I am not sure of your definition of an "ultra-expensive" restaurant but the average dining time for the higher-end restaurants that I have been to, around the world, is over 2 hours (and is often more and I am sure you can find many restaurants where the average is significantly higher)
and the pace is generally controlled by the restaurant. Typically, if the amount of time that the table is occupied becomes excessive (after dinner chit-chat over coffee), the management will tactfully offer to buy the party an after-dinner drink in the bar to free up the table. This generally happens because the next reservation is waiting. Higher-end restaurants will often have a couple of seatings per evening so the total amount of customers in an evening is fixed. In restaurants that don't have specific seatings, some diners stay shorter, some stay longer - it all evens out. I tip according to the level of service, not the length of dinner.
I am not sure I see the point in criticizing others based on your perceived morality. People pay according to their own value system and placing arbitrary labels on people you have never met is a pointless exercise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa
Well, no; I did not single you out. ANYONE who occupies a table in an ultra-expensive restaurant for one or two hours, and who does not realize that such occupation deprives the server of having another customer at the table, and who does not tip accordingly is thoughtless.
And, of course the ambiance of the restaurant does affect the cost of the meal. (It pays the overhead.) It is because of the excessive time you occupy the table that the tip should be increased significantly, not because of the price of the food.
Now, if you gobble and get out as one does at McDonalds, you might justify a smaller tip. But you don't. No one does. The pace of the service of the food courses prevents this, and adds to the pleasure of the dining experience.
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