Dining Out Etiquette Basics: Seating
Dining out is always an enjoyable experience, be it with friends and family, or for the traveler away from home. It's also very common for an executive to conduct business over lunch or dinner. Either way, whether the meal is taken in a restaurant for a social occasion, or of a necessity, should it make no appreciable difference in the conduct of the diners, the way we behave, rules and suggestions that follow are applicable in either situation. I'm sure at one point or another we have all mistakenly seated our guests when you were a host of a party. Personally, I had guests seat themselves which is actually not proper in a certain situations. Whether you come as a couple or a group there are important facts to keep in mind.
Entering the Restaurant
Entering the Restaurant
The couple or group should wait inside the entrance until the headwaiter or hostess comes forward to ask the number of people and sometimes about the preference as to the location of the table. If there is no headwaiter or hostess the man in a couple or some one member of a group (older men) should assume responsibility for the duties that are assigned for a host.
Seating
When there is a waiter present the waiter pulls out the choice seat first (considered the best seat facing room or view of interest). If your a woman with a man, you should naturally take the seat, unless for some reason you prefer another. A lady who has another lady as her guest offers her the best seat. When there is no waiter the man or woman seats their guests. If a couple goes to a restaurant then the man seats his lady. If he is with two women, he helps the first one and then should make a gesture of helping the second. Of course, help a guest before your wife.
Dining table at a restaurant...who sits where?
Seating
When there is a waiter present the waiter pulls out the choice seat first (considered the best seat facing room or view of interest). If your a woman with a man, you should naturally take the seat, unless for some reason you prefer another. A lady who has another lady as her guest offers her the best seat. When there is no waiter the man or woman seats their guests. If a couple goes to a restaurant then the man seats his lady. If he is with two women, he helps the first one and then should make a gesture of helping the second. Of course, help a guest before your wife.
Dining table at a restaurant...who sits where?
Tables
Women should always follow the headwaiter and the gentlemen follow them. But if a man is giving a dinner for six or more, then the women stand at the table until they are told where to sit by the host, this causes less confusion if he goes in ahead of his guests. When a husband and wife are hosts, the wife seats the guests, starting with the most important lady. If there are only four and none are married, the ladies sit across each other first. When two married couples dine together, the host and wife sit opposite each other exactly as they would at a table with six or ten. If they no one is a host then they may sit in any fashion. At a table of eight or other multiples of four, the most important gentleman sits opposite the host with the hostess on his left.
Banquette seating is a little bit more trickier....
Banquette seating is a little bit more trickier....
Sofa-Beds/Banquettes
In a restaurant that has continuous sofa-seats or banquettes along its walls, the seating is different. Two people dining together are seated side by side against the wall and the table is pushed in front of them. With four guests, the ladies are seated on the banquette and chairs are placed for the gentlemen facing them across the table. Going to a restaurant with booths, ladies go in first against the wall and sit opposite each other, the men sit next to them also opposite each other. When a woman and two men are together the woman takes her place against the wall, if a man is related he sits opposite her and the unrelated beside her. If the grouping is reversed, the two ladies are against the wall opposite of one another and the man who is the husband sits beside the other, if no one is related he may sit beside either one. Remember, a lady that sits on the left side of the gentleman is not considered a proper lady.
Posted by Eugene Vodovoz at 3 August 2011, 2:36 PM 
Categories: Etiquette
Tags: restaurants public image gentlemen lady seating etiquette zaharoff basics
Categories: Etiquette
Tags: restaurants public image gentlemen lady seating etiquette zaharoff basics
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