When dining with guests/colleagues at home, or at a restaurant (not fast food)...

[Lovely2CU]

...do you wait until everyone at your table is served before you begin eating?

I was brought up to always wait until everyone had their meal before them.

 

[LoraJ]

I always wait, unless the server says someone's plate is running behind and that person says to please eat and not wait.

Once I went out with a large group and one person's food was late and they said for us to go ahead and eat. We were all reaching for our forks when someone at the table insisted that we would all wait. The other person would insist that we eat so that our food would not got cold. The other person was adamant about us waiting. I think it took 5 - 10 minutes for the last plate to arrive. All our meals were cold at that point. I think it was more rude for that one person to make everyone wait. Because only one person had a warm meal that day.

 

[tigercat]

I am the same. I would wait unless there is only one person and that person says to please eat. If it was my plate that was late I would insist that they start as I myself hate to eat warm food.
tigercat

 

[C.Ann]

Yes.. I guess we were brought up by the same parents - LOL..

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I always wait unless: 1. There's a very large group of people (I've gone out with a dozen colleagues for impromptu happy-hours-that-turned-into dinners) AND 2. Someone says "everybody please go ahead and eat, I'm sure my dinner will be here in a moment."

Please note, both conditions must be met. And proper attention to the meal-less guests must be paid in the form of, for instance, talking to the server to make sure he/she knows that not everyone has received their meal.

 

[ols386]

I always wait till everyone has their food....unless, like mentioned in several previous posts, someone's food is delayed, and they say for everyone else to go ahead and eat.

I've been with quite a few people, though, who don't wait. They begin eating as soon as their food arrives.

 

[Disney Doll]

Yes I do, unless the people waiting say "Go ahead and eat". I know that if I am waiting on a meal and everyone has been served, I tell them to eat so as to not let their own meal get cold.

 

[momz]

don't you hate it when the server doesn't bring everyone's food at the same time, so some have their food getting cold while waiting for the others to get their plates? Worse yet is when the server brings food to the adults, but the kids are left waiting. I think that if you can't bring it all together, at least let the little ones have their food first. But in general, it's best to wait until everyone has their food.