red Burgundy unless you have a PN glass. Don’t like PN out of a BDX stem.
4. If you offer corkage don’t seek to make more gross profit on BYOB customers than a normal table guest.
5. Post your wine list online. What’s the big secret??? You can add disclaimers about checking to see if in inventory.

[g.colangelo]

@David K o l i n

No perfumed diners allowed

+1
Same goes for tasting rooms and events.

[Gerhard_P]

@Mark Y

@Joe B

No children under age 12 between 6-9 pm
No children under 6. Period.

…

We’ve gone eating with our kid since 4 WEEKS old. Never had problems even at Michelin 3 star places. It’s not that under 6 shouldn’t be allowed. It’s shitty parents with kids that shouldn’t be allowed.

BRAVO - so did we (ok, not at 4 weeks, but at 12 …)
Children are our future !

My wishes for restaurants:

Serve all wines at proper temperature … (and in proper glasses)
Offer wines with human mark ups (300% is riduculous)
Have clear and consumer-friendly corkage policies …
Make no issue when I refill my glass by myself …
Indicate all vintages and all producers on the wine card …
…

[Stan_Y]

@Gerhard P.

@Mark Y

@Joe B

No children under age 12 between 6-9 pm
No children under 6. Period.

We’ve gone eating with our kid since 4 WEEKS old. Never had problems even at Michelin 3 star places. It’s not that under 6 shouldn’t be allowed. It’s shitty parents with kids that shouldn’t be allowed.

BRAVO - so did we (ok, not at 4 weeks, but at 12 …)
Children are our future !

I agree completely. My kids have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the country, ever since they were old enough to eat with utensils. They eat like adults, truly appreciate good food, and are surprisingly good critics. When a 6 or 10 year old gets bored during a 2-3 hour meal (they will), hand them an ipad between courses, problem solved.

Some of my fondest memories include fork-fighting my son without realizing it for the last bite of foie gras when he was 8 or 9; my kids patiently waiting in line and truly enjoying meals at an outstanding local place (that Gourmet magazine called the #11 restaurant in the country multiple years) the last few times before the owners retired; my 8 year old little girl very confidently and quickly making astute and unusual selections from tasting menus; the WTF look she gave the waitress at one very nice place when the chef offered to cook simple kids meals for them .

[Jim_Slatin]

I got one for you. My wife and I took my parents out to a fine dining restaurant one night. At the table next to us there was a couple with their two kids who started playing with their hand held video games with the volume up. Since I am one of those who is not opposed to calling people out on rude behavior, I turned around and asked them to turn the volume down. They had an attitude about it but they did put a stop to it. Unfortunately, the couple started whispering comments in an attempt to irritate me and on top of that they allowed their kids to play the games again with the volume up. When I first asked them to turn the volume down I was polite about it. The second time I was extremely pissed and stood up and confronted the father. Of course then he completely backed down but I had to practically threaten him.

Now, I don’t care if it’s a child or adult. Rude behavior is rude behavior and there is no excuse for either one, which in both cases the adult is the rude one. I have called out loud obnoxious adults as well. If your kid is well behaved then no problem, but if you know that your kid has that potential then you are rude if you bring them to a fine dining establishment. And i’m sorry, but if you say that you will bring your child outside when they act up a couple of times during the meal then the damage has already been done and you have impacted the other diners meal in a negative way.

By the way, the same rule should apply to bringing small children (especially babies) to movies meant for older audiences.