My biggest pet peeve is with waiters, who work at high-end restaurants, who give their "recommendations" but don't bother to give out prices. I had such an experience at a high-end restaurant in Las Vegas where the waiter recommended an appetizer sampler for our 10-person party. Since most of the entrees cost no more than $50, we figured that the price of the sampler would be within reason (plus we were too embarrassed to ask him for the price). The "sampler" consisted of about six or seven different appetizers (served in different courses) and, in total, cost twice as much as our entrees! Needless to say, we learned our lesson that day- ask for the price, and if the waiter gives you a dirty look, then leave!

Maybe it's just me, but I hate typos on restaurant menus. Is "Main" lobster bisque from someplace other than Maine? And it's "mesclun," not mescaline or any of the other variant spellings I've seen.

Expanding on MCG's pet peeve, I don't like when restaurants use "Market Price" in the price section. I see this mostly for crab selections, and I understand that the price can change throughout the year, but I would like to see a price before I order, and I don't like to ask.

I have two little girls and inevitably, every time we go to a nice restaurant, we are seated next to the bathrooms or the kitchen door. Now my girls are so polite and well behaved that we frequently have other patrons come to our table and compliment our daughters. Heck, I even had an owner (who had initially seated us) apologize to me for ‘trying to tuck’ us away. He then went on to explain how most children act in their establishment.

I just don’t know whom to blame. Should I blame the restaurants for punishing us because we have children or should I blame all those parents who never do a thing about their unruly children? No matter which way you cut it, I would just like to go to a nice place where I don’t have to contend with the noise of the kitchen and waiters coming through the door every 20 seconds or the stench of a well used bathroom.

I know, I know. Tis the season to be jolly and all that stuff. But, I have a complaint and thought that it might help some restaurantuers (sic) who wonder why they are not overwhelmed with customers. Here goes: Went to a concert yesterday afternoon. When it was over at 7 we wanted to have dinner some place near home. Because we know that places in the burbs sometimes close up with the proverbial chickens, I attempted to call the restaurant to make sure they were still open. Called directory assistance, was connected and listened to the phone ring. No answer and no answering machine. Hum. So called dear daughter who was at home and asked that she check the number for me and the restaurant hours on their website. The site, which is newly designed by the way, included the same phone number but no operating hour information. Well, the new site does not include prices on the menu either, but that is another pet peeve. Well, being the brilliant person that I am, I assumed that they were closed, but why not have an answering machine or a listing of hours on their site? Supposed they had really been open but the waitress was away from the phone and could not answer? Anyway, that is my peeve for the day.
The restaurant by the way is the Grapevine Cafe but it is not alone in this trangression. And, I really wanted some Greek food.

Dan Thanh Dang has her top service related pet peeves in this morning's business section. Her brilliantly simple solution to peeve number 6 belongs here, I think:

If the bill was $21 and I give you a $50, please don't ask me if I need some change. YES, consarnit, gimme my money back! I'm a generous tipper, but I'm pretty certain I don't want to tip you almost $30. If the bill was $15 and I gave you a $20, I still want my money back. Why? Because I might give you all of it, I might give you less, or I might give you more. But that's for me to decide.

Here's an easy solution. I hand you the money. You say: "I'll be right back with your change." I say: "Great, thanks." Or, I say: "No, please keep the change."

I have a pet peeve: the noise inside restaurants including Crush and Woodbury. At Woodbury, we were fortunate to get an outdoor table on a gorgeous night in July (full moon to boot) and we had a good meal. But, there was no way we were going to dine inside as the noise was horrible; we do not know how people could carry on a conversation with one another.
Last evening we reserved at Crush, - the noise level there was equally deafening. Unfortunately, we were given an outdoor table and we had a very so so meal. So much for the lower prices (than Taste) and the 'innovative cooking'. The halibut was not at all 'inventive' (and it was pricey) and the calamari was so laden with batter they were tasteless. We will not return.
We are fortunate to be able to dine in restaurants in other cities and in Europe and we are able to talk together. I wish that you, Ms Large, would begin to carry a gadget that measures the decibel level in restaurants. If Tom Sietsema can do this in Washington, DC - why not try it here? SWT

Ms. Talbott -- I assume that you must be a fairly new reader of the D@L online blog. Otherwise, you would be aware that EL covered this very topic less than three weeks ago -- see this blog entry.