Great Restaurant Manners Will Help You Get Better Service and Impress Your Guests

Restaurant manners are the key to obtaining great service, and winning over the people that you are with. Your dining experience is a key opportunity to use your manners to influence others. 

Why do people take notice of your restaurant etiquette so much? I once heard a relationship expert say that a person can tell what type of person you are based on how you treat the waiter. I think there is a lot of truth to that. 

If you can treat a complete stranger with the utmost of manners, people will have confidence that you are going to treat them the same way. This can be extremely important based on the purpose of your meal. If you are having a meal for business purposes or dining with a person you would like to impress, your restaurant manners are even more important. 

So, to make sure that you are prepared to impress, follow these strategies for restaurant dining:

Top Tips to Impress at a Restaurant

The first thing that you need to be actually begins before you get to the restaurant. You need to make a reservation prior to going. This is especially true if you have a large party that will be dining there. The reservation lets the restaurant prepare enough space for your group. 

The other thing you need to do to prepare is to make sure you know the dress code for the restaurant. Depending on the type of place where you will be eating, the dress code will change. It is always a good thing to ask the restaurant when you make the reservation what the dress code is. This will make sure you are wearing the appropriate clothing and dress. 

You would be surprised how far your simple etiquette tips will carry you in the restaurant. Saying "please" and "thank you" will impress those with you. If you can treat a stranger this way, then you will be just as polite with anyone else. 

If you have been given poor customer service, it is acceptable to the let the restaurant know, but do so in a polite manner. There are two reasons for this: First of all, if you can be patient and polite in what would normally be a stressful or angry situation, people will certainly take notice of your cool and calm. The other reason is that you are likely to get a better response from the staff when you are calm than when you are angry and yelling. 

I have seen many cases where people try to use humor to get along with the waiter. Although this is not against restaurant manners, it can work against you if you do it the wrong way. I have seen people sit down and say that they wanted to eat, or were starving. Demonstrating patience in ordering will let the waiter know you are polite to their needs. 

When people treat the waiter or waitress the wrong way, that person usually feels less inclined to serve you. Demonstrating patience and manners with the staff at all times will invite impeccable service. If you want to have people respect you, respect them first. 

These tips should help you to get the most out of your dining experience.