The worst thing that you could do is make reservations on any night with Owl Meat Gravy. He is never on time for anything. When dining with someone who is late a lot I have to add an extra layer of strategy where I make the reservation for 8 and tell him it's for 7:15. This situation varies depending upon the day of the week and who his latest companion is.

When it's us and the spawn we never make reservations because we tend to go to places that don't need reservations and are kid-friendly.

If it's a (ugh) "date" night on a Saturday, I prefer to have a leisurely cocktail at the bar or a nearby nice bar and slow languorous dinner from 8 PM on.

Seven o'clock? What are you a millionaire? Oh, look at you – too good for the Early Bird Special. Helen and I saw you drive up to the Peppermill in your new Cadillac. Fancy, fancy. 4:00 is the latest I can eat. maybe 4:15 on a Saturday.

6 p.m. is my dining hour everyday.

Weird...at home, we usually eat at 6:15, 6:30...but when we go out, I usually make reservations for...wait for it...7pm! Cue up the Twilight Zone music...

Guess I'm in the BRT Zone!

If I even suggest eating dinner before 7 pm, my wife calls me Archie Bunker.

As a charter member of the wake up at 4 a.m. club, I make reservations for 5 if it's a work night, 6 if I'm off the next day.

But, if I'm on vacation...can you believe it? Always 7!

I'm part of the getting up in the 4-5am crowd, try to have dinner around 6. Usually on weekends I have dinner (especially on Sunday around 3-4, maybe that's a Southern thing?). My husband would "die of starvation" if we waited until 7 any day.

I have a long commute, so I get home around 6:45. Dinner at 7? No way!! 7:30 MAYBE. 8 is more likely.

Why 7:00? It gives us enough time to get home from work, walk the dog, drop the kid at the sitter's, and drive to our destination, but we also get home from dinner late enough that she's already asleep when we get home, but not so late that we're exhausted and guilt-ridden from keeping the sitter up too late. It's the only time that works. Many little factors at play...

I'm more of a 5:30pm mid-week guy. Does that qualify me for old fart status? Here comes the canasta.

Very funny Amanda, but now I know ytour game. B>)

I'm on vacation this week so I forgot to pimp my guest post on sista blogue Midnight Sun. It explores the, uh, rental aspects of beer drinking. Plus there's science, Flinstones, ribs and I end with a song.

Now back to oblivion ...

7pm is the time when everyone in Baltimore wants to eat. Because of this, most restaurants are jam-packed at this hour, which means that the restaurant is full, the bar is full, the kitchen is running at 115% and the service staff is stressed to the max.

Because everyone is stressed, this is the window of time where things can fall through the cracks. A full section means that a server has to quickly balance their load. The customer wants to chat in-depth about dishes? Well, another table's food is hot on the pass turning cold, while another tables' drinks are getting watery while waiting at the bar. Perhaps that server can't stand there entertaining your questions as long as you'd like.

The kitchen is running at full steam ahead, they've got everything running smoothly - then your order comes in with all sorts of modifiers, i.e. you want fries instead of mashed, no dairy, no veggie, gluten-free, etc. The kitchen crew knows their plates, recipes and assemblies by heart. They can execute the dish beautifully - that's when some guy wants a western omelette. At 7:45pm, this requires pulling someone away from the line, which increases the chances of meltdown.

That's not to discourage people from eating when they desire. However, 7pm is the "in demand" time for a reservation in Baltimore and a diner should be aware that it not only is the most difficult time to get a reservation, but it's also the most difficult time for everyone involved. Best to give your server some extra leeway - expect some hiccups in service and you won't be disappointed if a couple do occur.

The best bet to beating the 7pm service problem is to eat a bit earlier or a bit later (my preference). I prefer 8:30pm or 9pm (at the earliest) because I know the restaurant is less stressed and it's easier for them to be a bit more accommodating to any requests that we might make. Plus, the restaurant is unlikely to be concerned about "turning" my table at such an hour, so we can linger over our meal a bit longer.

And kitchen tours are always easier to accommodate towards the end of the evening.

Maybe the old saying "The theatre is *always* at 8:00" has something to do with it. Not that everybody goes to the theatre (or the movies), but 7:00 is late enough for people to get home from work, prepare, and get to the restaurant, and yet leaves time to eat and then get to whatever else one is doing later in the evening.

My DW and I usually dine at 8:00 when at home, so that is the time I shoot for when dining out. However, as Warthog said "The theatre is *always* as 8:00," so when I am working on a show, which has been happening for the last three or four weekends, it is usually 11:00 by the time I shut down everything, clean up, and even think about dinner. That severely limits where we can go since most restaurants that are open that late don't take reservations.

Jay C,

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Interestingly in view of the above discussion, I tried unsuccessfully to make a 7 p.m. reservation at Tabrizi's through Open Table. It offered me 6 p.m. or 9 p.m. But when I phoned the restaurant I got 7 p.m. without trouble. When we arrived the restaurant was perhaps half full. Most of the rest of the tables filled up slowly until we left about 8.30. Could Open Table's computers be programmed to reject 7 p.m. reservations in Baltimore?

Federal Hill Jim: Some restaurants block off a few slots at popular times on Open Table, such as 7 p.m., to leave tables available for walk-in traffic, if they get a lot of it. Also, since the average table is occupied for at least two hours, a restaurant can look half-empty because tables have been reserved for guests who will arrive within the hour. If a table is cleared at 5:45 but needed for a 7 p.m. reservation, it might sit empty for 75 minutes because there would not be enough time to squeeze in another seating.

Dinner at home is usually about 5:30pm. Dinner out is between 6:30 and 7pm, however that is usually in Frederick. Does Frederick subscribe to BRT? Maybe so, it is usually busy.

Soon my dinner time as well as my posting time is going to change radically. I am starting graduate school in less than a month. I'm planning on doing a lot of bulk dinner/lunch cooking in the next two weeks. That way I do not have to cook during the school week. Dinner... dinner might be a cracker with cheese on it otherwise.

I've really loved commenting and following all the topics here. If I'm not around much, I'm not dead... just buried beneath books.

Congrats, Misha. Drop by when you can.

So is Don't eat the fish on Mondays really true?

Don't make a reservation for 7. Check.

What are some other mistakes we commonly make? Just brainstorming here

1) Don't order the second cheapest bottle of wine on the list. I read that owners are hip to this and this selection often has a higher markup percentage than others.

2) Don't order expensive wine by the glass unless you know it's fresh.

3) Don't order fish in a steak house or steak in a fish place.

4) Don't order the ridiculous fancy sushi rolls. Ridiculously expensive.

5) Don't let the valet park your car. They steal your change. Some do. I just don't like random people in my baby.

6) Don't let your husband try to bribe the maitre d' with a palmed five spot. It can fail i so many ways.

7) Don't order the same thing as everybody else. It's a lot more fun to have a bite of someone else's stuff. If you can't share a little with your dinner companions, maybe they should be your dinner companions.

8) Don't order Pad Thai every time you go to a Thai restaurant if you are over 12. It's the macaroni and cheese of Thai food.

9) Don't force yourself to eat more than you want. I used to do this. I never want more than half a steak, but sometimes I feel pressure to clean my plate, so I eat 3/4 of it, feel gross and don't have enough to take home. Mmm... leftover filet for breakfast.

10) Uh, 10....don't be rude to your server or hostess or anyone. They talk to each other. You'll get what you give more often than not.

11) Keep Owl Meat away from bourbon.

12) Don't order 3 or 4 glasses of wine. Get a bottle.

13) Don't say herbs with a heavy breathed H sound like Martha Stewart, because I might poke you in the ribs. That woman's pretentions drive me batty.

Okay, your turns...

I'm not sure that "The theatre is *always* at 8:00" would explain an abundance of reservations at 7:00.

Sure, 7:00 is late enough to get home and do the tasks mentioned by Warthog, but I would worry about missing the curtain if I only allowed 1 hour to eat and then get to my seat in the theatre.

Amanda, I totally agree with #7 (the rest too, but especially #7). My DW cannot understand why I will not order something if she has just ordered it. How can you taste the ability of the kitchen to create different dishes if you only (or always) order the same thing?

Looks like a three cup day for you, A.

Don't order the specials without asking the price.

Just a thought here. If restaurants know they will get slammed at 7pm, why don't they prepare for it? It seems ludicrous to expect your patrons to suck up poor service and food just because the restaurant cannot deal with the expected influx of customers.

My first waitressing job, I was expected to clock out after rush, but to stick around for at least 3 hours off the clock (unpaid) in case they needed me.

This was after a 3-4 hour shift.

That is a crappy way to treat people. It should be illegal if it isn't.

oh dear, I always order the pad thai.

Oops. Sorry Richard. I'm just trying to get my kids to stretch their palates. Grumpy grumpy weather. Mmmm.. Pad Thai and a Singha sound mighty good right now.

In the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it's even worse. Restaurant time is between 3pm- 5pm. Most of the restaurants start packing it up around 7:30 pm. My group spent 2 nights trying to find any restaurants open past 9 pm.

When I was in Italy, the locals didn't eat dinner until 9 or 10 pm.

Amanda, fancy sushi rolls are where its at. They're typically twice as big as reg rolls and they're often unique to that establishment, so the elevated price is justified.

Dinner at home is always 8 p.m. or later. But if we eat out we want that 7 p.m. table.

When I lived in the UK, I suggested meeting someone for dinner at 7:00 p.m. and was told that "it's just not done, tradesmen eat at that hour". Given that this was the local gentry whose castle has been in their family for 500+ years, I took this as gospel. I rarely eat before 9:00. I am just not hungry until then.

wow, how sad that the term "tradesman" is used as an insult.
I like to eat at 6 p.m. because I am in bed by 10 pm and awake at 5:30 am. Simple as that - no class warfare or social status issues need be reflected upon.

dang - forgot personal info again

NotableM, but for British class warfare, the BBC would have no programs to sell to PBS for airing on Masterpiece Theater. ;-)

Actually, when one eats, and when one has to be to work has, historically, been a class issue in this country. Bankers went to work at 10 am. Tradespeople and factory workers went to work at 7 am. Farmers got up and working before dawn.

My grandmother would be horrified that I work 7-3. That is when uneducated, greasy fingernailed working people worked.

The later you worked, the later you ate.

These kinds of attitudes hang around and affect people longer than one would think.

my eating patterns have absolutely nothing to do with my career or educational background. It does however have everything to do with my digestive system.
what kind of attitudes???? you mean assumptions and stereotypes??

Amanda, no apologies needed. I could probably stand to try something new. I just hate to pass over the tasty sure thing, and take the chance.

Yes, assumptions, stereotypes and classism, NotableM. Which I did not say apply to everyone.

If you have a working dinner sometime, I would strongly suggest not making reservations for 5:30.

NotableM, you may be interested in this article from History Magazine, which documents how, over many centuries, the hour of "dinner" (or "supper") varied depending on one's socioeconomic status.

For English nobles and manor lords in the Middle Ages, who rose at sunrise and went to bed at sundown, the main meal of the day was dinner at 12:00 noon. By 1800, the English upper class was in the habit of rising around 12:00 noon and staying up all night long (until sunrise, in fact), so the dinner hour shifted to 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. Dinner hours for employees (the English lower and middle classes) got progressively later as the Industrial Revolution changed work and home habits. For whatever reason, the USA was slower to adopt later dinner hour habits.

Nowaways, thankfully, whether you're an "early bird" or a "night owl", you can choose whatever hours suit you to take your daily meals.

Richard, always take the chance.

Take a chance on me
Take a chance on me ...

I'm a delicious soup

"Nowadays, thankfully, whether you're an "early bird" or a "night owl", you can choose whatever hours suit you to take your daily meals." - that's my point - hopefully without misplaced presumptions about anything other than - hey ...he/she must be hungry.
Although I am aware of historical timelimes and facts, I never gave a second thought to presume anything about anyone based on their dining preferences.
Lissa - I don't get the 5:30 comment, but no need to reply.

I think the weather is making everybody's brain mushy. Either that or we need a bigger boat

Very interesting article, hmpstd. Now can anyone explain why people dine so very late in Spain and parts of South America?
I suppose the siesta has something to do with that, but isn't the siesta getting squeezed out of existence?

Nestee: Not sure where you stay on the OBX but I spend most of my summer in Corolla. Most places don't get busy till 7:30 or 8 try Metropolis, Blue Point, Red Skye many others

If one is having a working dinner, if you schedule it for 5:30, it'll look lower class to some people. You want to schedule it for 8 or so.

It is all about appearances and manipulating peoples' assumptions and playing the odds.

Here's a question- if a restaurant accepts my reservation, why should the service be any different at 5:00, 7:00, or 9:00? If service and food quality are suffering due to the crowded nature of the restaurant, then the onus should be on the restaurant to find ways to accommodate me either at a later time or on another evening. No one would cut Toyota a break if their new Prius leaves them stranded due to a "minor oversight" that arose during a time of higher than usual production.

Building on the earlier theme of theater times, these restaurants get a significant amount of business because of the artistic productions in the city, so they should accommodate these customers by bringing in an extra server, runner, or whatever it takes. When making a pre-show dinner reservation I always ask the restaurant what time they would recommend making a reservation for based on the location of the show and the curtain time. I never have a problem, possibly since I have the luxury of ditching work 30 minutes early if necessary.

Speaking from personal experience, if not for BSO tickets, how many people would be eating at home or at least in the suburbs where they live.

Don't order the specials without asking the price.

While on a cruise this Spring, we stopped for a day at Santorini. Our group of six had a relaxed lunch at a seaside restaurant which, naturally, specialized in fish. One member of our party decided to play cognescetti and selected a fish from the display. He and his wife agreed the fish was prepared well and was delicious, but were not happy when they discovered that their entree cost 57 euros per kilo; their fish was 1.5 kilos before cleaning and cost them almost 90 euros. They declined the opportunity to take the head with them.

Speaking from personal experience, if not for BSO tickets, how many people would be eating at home or at least in the suburbs where they live.

Believe it or not, some of us actually live in the city. Even some BSO subscribers.

I never eat out before or after concerts. I don't assume my behaviour is typical.

cost them almost 90 euros. They declined the opportunity to take the head with them.

For $130 fish you would think you'd get head.

My behavior is not often typical either, but if eating out before a show isn't typical, why was it proposed as a possible reason for a 7:00 rush at restaurants? Why do restaurants advertise in the concert programs saying "join us after the show?" Why have restaurants commented to me that they are busy because the BSO and the Baltimore Opera were both playing on a given night (in the good old days)?

I do know that many BSO subscribers live in Baltimore, but the sheer number of cars leaving the Meyerhoff//Lyric and heading to I-83 and I-95 tells me that if patrons live in the city, they're not living near Mount Vernon. Use of public funds for stadiums and arts organizations is often justified by the economic impact of people coming to downtown Baltimore and spending money. The license plates in the parking lots bears that out. That's just numbers though- more people live in the counties surrounding baltimore city than within the city.

trying to write this without laughing, it aint easy!
common mistakes:
1. waiting for your table at the bar, then transferring the check to the waiter

2. calling for reservations the same day

3. "walk ins" of 5 or more people, it takes time to set up tables and most accomodate 4 people. you will wait along time and 2 and 4 tops will be seated ahead of you even if they came in later.

4. holidays! not making reservations at least a week ahead of time on holidays, easter, mothers day are the worst!

5. asking the bartender if he makes a good margarita!! I have, for 3 years now, answer this question "no" and say pick again. this is a rookie question, and ties into #6

6. rookie mistakes, DO NOT SHOW US that you do not know how to go out to eat! once you have proven that you do not know what you are doing we know we aren't getting a good tip, which leads to bad service, which leads to people that started it blogging about poor service.

7. here's one I dont get, there are always a few tables in the bar, which have servers. why do you come to the bar and ask us to clean it off for you? i'm not your waiter, busboy or hostess and i'm busy making drinks, the only time I come out from behind the bar is to get ice or liquor from the back, most bartenders are prima donnas, I understand that we have issues there but seriously, i'm not the busboy.

I could go on and on but will stop right here, that last one got me a bit flushed and now I need my little yellow pill.

Where do you work, baltimoron? I want to make sure to avoid an establishment that has such a disdain for its patrons.

Good stuff baltimoron. Maybe these will help EL do a top tenner. I wonder if other people in the biz have helpful suggestions?

I guess asking What's good to a server or bartender is kind of pointless. Bmoron, if I asked what your specialty was, would you have an answer?

I do know that many BSO subscribers live in Baltimore, but the sheer number of cars leaving the Meyerhoff//Lyric and heading to I-83 and I-95 tells me that if patrons live in the city, they're not living near Mount Vernon.

Some of us take public transit. I'm not the only one standing on the platform for the Light Rail or the Metro.

We used to ask for 7:30 reservations, but often it's as difficult as 7:00. I've found that 6:30 is pretty easy, which means I'm sitting at a table when the 7-7:30 crowd needs a table. Works for me!

DB and I never order the same thing. He's a meat & potatoes guy, whereas I have a very adventurous palate. We almost always swap tastes of each other's meals, unless I order soft crabs -- he won't touch em, silly man.

Amanda, I agree with "don't order steak in a fish place," but don't necessarily agree with the reverse. The best soft crabs I ever ate were at The Prime Rib.

Amanda C, thank you for your kind words, and you are right, asking me for my specialty is a great way to get a great drink! I will always answer that with "what flavors and textures do you enjoy, hard, soft, creamy, frozen, citrus, tropical, berry?" and I will come up with the perfect drink for you AND guarantee that you will love it 100% or I will take it back and make you something else, I have been doing that for years. I do have specialties, and they are not easy to make, but I love them and so do my patrons. I spend alot of off time researching drinks and food to better accomodate my guests. I am servesafe, TAM and drinkwell certified, none of which are required for my job.
to TAFKA CantonKate I bend over backwards to ensure my guests have a great experience and become regulars and I think you took my post the wrong way, which gets me to believe you are one of the rookies who believe they do know how to go out to eat, but really don't. it's not the establishment, nor is it disdain for the patrons. if you were a salesman in luskins (dating myself) and worked on commision, how much time would you spend with a customer who you knew was wasting your time and you were going to make no commision on? especially when there was a room full of customers who knew what they wanted and just needed you to complete their order? remember, this is a job but I make up my pay, the better I do my job the more I make, so I have no reason to anger any patron. $3.18 an hour gets no bills paid so I treat everyone like my best customer, at first. within 2 minutes I can tell who is an 08, who is gonna stiff me and who's dining experience I can enhance to the point that they reccomend me to their friends. 85% of my guests are awsome and come back to see me and I will do whatever it is they need to make their night out a memorable one. I just got off work and I had a 100% satisfied customer night, which happens often but sometimes it is inevitable, there are people no one can please, but instead of making a scene and calling them out I just move on, if I spent all my time trying to please a difficult patron that would only displease the rest of my customers who aren't difficult, why would I do that? TAFKA CantonKate if your position is still the same after reading this PLEASE avoid my establishment, if you do not understand where we are coming from I suggest you take a part time job in the buisness, walk a mile in my shoes, even though 25 yards would be sufficient for you to see what we have to deal with on a daily basis. if you think you can do better, giving up the best hours of your week, getting home at 3 am and only seeing your kids on your day off because either they are sleeping or you are when your home, and relying on tips that you have to generate, then I wish you luck.

"what flavors and textures do you enjoy, hard, soft, creamy, frozen, citrus, tropical, berry?"

Tee hee. I just woke up and thought that hard, soft and creamy sounded good. ;-)

Thanks for the reply bmor. So nice to see a man who takes pride in his work. I would be delighted to have you whip me up one of your specials. Cheers.

Shill at 9:03 and 9:04 AM! (Both posts link to the same herbal remedy hawker that has multiple websites in multiple countries. It also appears to be affiliated with that European electronic hawker that also has multiple websites in multiple countries.)