At a true serious & upscale restaurant, you don't wait for your table or for any sort of service. Your meals are timed perfectly by staff. I'm wondering what upscale restaurants you've been to in Maryland that have done such things?

I've always had to wait for my reserved table at Tio Pepe. The waiters are pretentious and take themselves and the restaurant WAY too seriously. I don't go there any more.

I'm of the mind that when I go out to dine, I commit my evening to the experience. I have no problem waiting for my reserved table at Tio Pepe. Tio Pepe is not really considered a high end fine dining establishment, so I expect to come across these things. And really- at Tio Pepe, it's well worth the wait.

I've dined at some amazing fine dining places and have never had to wait and all my needs were anticipated and attended to. I'm assuming people who wait at those types of establishments, probably showed up late without informing the staff ahead of time.

Yup, guess you're right. We recently dined in the Regency Room of the Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg and the whole evening was an "experience." Our waiter served the chef's amuse bouche soon after we were seated, then a palate-cleansing sorbet between the soup and the entree, and then he brought finger bowls so we could rinse our fingers. Naturally, the meal was extraordinary! Does anyplace around here include those nice little touches any more? I mean really, if you're gonna pay $100+ for your meal, why not get a little somethin' to heighten the experience?

You picked the scab! I couldn't help but be reminded of the dining room full of people waiting on Valentine's Day at Louisiana last February. There was no clock on the wall, but thankfully my watch clued me in on the kitchen issues 2 hours in when all we had received was mass-produced soup from the prix fixe menu (not much work there) and a bottle of wine, and the servers were doing all they could to stay out of the dining room. The wine arrived at the table sans-cork as well. I'm easy going, but was really disappointed at how consistently awful the evening the evening turned out in spite of my perception of the restaurant's reputation. The restaurant's valets were something else in the lobby, undressing my wife with their eyes as we waited to be seated. Some time later I recognized the owner on the site as being there at the restaurant that night to witness, but not fix, the madness. Was anyone else out there part of the "fun" that night?