Famous Death Row Last Meals
Food Fights: The Biggest Culinary Scandals Of 2011
The Chicago Tribune brought up an interesting question this week: when should a server clear your plate from the table? Should a server remove plates as a diner finishes them, regardless of whether dining companions are finished? Or should the server wait until the end, when everyone has finished, and clear the entire table at once?
Some people belong to the "Clear at the End" camp, thinking it rude. It disrupts the conversation at the table, and may make fellow diners who have not finished eating, feel rushed.
Other people belong to the "Clear as You Go" camp, and according to Emily Post, this is a newer practice. The argument is that clearing plates keeps the dining table less cluttered, and in fact, many diners see this as attentive service on the part of the waitstaff. Additionally, I know that some people like to have plates of unfinished food removed because they don't want to continue to pick at it.
However, according to Pamela Stoner, a dining room instructor at Kendall College's culinary arts school in Chicago, "fine dining rules" are such that servers should wait until the entire table is finished eating.
I grew up in the "Clear at the End" group, for the same reasons stated above. Ideally, everyone finishes their plates at the same time anyway. If you find yourself irritated that your empty plate is still in front of you while others around you are still eating, maybe you need to slow down.
What about you? Do you find it rude for a server to clear plates before other diners are finished? Or do you see it as inattentive service?
16 Grammys Looks That Weren't Working
Whitney Houston Dead: Singer Dies at 48, Body Found in Beverly Hilton Hotel
Jennifer Aniston's Effortlessly Sexy Style
Whitney Houston Autopsy: Cause of Death Determined?
Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina: Late Singer's Daughter Hospitalized
Sheryl Crow Loves To Flaunt Toned Physique
Whitney Houston Dead: Stars React to Legend's Sudden Death
Grammy Red Carpet 2012 (PHOTOS)
QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About Marriage In The U.S.?
Grammy 2012 Winners' List: Adele Sweeps Music's Biggest Night
Katy Perry Grammy Performance 2012: Did the Diva Diss Her Ex-Hubby With Revealing New Song?
Grammy Awards 2012: The Best & Worst Of The Red Carpet!
Jennifer Hudson Whitney Tribute: Grammy President Reveals Why Singer Was Chosen for Musical Memorial
5-Hour Energy: A Success Equal Parts Caffeine, Chemistry and Meditation
PHOTOS: Remembering Whitney Houston's Glittering Style
There's only one thing to do when the Nürburgring is covered in snow...
12 Grammys Stars Who Gave Good Style
LINSANITY CONTINUES
Mom Had Labor Induced To Let Dying Father See Daughter
Comforter Soaked In Blood Found In Josh Powell's Storage Unit
SLIDESHOW: Scientists On God
Mena Suvari's Beauty Evolution
TV's Best Music Moments
Matt Bomer Comes Out As Gay
Mystery Disease Kills Thousands
PHOTOS: Thank God For Grown-Up Glamour
WATCH: Chainsaw-Wielding Thug Attacks Pub Crawlers
The Top 10 Slacker Colleges
Taylor Swift Does Great Depression Chic
13 Amazing Bedrooms For Valentine's... Night!
PHOTOS: Best And Worst Of Grammy Dresses
8-24-2006 @8:58PM Roddenberry said... I always cross my knife and fork on my plate to signal when I am finished and would like the plate removed. Servers usually pick up on this immediately. If not, I move the plate away from right in front of me until they get the message. On occasion, I have had to ask for it to be removed.
It has really never been much of an issue, even the "clear all at once" servers catch on and remove a plate with the proper signal!
Reply
8-24-2006 @9:20PM JoAnna said... Servers should wait until everyone in the dining party has indicated that they have finished. It's uncomfortable as the person who's finished first, and uncomfortable as the person who's still eating while others have had their plates cleared away. Los Angeles is a town of "in-between-acting-jobs" servers, and it's great that they have the opportunity to make money until they fulfil their dreams, but someone needs to train these poor souls as to how a table is properly served!
Reply
8-24-2006 @9:25PM monica said... I think its best if the server waits until everyone at the table is finished. I know that from my experiences when my plate is cleared away before others are done eating it makes me feel like it is bringing attention to the fact that I've eaten quicker than others. On the other hand, if other people finish before I do and their plates are cleared away while I am still eating, I do feel rushed to hurry up and/or begin feeling self concious that the people who have finished may be watching me and wishing I would hurry up.
I realize this is all psychological and really... what does it matter? But I do think it is just better service if the wait staff waits until we are ALL done.
Reply
8-24-2006 @9:26PM monica said... I think its best if the server waits until everyone at the table is finished. I know that from my experiences when my plate is cleared away before others are done eating it makes me feel like it is bringing attention to the fact that I've eaten quicker than others. On the other hand, if other people finish before I do and their plates are cleared away while I am still eating, I do feel rushed to hurry up and/or begin feeling self concious that the people who have finished may be watching me and wishing I would hurry up.
I realize this is all psychological and really... what does it matter? But I do think it is just better service if the wait staff waits until we are ALL done.
Reply
9-01-2006 @5:08PM Lauren said... As a former server who has worked in three *casual dining* chain restaurants, I would like to add that the restaurant's training program dictates when plates should be removed. So, it's often not your server's choice. At all three restaurants that I worked in, plates were to be cleared as the guests finished to make more room on the table. (an added bonus- your guest is more likely to order dessert, another drink etc. to fill the space if the plate is removed.) Either way, the server should ask whether or not the guest is finished before removing the plate. So, if you are one of the "plates get cleared at the end" people, just *politely* reply that you are not done eating.
Reply
8-24-2006 @10:12PM Adam said... I also prefer to have it left until the end. To me, an attentive server's attention can be caught with a simple gesture, or eye contact, and then with a simple verbal or hand direction, take a few items away, if they're crowding the table, but otherwise leave it all where it is.
Reply
8-24-2006 @10:54PM Kat said... Just a note that Emily Post is deceased... her granddaughter-in-law Peggy Post fills her shoes these days.
Reply
8-24-2006 @11:24PM Tracey said... I prefer the dishes be cleared as we go. If I take the time to push the plate away or set it aside, that is my indication to our server that I'm finished with it.
Reply
8-24-2006 @11:27PM joe said... i have been waiting tables for a while, all throughout college and i do not agree with some of the comments these folks have posted. i, as a server feel that is it my duty to make sure the guest are well taken care of,and to me if a guest is done dining i ask if i may take that something out of their way. a lot of people feel that once they are finished with their meal they don't want to keep looking at an empty plate in front of them. i believe that people that feel self-concious
maybe need to keep the same pace as everyone else so that at the end everyone is finished at the same time. personally i feel that if i dont remove dishes from a table it looks too dirty and cluttered and usually when i don't remove anything from a table i get asked by some of the guests to take something out of their way.
Reply
8-24-2006 @11:31PM nancy said... i was taught that when you want your plate removed you are to turn your fork upside down and place your knife across it to form an ex. that this is a sign for the server to please remove your plate but not disrupt your conversation. my grandmother taught me that at a very young age and i still do it to this day, even though i don't think very many people practice this anymore or know what it means.
Reply
8-25-2006 @1:02AM pam said... I think it is inappropriate for the server to remove your plate before the entire table is finished, just as it is also common etiqutte to not start eating the meal until everyone has received their plate of food.
Reply
8-25-2006 @1:10AM A Mom said... I was taught that you place your fork upside down on your plate in the "four o'clock" position to indicate that you're done; knife can go alongside it if you wish.
Reply
8-26-2006 @12:29AM Nina said... Yes, I'd like to know. I'm a new waitstaff trainee; although we are not a particularly upscale dining room, we are quite proper and I've always been told to just clear as the diners finish.
Reply
8-25-2006 @2:29AM Bob said... When a course has been completed by the guest the "dirty" dish should be removed immediately.
Your knife and fork, for that particular course, laid on the plate is the signal for the server to go into action.
Reply
8-25-2006 @2:47AM I'm Cat, your waitress said... I remove the plante when I note one of those signals..most do them and don't relize why. LIke move the plate up and a little to the left. I see that all the time. Knife and fork on the plate together, or a napkin atop the plate.
Also, snapping of the fingers, a sudden and loud HEY MISS,,or my personal favorite..a plate being woven in the air like a Frisbee. Little hints like that
that's when I remove the plate..each customer is differant. I just follow suit.
Reply
8-25-2006 @3:37AM Kristina said... I, too, make an X of my cutlery, or simply lay them both across the plate and push it slightly off center, making it clear I've finished. However, I prefer the plates be cleared when my companion is finished. As someone who usually finishes last, I do feel rushed and uncomfortable if I'm still eating.
I have a different problem, however. I eat slowly for a reason and if I've said three times, no, I'm not finished, please respect that and simply let me make it clear when I am. If I'm HOLDING my cutlery in my hands, how can I be finished? I've actually been asked that question when I was CHEWING, still -- just because my companion's plate has been cleared and they are expecting me to get it over with. It's not like I'm finished 30 minutes later, by the weay. We're talking less than 10.
Reply
8-25-2006 @3:40AM Kristina said... I mean when all of my companions are finished ... including me. I feel rushed, so presume others would as well.
Reply
8-25-2006 @3:41AM Alex said... Plates only cleared when everyone has finished. I'd probably complain if plates were cleared while other people were still eating. You don't start eating til everyone has received their meal, do you?
As for customers snapping fingers, shouting or waving plates in the air ... that just beggars belief.
Reply
8-25-2006 @8:31AM Fash said... I also cross my knife and fork on the plate and push it slightly away from me. I understand that staff may have been given directions on when to clear plates when they were trained to work at the restaurant...and if it's unclear whether or not someone is finished, I think it's okay to ask "May I take your plate?" However, "Are you still workin' on that?" is really off-putting to me.
Reply
8-25-2006 @8:55AM Chip said... I seem to remember this coming up in Edmund Lawler's book "Lessons in Service from Charlie Trotter" (Ten Speed, 2001), but I can't remember for sure. I've emailed Mr. Lawler to see if he'll chime in on this.
Reply