Vacuuming in a Restaurant

[MIGrandma]

DH and I went to a favorite local restaurant for a late (about 2:00) lunch the other day. We were told to "sit anywhere we liked" so we went to the second dining room. It seats 42 people. Mostly tables for 4, a couple tables for 2 in the center, and a larger table for 6 in one corner. There was a table of four just finishing up, and another table of two that were eating. Our server came and took our order, brought our drinks, brought our order and then she vacuumed the dining room.

I don't mean "spot vacuuming" like under a very dirty table where a lot of stuff had fallen to the floor from the table (and would definitely be understandable to get that cleaned up right away). But I mean vacuuming the entire room. And not with one of those quiet push-type non-motorized vacuums but an electric, loud, vacuum.

By this time the other couple were finished and leaving so it was just DH and myself in the room.

I don't know if the waitress was at the end of her shift and one of her duties was to vacuum that room, but it was really annoying. We couldn't even talk, it was so loud. And at one point DH wanted to ask her if she wanted us to lift our feet as she was vacuuming all around our table.

I wanted to ask her to stop, but I avoid confrontations if possible so I didn't say anything. But I don't think she should have vacuumed the entire room while we were eating lunch. And at one point she left the room (maybe to check on other customers in the other dining room, or deliver food, I'm not sure) then came back and vacuumed the same area she'd already vacuumed.

So, would you have asked her to stop or wouldn't it have bothered you?

I used to be a waitress and where I worked there were 2 dining rooms. At night if there was no one in the second dining room we could put the "section closed" sign out and clean it. But if there was even one table occupied in that room we couldn't. I totally understand why. I think if they wanted to clean the second dining room at this restaurant they should have not let us sit in there in the first place.

 

[Mizzoufan]

I don't see the big deal at all. Would you rather look at a dirty floor?

 

[MIGrandma]

I don't see the big deal at all. Would you rather look at a dirty floor?

It really wasn't all that dirty. I could understand vacuuming under an especially dirty table, but not the whole room when customers are there. Where I worked if there was an especially dirty table during the day we swept up under it but we didn't do the entire room.

 

[ebtbmom]

That would have bugged me to, I hate the sound of vacuuming. It certainly doesn't create a nice dining out atmosphere which is part of what you pay for when you go out.

I don't know if I would have asked her to stop or not, maybe really nicely.

 

[Mizzoufan]

I honestly don't see the big deal. My guess she was cut for the day and was just trying to her stuff done so she could leave.

If it bothered me that much I would have just moved to another section.

 

[Laura66]

I don't think I'd be bothered - it depends.
I'm guessing it was something she was required to finish during her shift so I'd most likely not let it bother me.

 

[StephMK]

It would have really annoyed me because I hate the sound and eating out should be relaxing. I hate confrontations too but I may have picked up my stuff to move to a table in the other room if DH were with me. He is less patient than I am and would be ready to say something or change tables. I agree that she should have said that section was closing when you were told to sit.

 

[LBIJim]

I agree the second dining room should have been closed off by that hour if they intended to vacuum it thoroughly.

 

[MIGrandma]

It would have really annoyed me because I hate the sound and eating out should be relaxing. I hate confrontations too but I may have picked up my stuff to move to a table in the other room if DH were with me. He is less patient than I am and would be ready to say something or change tables. I agree that she should have said that section was closing when you were told to sit.

We never thought of moving to a table in the other room. It would have been our luck that they would have vacuumed that room too!

 

[Wendy31]

Yes, it would have irritated me as well.

I try to not the "little things" bother me, but the sound of a vacuum is annoying - and would be especially so if I were trying to eat a meal. There's always going to be the possibility of noise interrupting your meal at a restaurant - crying baby, loud patrons, etc. However, the restaurant employees themselves should be doing whatever they can to make your meal as pleasant as possible - which would mean NOT vacuuming around patrons that are eating.

When they told you could sit wherever, they should have mentioned that someone would be vacuuming/cleaning that particular room.

DH or I probably would have mentioned something to the manager or hostess as we were leaving. Actually, we might have asked to switch tables.

 

[Uncle Remus]

There's no telling what kind of dust particles landed on your food.

 

[Christine]

I don't think that a restaurant should be doing thorough vacuuming while they are still serving customers. As the other poster said above, they should have closed off the dining room once the regular lunch crowd was gone so they could clean it before dinner.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

With a light afternoon crowd, they should have closed one dining room while they cleaned, then closed the other while that one was cleaned (if time permitted).

I maybe would have looked the other way if it was a small place. But, no excuse with such a light crowd & 2 dining rooms.

 

[minkydog]

There's no telling what kind of dustparticles landed on your food.

That's what i was thinking. She's throwing up dust AND handling food? Yuck!

 

[kimblebee]

Wouldn't have bothered me at all. I might have given my table mate a look but that's it.

 

[Feralpeg]

I would not have liked it. Along the same line, I hate it when I am eating at a fast food restaurant and they start mopping the floor next to where I am eating. Often, the water they are using is sour and smells disgusting. Cleaning should wait until there are no guests in the area.

 

[MIGrandma]

There's no telling what kind of dust particles landed on your food.

I didn't think about that with the vacuuming but I do think of it when they sweep (using a broom and dustpan) the floor near our table.

 

[lizabu]

It's not professional at all. Had she been planning to vacuum the second dining room she should have asked you to sit in the main dining room and done it when the room was empty

 

[Hrhpd]

DH and I went to a favorite local restaurant for a late (about 2:00) lunch the other day. We were told to "sit anywhere we liked" so we went to the second dining room. It seats 42 people. Mostly tables for 4, a couple tables for 2 in the center, and a larger table for 6 in one corner. There was a table of four just finishing up, and another table of two that were eating. Our server came and took our order, brought our drinks, brought our order and then she vacuumed the dining room.

I don't mean "spot vacuuming" like under a very dirty table where a lot of stuff had fallen to the floor from the table (and would definitely be understandable to get that cleaned up right away). But I mean vacuuming the entire room. And not with one of those quiet push-type non-motorized vacuums but an electric, loud, vacuum.

By this time the other couple were finished and leaving so it was just DH and myself in the room.

I don't know if the waitress was at the end of her shift and one of her duties was to vacuum that room, but it was really annoying. We couldn't even talk, it was so loud. And at one point DH wanted to ask her if she wanted us to lift our feet as she was vacuuming all around our table.

I wanted to ask her to stop, but I avoid confrontations if possible so I didn't say anything. But I don't think she should have vacuumed the entire room while we were eating lunch. And at one point she left the room (maybe to check on other customers in the other dining room, or deliver food, I'm not sure) then came back and vacuumed the same area she'd already vacuumed.

So, would you have asked her to stop or wouldn't it have bothered you?

I used to be a waitress and where I worked there were 2 dining rooms. At night if there was no one in the second dining room we could put the "section closed" sign out and clean it. But if there was even one table occupied in that room we couldn't. I totally understand why. I think if they wanted to clean the second dining room at this restaurant they should have not let us sit in there in the first place.

Wouldn't have bothered me. And if it did, I am not one to suffer in silence. Since there was a very easy solution, I would have taken it. I would have politely asked if I could move to the other dining room.

But then, I would not have sat in the second dining room in the first place at such a late hour, long past the regular lunch hour, with only two other couples finishing up. Not being an experienced waitress, even I would have assumed that a practically empty dining room may be subject to cleaning once all but one table of the diners left. Yes, they should have closed the dining room if they knew they were cleaning, but again, as an experienced restaurant worker, one should be able to predict that there was a better chance of cleaning in an empty dining room than the chance of cleaning in the 1st dining room.

 

[MIGrandma]

Wouldn't have bothered me. And if it did, I am not one to suffer in silence. Since there was a very easy solution, I would have taken it. I would have politely asked if I could move to the other dining room.

But then, I would not have sat in the second dining room in the first place at such a late hour, long past the regular lunch hour, with only two other couples finishing up. Not being an experienced waitress, even I would have assumed that a practically empty dining room may be subject to cleaning once all but one table of the diners left. Yes, they should have closed the dining room if they knew they were cleaning, but again, as an experienced restaurant worker, one should be able to predict that there was a better chance of cleaning in an empty dining room than the chance of cleaning in the 1st dining room.

When we were told to "sit anywhere we liked" we chose to go to the second dining room since it was quieter than the first one which had more people. We do that quite often at this restaurant. The first room always seems busier and noisier than the smaller second one. If they wanted to clean they simply could have told us they were going to be cleaning. And I have never seen someone vacuum an entire room at a restaurant when there are customers still present. Vacuuming or sweeping under a dirty table, yes. The entire room? No. We never did that at the restaurant where I worked either. It was "spot clean" only until closing time then the floors were thoroughly cleaned, unless as I said earlier the smaller room had no customers then we were allowed to put the "section closed" sign up and clean that room.