Dining out is something that we all enjoy, but it is important to understand the proper etiquette to go by as a customer at a restaurant. I believe that everyone should work in a restaurant at some point in their lives. Everyone needs  to experience the behind-the-scenes of food & beverage to understand why things don’t always go the way you want them to. Here are just a few things that people need to stop doing when going out to eat.

1. Coming in right before closing

When a restaurant closes at 10, that means you should be out of the restaurant by 10. It doesn’t mean that you can walk in at 9:55, acting like you made it just on time to get fully served because the restaurant doesn’t really close until the last customer leaves. So just don’t be that guy.

2. Asking the hostess at the host stand if it’s seat yourself

Do I really have to explain this one?

3. Not tipping at least 20%

Servers usually make only a few dollars an hour, so pretty much their entire salary is what they make in tips. If you fail to tip them, they are basically working for free. Also the servers usually have to split the majority of their tips to tip out the servers’ assistants and bartenders, so its important to not cut them short. If you can’t afford to tip at least the 20% standard, than you shouldn’t go out to eat.

4. Being impatient while waiting for a table

Trust the process. The job of the host/hostess is to make sure you get a table, so let them do their job. Roaming around the dining room pointing out empty and dirty tables is not helpful; it’s annoying. The host also has multiple other parties to seat, not just you. Hovering over the host stand and constantly asking how much longer is not going to make the tables turn any faster. If you’re not satisfied with the wait time, go somewhere else.

5. Choosing a different table after the host seats you at one

What people need to understand about restaurants is the fact that every successful restaurant follows the standard of “the customers are always right.”But actually, the customers are always wrong; employees just have to do everything in their power to keep that big ol smile on their faces and pretend they are correct. So even though they say “yes absolutely, I can take your party of 2 to that 6 top table next to the window so that you don’t have to sit under the air vent that doesn’t exist, it’s no problem.”  They are lying to you. Hosts take you to a specific table for a specific reason, so stop looking around the restaurant for better options. Usually hosts seat tables based on server availability and rotation, so most likely you requested a table in a server’s section that is in the weeds, and your service will not be as good as the section where the host originally sat you. So shocker -the customer is not always right.