Vacuuming in a Restaurant

[tvguy]

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.

It's one thing if they are cleaning up a spill, but I think regular cleaning should be done after all the customers are gone. When we go out to eat on the weekends, it tends to be about 8 pm, and I am amazed at how many restaurants these days, that used to be open until 10 or 11 pm, close at 8 or 9 pm. So we often are walking in less than hour before they close. Some places I feel like I am getting the "stink eye" for coming in so close to closing. And it just seems now that the owners want the place vacuumed, the grills and dishes all cleaned, the breakfast settings in place and the employees out the door at closing time, so the workers HAVE to start cleaning while customers are still there. One place we actually ordered dessert BEFORE closing, and it was something that had to be heated, and they couldn't do it because they had already sent the chef home for the night! At least the the manager was nice enough to give us the cold dessert option we picked for free.

 

[Hrhpd]

It's one thing if they are cleaning up a spill, but I think regular cleaning should be done after all the customers are gone. When we go out to eat on the weekends, it tends to be about 8 pm, and I am amazed at how many restaurants these days, that used to be open until 10 or 11 pm, close at 8 or 9 pm. So we often are walking in less than hour before they close. Some places I feel like I am getting the "stink eye" for coming in so close to closing. And it just seems now that the owners want the place vacuumed, the grills and dishes all cleaned, the breakfast settings in place and the employees out the door at closing time, so the workers HAVE to start cleaning while customers are still there. One place we actually ordered dessert BEFORE closing, and it was something that had to be heated, and they couldn't do it because they had already sent the chef home for the night! At least the the manager was nice enough to give us the cold dessert option we picked for free.

For a restaurant that is open for lunch and dinner, I would be grossed out if they didn't clean after the lunch crowd and before the dinner crowd.

I personally would be uncomfortable and think it rather rude to take up a dining room that seats 42 people all for myself, during the down time between lunch and dinner. But that is just me. I know they technically said to sit anywhere, but experience tells me that 1) it is easier on the wait staff to have everybody in the same dining room and 2) the down time between lunch and dinner is the prime time to prep the dining rooms for the dinner crowd. I would not want to add to the work of a the staff by taking up a whole dining room just for myself. Just seems a bit entitled.

 

[JanaDee]

For a restaurant that is open for lunch and dinner, I would be grossed out if they didn't clean after the lunch crowd and before the dinner crowd.

I personally would be uncomfortable and think it rather rude to take up a dining room that seats 42 people all for myself, during the down time between lunch and dinner. But that is just me. I know they technically said to sit anywhere, but experience tells me that 1) it is easier on the wait staff to have everybody in the same dining room and 2) the down time between lunch and dinner is the prime time to prep the dining rooms for the dinner crowd. I would not want to add to the work of a the staff by taking up a whole dining room just for myself. Just seems a bit entitled.

If I am told to sit anywhere I'd like and the first room is crowded and noisy, I'm heading to where it is quieter. If that means an empty room, all the better. DH and I like to converse over our meal, not shout at each other.

 

[ols386]

I wouldn't have liked it.

I don't think a restaurant should be vacuuming in a room where food is being served.

Dust particles and who knows what else, can still be easily spread through the area and into food.

I may have just picked up my stuff, and moved to the room where they were not vacuuming.

 

[MIGrandma]

I personally would be uncomfortable and think it rather rude to take up a dining room that seats 42 people all for myself, during the down time between lunch and dinner. But that is just me. I know they technically said to sit anywhere, but experience tells me that 1) it is easier on the wait staff to have everybody in the same dining room and 2) the down time between lunch and dinner is the prime time to prep the dining rooms for the dinner crowd. I would not want to add to the work of a the staff by taking up a whole dining room just for myself. Just seems a bit entitled.

Rude? Entitled? ........seriously? Wow.

 

[Kayabee]

I'm thinking the host/ess should have told you anywhere you like in the first dining room if the second one needed to be cleaned at that time. There is a time and place for vacuuming and it isn't while people are eating. I'd be annoyed, and would have asked to be moved to the front so that they could finish the cleaning that needed to be done.

 

[Pumbaa_]

My DH is asthmatic. This would not fly for both that reason as well as the noise. Inappropriate

 

[Hrhpd]

Rude? Entitled? ........seriously? Wow.

As I emphasised, that is just me. That is the way "I" would feel sitting in a dining room all by myself. And if I did choose to occupy a dining room by myself, I wouldn't hold it against the staff if they tried to clean it when it was during the lull time between lunch and dinner.

I guess I have just been in to many restaurants that do clean like that during the down time to immediately assume that any empty dining room is going to be vacuumed if there is hardly anybody in it.

 

[LBIJim]

Rude? Entitled? ........seriously? Wow.

Imagine that....being directed to sit anywhere you'd like, and then being told you're rude and entitled to sit anywhere you'd like.

It's one thing if they are cleaning up a spill, but I think regular cleaning should be done after all the customers are gone. When we go out to eat on the weekends, it tends to be about 8 pm, and I am amazed at how many restaurants these days, that used to be open until 10 or 11 pm, close at 8 or 9 pm. So we often are walking in less than hour before they close. Some places I feel like I am getting the "stink eye" for coming in so close to closing. And it just seems now that the owners want the place vacuumed, the grills and dishes all cleaned, the breakfast settings in place and the employees out the door at closing time, so the workers HAVE to start cleaning while customers are still there. One place we actually ordered dessert BEFORE closing, and it was something that had to be heated, and they couldn't do it because they had already sent the chef home for the night! At least the the manager was nice enough to give us the cold dessert option we picked for free.

I don't return to restaurants that pull crap like this, or I'll walk out if I get the stink-eye vibe. If they want all the customers out the door and everything washed and cleaned up by a certain hour, post a closing time 60 to 90 minutes prior to that.

 

[anniemae]

I would not have liked that at all, but I do understand that during the "off" times are when they clean, take breaks, have meetings, change shifts etc. So it would not have shocked me that they were cleaning between the lunch and dinner rushes. No way would I sit there while they vacuumed the whole room, I would have politely asked to move to the other dining room.

 

[Happy Snowman]

If they were vacuuming during prime lunch hours I might have been annoyed but for a 2:00 lunch, I would almost expect they would be cleaning.

 

[Minnesota!]

Would not have bothered me. Much better sound, in my opinion, then eating noises or inane small talk...

 

[Wishing on a star]

I hate to admit it, as I usually never agree with the OP on these kinds of things!!!
But, yes, this would have bothered me... And I would have asked DH if he might find some way to address the issue.

Some people have sensitive hearing, like sensory integration... (my son has a bit of this)
Some people just might find the noise level of that loud motorized vacuum to be a huge problem.
That kind of thing might be very loud/annoying for elderly.
Some people where hearing aides, and this loud noise would make them either yank those things out of their ears, or run screaming from the room.

Most restaurants use the Sweepers, and/or close off sections for this kind of thing.

While I usually don't like to make a big issue out of a small one.
This would have been an issue for me.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Yes, it would have bothered me. I think I would have said "Look, if you are going to be vacuuming in here, we'll move to the other room."

I get that they have to clean at some point, but it shouldn't be while I am eating! Close off a section, clean it, and then close off another section and clean that. Or do what some restaurants do and shut down entirely for an hour or two.

 

[Squirlz]

I read the first line and I knew who the poster was.

 

[low-key]

I hate the sound of a vacuum cleaner , most men do, women should only be allowed to vacuum when a man isnt around

 

[Cantw8]

I hate the sound of a vacuum cleaner , most men do, women should only be allowed to vacuum when a man isnt around

You must have a death wish

 

[low-key]

You must have a death wish

I feel safe behind this screen