Can I Leave The Restaurant If My Food Is Taking Too Long?

Here we will talk about what can be done if the restaurant food is taking too long, and if it is okay to leave the restaurant if it is taking too long. Depending on what an individual decides to do, there could be repercussions to leaving the restaurant. It depends on circumstances, which we will order and list below.

Not every restaurant handles their orders the same way. This means that in different situations, if the individual leaves the restaurant, because they did take too long to make the food, they may or may not be in some kind of trouble.

There are also important things that have to be said that can possibly help get a person’s order or a table’s order out faster, if this happens. An individual should never sit at a table or in their vehicle and just glare/stare at the kitchen until their order is ready. Communication is key to getting an order faster, if they think that it is taking too long. It is extremely important to use this tool.

There have been plenty of situations where individuals have been waiting at restaurants a long time for their food, but it hasn’t even started cooking or being prepared. This is because in some cases, tickets or slips that should have been sent to the kitchen end up never being sent, falling out of their places and into the trash can, end up under the register, or dropping onto the floor. It happens.

If a person sits there and waits for 30 minutes for their food and this has happened, then it will take more time for the order to be made, as it wasn’t even made aware to the kitchen that they needed to make something, because the ticket was lost. The guest communicating with the restaurant whenever they think it has been too long of a wait for their food, will usually speed and clear things up.

When a guest communicates to the restaurant that their food is taking too long, they should also try and do it in a genuinely polite manner. Pressuring the kitchen or the restaurant to speed things up, folding the arms and tapping the foot on the ground, will most likely cause them to make more mistakes and possibly mess things up and make things take longer. Usually a restaurant gets the picture after they have been politely asked if their food is ready yet. There is usually a supervisor that will ensure that the order is made faster if possible.

Finally, consider the type of food that has been ordered. Some foods and certain types of restaurants take longer to make their food than others in general. Fast food restaurants and casual restaurants are generally faster than fine-dine restaurants. Ordering food with certain changes, or a lot of specifications, can cause the food to take a very long time, even if the restaurant is doing their best. Packed restaurants will generally take more time to make each order too.

Asking to have certain foods (especially multiple orders) cooked or prepared in different ways than the ordinary can also have a heavy impact on how long it takes to prepare, cook, or finally get finished. Sometimes it isn’t the restaurant’s fault, but a guest that has done this with their order, that is causing everyone else’s food to take forever.

Situations #1: Leaving the restaurant before receiving any of the food at the table.

Most of the time, the most common scenario is when individuals want to leave the restaurant, because their food is taking too long, before anyone at the table has received the food. The reason this situation is the most common is because, most restaurants have adopted the clever habit of making all the food for a table first, and then sending it all out at the same time.

In general, it is just better for a restaurant to do this, as it would be awkward to have one guest finish their food before the rest of the table. This can happen if a guest orders a really small meal, or a simple dish that can be prepared easily.

When this happens, it is okay to leave the restaurant if none of the food has been received yet. Usually because there is no food yet received and no food has been eaten, the guests are in the best position to just get up and leave without worrying about paying. There is nothing to pay for, because there is no food. The guests should be mindful however to pay for any drinks that they have been drinking and appetizers consumed while they were waiting.

If the restaurant was truly taking too long, then they may feel guilty after their guests leave, and have the urge to improve and do better in the future.

Situation #2: Leaving the restaurant after the food has been received.

This is generally one of the worst case scenarios to be in, because the guests want to leave after the food has already been received. It is unheard of for guests to do this in most restaurant’s eyes. They may seek payment for the food, especially if some of the food has already been eaten.

It is better for guests to inform the restaurant that they are leaving, before the restaurant sends the food out, even if the restaurant promises that it will only take a few more minutes.

Leaving the restaurant without paying for the food after it has been received (even if none of it is eaten) is seen as rude by many restaurants. They may not have made the food as fast as the guests would have liked, but the guest made them finish making it, bring it out, and then the guests still left without paying. The restaurant may ban the individuals from eating there ever again or refuse to serve them in the future.

The restaurant may feel like they could have made the order faster if possible, but it could have been handled in a different way.

Situation #3: Leaving the restaurant without paying after food has been eaten, because the rest of the food is taking too long.

This is something that a guest should never do. They should never feel like it is okay to leave a restaurant without paying for the food that they have already eaten, just because they don’t want to wait for the rest of their order to finish. This is theft. The meals, drinks, appetizers, and what ever else that was eaten should be paid for first before the guests leave.

Even a person shopping for a full outfit pays for the top if that’s all they liked. They don’t get the top for free just because they didn’t like the bottom piece or the outfit as a whole.

A guest should never leave a restaurant without paying during a full course meal, just because the main course or other courses are taking too long. They should inform the restaurant of the following courses taking too long and reason with the restaurant to pay for the amount owed for what ever courses there are that have already been previously eaten. Leaving without paying is a dine and dash.