10 restaurant pet peeves

The other night, my husband and I endured an awful meal at a casual West Side eatery. It took 45 minutes to deliver two clubhouse sandwiches. The harried server didn't apologize and just passed it off as the kitchen being very busy.

Sure, it was Friday night. Therefore, the kitchen being very busy is understood. But shouldn't there be more staff in the kitchen to take care of issues like that? We were also squeezed near a mature lovey-dovey couple on a romantic date and who seemed equally embarrassed to be seated next to us. There were plenty of empty tables elsewhere in the restaurant.

It made me think of some of my restaurant pet peeves, which I am sharing with you—given how expensive eating out can be.

1. Overcrowded restaurants where you're offered the bar to dine on, yet you pay full menu price.

2. Cheeky servers who insist you drink sparkled or still water so that they can get a higher tip at the end. I understand that tips matter—and they should—but shouldn't customer service come first?

3. Entrées that suggest a vegetable yet all you're served is roasted zucchini. It's one of the cheapest vegetables that you find in the market. I would rather stick with carrots and potatoes, which are just as inexpensive.

4. Packed dining rooms with insufficient lighting and a band singing country music without any sense of the volume required for the size of the space.

5. Must every casual restaurant have the same dessert menu? Examples include mocha mud pies, ice cream sandwiches, and something with lemon in it. How about plain old chocolate mousse? No imagination there.

6. Cramped tables where your conversation has to be stilted because you're so frightened that other people will hear.

7. Ordering green salad with a burger. It shows up with a splash of diluted dressing that might as well be cold water.

8. Disapproving looks from the server when you don't order wine.

9. General cockiness in the air.

10. Paying extra for parking because the service was so slow or the meal took so long to arrive.

It all starts at the top. The front-line staff is only reflective of management. When they're well-trained with high standards, it doesn't matter how busy or short-staffed you are. You still put the customer first.