Tae Yoon: Life from 2006-2021

dear friends,

as someone who works in the service industry, i'm going to share a few helpful tips on restaurant decorum and eating-out, THIS IS ESPECIALLY PERTAINING TO FOLKS IN NYC.

1. your party/group-of-diners will not be seated until you're ALL complete and everyone has arrived in the restaurant, PERIOD. let's say you and your friends are going to be a total of five people, but one person is running late. unless all five of you are in the restaurant and the hostess can see everyone with their own eyes, YOU WILL NOT BE SEATED. this is done in restaurants because a) even though you claim they're a block away or parking the car or smoking a cigarette or getting money from the ATM, there is a possibility that they're not anywhere near the restaurant and if you're seated without everyone being present, you will take up a table when it can be used for a party that is complete and ready to start their meal b) people lie all the time about their friends arriving shortly. if you're seated at your table and start off with drinks while you wait for your friend who actually arrives 40 minutes later, that table space could have been better utilized during that time c) THIS IS JUST HOW NYC RESTAURANTS WORK

2. never stack your plates when you're done with your food---you are in no way helping your server by doing so. it's more annoying than anything and goes to show that you need to chill out and let us do our job.

3. after consuming oysters, take the empty shell and place it upside down on the plate that the oysters arrived on. i'm going to assume that your oysters were eaten in the beginning of your meal (since raw bar food mostly is) when your plate will mostly likely be clean and usable for another dish or course. placing the used oyster shells on your plate this early on in the meal doesn't utilize the plate to its full capacity and while switching it out for a new one is no problem for your server, it is a bit unnecessary.

4. do not lie about having allergies to ingredients that you don't like to eat, we see right through you.

5. no, you cannot try on my glasses.

6. refrain from keeping your cell phones and other electronic devices on the table. drinks and food do spill on occasion and we wouldn't want your precious livelihood to get wet or damaged.

7. there's no such thing as annoying kids, but instead annoying parents who allow their children to act out in restaurants.

8. don't ask me "what's YOUR favorite dish?" and then immediately dismiss my answer because it's not what you wanted to hear.

9. no, we really DO NOT HAVE diet coke, tea, or peach snapple.

10. if your server just responded to your question/remark with a smile, laugh and an "oh yeah totally" and then just walked away, then we have no idea what you just said.

i could go on forever but i'll leave it at this. please be kind to service industry employees if they're providing good service.

enjoy your holiday weekend!