When And How To Ask For A Different Table At A Restaurant Without Being Rude, According To Reddit

It happens to the best of us. While the hierarchy of "good" and "bad" tables is a little more fluid these days than it was in the past, sometimes you just get seated someplace that doesn't work for you at all. Maybe you got plunked down next to the kitchen, where your intimate dinner gets interrupted by swinging doors and bursts of culinary clamor every five seconds. Maybe your seat by the window is spoiled by an unpleasant glare. Maybe your table is right next to your sworn enemy, and you need someplace private to plan the next step of your Machiavellian revenge plot. Whatever the case, how do you ask to be moved without causing too much of a fuss? According to a thread on r/Serverlife, the key is to ask as soon as you know you need it.

"Don't get silverware, water, [and the] server spiel, then ask for a new table," said one Redditor. "Now you've inconvenienced a host who is on to the next task and a server who may not be serving you anymore if there is [a] section change." There's something to be said for being decisive: hemming and hawing as to whether or not you actually want a different table will just make things needlessly complicated for everybody, including you. Just like when you find a fly in your glass of wine and want it replaced, you can always ask for something, so long as you're considerate.

Sometimes, though, there's no real way to ask without being an imposition. "There are certain circumstances in which it really doesn't matter how you ask — it's still going to be a massive pain," one Redditor commented. They went on to say that there are sometimes restaurants where somebody is going to have to sit at a table that's less than ideal: "I know which tables are the bad tables, but sometimes I'm forced to seat them." In that case, the best thing to do is not to put yourself in the position where you'd end up there, and the best way to do that is to make your preferences clear ahead of time.

"Tell them what you want when you're at the host stand," another comment said. We understand that sometimes a table's quality can't be ascertained before sitting down, but much of the time it can — and in that case, it's up to you to avoid ending up there. It's just another way you can be more considerate to the wait staff, in addition to not stacking your plates when you're done (waiters hate it) and not telling these stale old jokes they've heard a million times before.