What features do you care about most when going to a restaurant or cafe? (ingredients, substance)

[Victory10]

What features do you care about most when going to a restaurant or cafe?

[Mooseketeer]

The Food. To me the quality of food is paramount and though nice surroundings and all the flim-flammery which goes with fine restaurants is the cherry on top no amount of styling will disguise the fact that the chef can't cook or that management has cut down on the quality of ingredients.



I like restaurants who try to use local ingredients as much as possible, are responsible and open in their sourcing ( humanely reared meat, seafood from good stewardship sources, local vegetables and fruits where possible, fair-trade if possible).

A great restaurant to me is a holistic thing where all the parts add up to a perfect whole. It has to be spotlessly clean and the service has to be efficient yet relaxed.

But all these are pointless if the food served is rubbish. I loathe places which have spent all their efforts and money on making the place stylish and trendy and forgotten that a restaurant is first and foremost about the food...

I have the same requirement about Cafes. I expect high standards of the food ( for the kind it serves) and for the owners and managers to have pride in what they do. If you are "only" serving grilled cheese sandwiches and pancakes then they can still be the best grilled cheese sandwiches and pancakes on offer... The most humble of foods can still be an utter delight if allowed to shine with the use of fresh , good ingredients, and skill in handling them.

And something else I hate is obsequious waiters. It makes my flesh creep. I have been to some truly great high class restaurants and the staff there was properly trained to be friendly and efficient without being servile. I also loathe "gimmicky" restaurants with a theme.

It implies that all the efforts have gone into the visual rather than substance. Great food needs little trimmings.

Yes it is nice to be in a Romantic stylish restaurant but if the food tastes like sweaty feet then what is the point....

[TKramar]

Originally Posted by Victory10

What features do you care about most when going to a restaurant or cafe?

Only price. Okay...so proximity and price.

[moonshadow]

Depends on the situation.

Generally speaking though, the most important features for me are cleanliness, quality and service.

[Vichel]

It's got to be a complete package - food, service, cleanliness, price/value. Can't really tolerate the lack of any of those four qualities. If any of those features are lacking I won't be back.

[dens]

Cleanliness number one, then food, then service. Now obviously I will not go to a clean place with poor food but rest assured, I will not go to a restaurant with great food that is not clean.

[annika08]

Originally Posted by Victory10

What features do you care about most when going to a restaurant or cafe?

Hmm...other than a clean place with good food? I like a place with privacy; I hate eating somewhere and the table next to us is about 6 inches away. I like to be spaced away from other people. Booths with high seats are preferable (nothing worse than sitting down to a nice meal but the child at the booth behind you keeps turning around to stare at you the whole time).

I also prefer a fairly quiet environment; I cannot stand restaurants that play music so loud you have to yell to have a conversation.

[PA2UK]

Food, location, price, service - in that order.

Cleanliness is important but honestly, I've never been somewhere that looks dirty in the seating area and the kitchen isn't normally visible so how am I to know just how clean it is? I just have to trust that if it were really that unsanitary, it would have been caught during an inspection and shut down by now. If I can't trust that, I shouldn't be eating out at all because you can never know whats going on behind the kitchen doors unless they happen to have a very visible, open kitchen which limits my choices a lot.

I put service last because I've never been to a place with really bad service. As long as it's average (which it is most of the time), I don't mind. Plus, people make mistakes and I like to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Price is second to last because I'm willing to pay a bit more for quality food.

I'm not a fan of big chain restaurants but also don't want someplace that is so tiny, you can hardly squeeze in and feel like you're in the way no matter where you sit.

[Coolhand68]

The food first and foremost.

Atmosphere...I like quiet places. I hate noisy restaurants. I also like a decent amount of space between tables or privacy between booths.

Service...polite staff, prompt service, and a very small peeve...not asking me how my meal is just as I've placed a fork full of food in my mouth. Timing is everything, lol.

[TexasHorseLady]

The food. Flavor. The entire point of a restaurant in the first place.

This being the case, I've eaten some phenomenal food in places that probably several people on here would never set foot in, thinking them "dives", when I've learned that the best food is found in dives, for the most part. So far, haven't gotten sick from eating in those places in 60 years.

Service depends on where I am and what I'm eating. In some cuisines, slow service means that they're giving you a chance to actually enjoy your meal. without hovering In others, it means that they're right there on top of you all the time. The BEST service I ever had was in a place that was a somewhat fancy steak house on the San Antonio River Walk a few decades ago. Went in with some friends to have a quick bite before hitting the road for Austin after a convention. Walked into the steakhouse, only to see what linen tableclothes, etc. I had venison with loganberry sauce. Was looking at my plate mid-meal, thinking there was something that I needed that was just on the tip of my brain but I couldn't quite figure out what it was, when, from the completely empty room (it was early and we were the only patrons because we got there right after opening and before the rush hour), a hand came over my shoulder and put down what I needed, then disappeared. Don't know how that waiter knew before I did and how he managed to appear and disappear that way, but it sure was impressive!