I was recently in India and there you can add more to the list.

They do not understand personal space. They will be looking over your table, I was ready to ask him if he wanted to have a seat since he was that close....

More advice - mostly universal but particularly useful when serving larger patrons. (We usually order more, so we wind up tipping more; it literally pays to be good to us.)

- Offer your bigger patrons straight off a bench seat along the wall or a booth, especially if you have less-than-comfy chairs. Pull the table out when we're sitting down (without making a production out of it.) Giving a big couple a table that seats four will definitely earn you bonus points.

- Don't ask "For yourself?" if someone orders one of the grander dishes. (It's nice that your restaurant is OK with splitting, but some of us don't.)

- Bread still in the bread basket? Leave it. Empty bread basket? Refill it (or ask if we'd like more).

- Don't amusedly ask "Do you have room for dessert?" Just offer the dessert menu.

This list reads very entitled and pretentious.

Isn't being served food, good or bad, an extreme privilege? We're lucky we don't have to hunt and gather anymore.

"Like, I hate it when you sneak up on a buffalo or deer to kill it for food... and then it, like, runs the other way."

I really hate it when there are a few of you dining, or even just you and a friend, and as soon as someone is finished they rush over and start clearing the plate. Don't they know it is bad manners to do this!! You wait until everyone has finished, then you clear the table. I never leave my knife and fork in 'finished' position until we have all finished beacause of this.

Am I really being pedantic!

Do not return to the guest anything that falls on the floor — be it napkin, spoon, menu or soy sauce.

it a MUST!

I am especially supportive of this one:

Do not ask if a guest needs change. Just bring the change.

As someone who worked in the restaurant industry for about 15 years (mostly as a waitron, but also hosted and managed), this irritates me the most. By asking if I need change, they are really saying, "Is there a tip in there for me?" They should just assume I do need change and, as they pick up the folder, should simply say "Thank you." If I want them to keep the change, I'll say, "keep the change." If I don't say that, BRING ME MY CHANGE!

The moment they ask, I deduct money from their tip. I was taught to give good service in my years of waiting tables, and took the bad tips with the good - it all added up and paid my bills for many years. I don't need anyone begging at my table. Gimme my change and trust you will get what your service deserves.

I agree.

When I get the, "Do you want change?" question from the waiter, I just tell him, "Oh no, YOU keep the change for your tip. Just bring back the bills."

One of the newest things to irk me as a patron is the restaurant keeping my coins when I pay in cash!! WTF is this all about???

timely article! my pet peeve is a nice juicy hamburger that has been UNDERCOOKED! Nothing ruins the appetite faster than a raw burger. Coincidentally it happened to me last night - good fries though.

I hate it when my server slides over my tray of tacos and then just hands me an empty cup like I'm supposed to fill my own soft drink. I mean, WTF? Is this a Taco Bell, or what?

I used to wait tables, but I never did the following:

Worst dining experience - a restaurant where the waiters were encouraged to sit down with the diners to take their orders (a bad idea in itself). Apparently our waitress took a liking to my husband, because she returned to sit down next to him and chat, for no apparent reason, about four times during the meal, as if I was not there. She seemed to think she could develop this into a date with my husband. We were both taken aback by this - needless to say, NO TIP!

I hate when they try to take the frikkin bread away when the entree comes, maybe I was saving it to mop up the gravy!..

I'm pretty easy-going at restaurants. I don't mind a waiter calling me "dude" or chatting; honestly, most of these "rules" don't seem like that big of a deal to me.

However, the one thing I do get really irritated by is the plate removal thing. Just last night, I leaned forward to hear what my wife was saying, and the waiter pulled my plate out from under my face! While I had a fork in my hand! I had to grab her arm to keep her from running away with the rest of my food. My wife eats more slowly than I do, so I typically leave 3-4 bites left on my plate and hold my fork over them until she's finished. Otherwise, I have to tell the waiters and busboys to please wait about 4-5 times.

I know that waiters are trying to be attentive, and I appreciate that, but I hate feeling rushed.

That is one of the biggest problems I have at restaurants. Sometimes I am not even halfway done and they try to take my plate away without even asking.

I find more worse than that is when I'm having an appetizer and they take it away while I'm eating it because the entree has arrived.

Now, can we get this list for patrons, too??!! PLEASE!?

Here are three suggestions from that list which actually apply to all persons, all the time, everywhere (except possibly Wasilla, Alaska):

38.Do not call a guy a “dude.”

39. Do not call a woman “lady.”

41. Saying, “No problem” is a problem. It has a tone of insincerity or sarcasm. “My pleasure” or “You’re welcome” will do.

Please!

Never insist that a guest settle up at the bar before sitting down; transfer the tab.

Tips should be abolished and waitstaff paid a living wage. You would then see better service, because more people would consider it a more or less permanent job instead of a waystation on the road to their acting career, or whatever.

If you're going to complain, why not just learn to cook. Sheesh.

gwinny: that isn't always true. in italy, being a waiter is a profession. they get paid an actual wage (don't just rely on tips) and take their jobs very seriously. i never had bad service in italy.