There’s not really a hard and fast rule for how long is too long to hold down a table at a restaurant.
However, one server is calling on customers to vacate tables shortly after they pay for their meal—or at least provide an additional tip for the server whose section they have been occupying.
In a video that has drawn over 50,000 views on TikTok, user Toya (@toyatalks) calls on viewers to compensate their server if they plan to sit at their table for hours after they pay for their meal at a sit-down restaurant.
“Please tip accordingly to the amount of time that you spend in a server’s table after you have paid your bill,” she says in the video. “If you need to sit for a little while afterward and chit-chat, I have no problems with that. But when you are taking up a person’s table, for three, four hours after you’re done, give that person some extra money.”
“Leave an additional tip on that table because you have prevented that server from making more money,” she concludes.
What’s wrong with sitting at your restaurant table?
Toya—and servers like her, she says—needs her tables to regularly cycle out, so that she can serve more customers and make the most of her time spent at work.
“I need people to sit at those tables so that I can take care of them, give them great service and they can tip me,” she says. “One table came in at 8 o’clock, cashed out about 45 minutes later, and sat at my table until 12:30. That’s four-and-a-half hours that I did not get anybody else to sit at that table.”
The server says it happened that same night with another table. “Wonderful, sweet table. Came in at 9:30. Cashed out at around 10:30,” she explains. “Did not leave my table until 1:00 because you just met up. You hadn’t seen this person in forever, and y’all want to chitchat and talk.”
It’s not coming from a place of ungratefulness, she says, as she is more than thankful for what customers do leave. Toya just wishes they were more conscientious of how much time they are spending in her section.
“I appreciate what they left, because I gave them good service,” she says. “But you need to be mindful of how much time you take at a server’s table when you’re not ordering anything, you’re not continuing to eat, you have cashed out and you are done.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Toya via TikTok direct message regarding the video.
How long is acceptable to hang around at a restaurant after you’ve paid?
Generally, most people are probably not going to have an issue with guests spending an extra 30 minutes or so at their table after paying the bill, according to Food & Wine. But when it gets into 45-minute territory, that’s when things start to get dicey.
In the industry, folks who hang out at their tables long after paying their bill are often referred to as “campers” by restaurant staff—and it’s not a cute nickname.
Is an extra tip at restaurants the answer?
Some viewers received the video positively from the customers’ perspective and respected Toya’s concerns.
“I always tip well, but never thought about leaving an extra tip when I spend extra time at the table,” one commenter wrote. “Thank you, I will never forget your message. Respect what you do!”
“I’m not one to tell people to tip but in a case like this, you really should bc you are preventing them from making money,” another said. “It’s not fair to the server.”
“I’ve never hung around after paying the bill,” a further user said. “I know servers have to turnover that table to make.”
On the other side of the interaction, commenters who shared that they have worked as servers chimed in to echo the poster’s sentiments.
“4 hours is costing that server a bare minimum of 30-40,” one commenter wrote. “Thank you for your message.”
“Sitting at a restaurant for 3-4 hours is crazy… as a server/bartender I agree with her ENTIRELY!” another said.
“Especially when it’s busy and there is a wait. Like sitting there for like 30 minutes after ok fine,” a further user added. “But if your sitting longer than that after finishing that is literally a whole other table or more that the server lost.”
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