Food Front: The new rules of dining out

The pandemic changed everything. Here’s how things work now

Published Oct 15, 2024  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  3 minute read

Many restaurants book up weeks in advance, so it's important to plan ahead when you want to make a reservation. Photo by Getty Images

If, like so many of us, you’ve been spending a lot more time dining at home these last four years, when you do go out you’ve likely noticed a shift in the way restaurants operate. I sure have, and even though I write about food for a living, I still struggle with some of the changes and suspect you might, too.

The thing is, we all just want to go out and enjoy a lovely meal. The people who work in restaurants just want to make sure we do. But it’s a different dining-out culture now than it was before March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began serving up more pivots than Browns has locations.

Article content

So here’s what you need to know.

Expect to spend more

Earlier this year, Restaurants Canada reported that 62 per cent of the country’s restaurants are either losing money or barely breaking even. Before the pandemic, that figure was 10 per cent. Considering that 2023 was a record-breaking year for restaurant bankruptcies, you can start to see why prices keep going up.

For one thing, everything is more expensive, from rent to paper towels to the whisky for your Manhattan and the grass-fed ribeye you plan to enjoy with it. There are many reasons for this, including ongoing supply chain problems, but the biggest one is the changing climate, which comes with heatwaves, drought, storms, disease and social unrest, all of which contribute to failed crops and soaring prices.

Also, labour is more expensive, thanks to a newish employer health tax and higher minimum wage (and you have to pay a lot more than that to hire a good cook). That’s if you can find staff in the first place.

Plus all those things we rely on for convenience—the POS (point of sale) devices, delivery apps, reservation sites—all cost money each time they are used.

Article content

Article content

Reservations are harder to get

If it’s Thursday and you want to make a dinner reservation for Saturday night, well, good luck with that. Hot restaurants book up weeks in advance, so plan ahead. Even if you do, you still might not get in. That’s because the technology that makes it so easy to book a table has also made it easy for bots and scalpers to turn the whole experience into the (literal) Hunger Games.

You may also be asked to pay a deposit. This is because about 20 per cent of reservations are no-shows, which mean lost revenue and wasted food. Typically, that deposit will only be charged if you don’t show up. If you do have to cancel, give the restaurant at least 24 hours’ notice.

Yes, there is a time limit. And no, they likely won’t seat you until your whole party arrives

Of all the changes, this might feel the least hospitable, but the reality is that a restaurant is a business. Orchestrating the flow of a dining room is a delicate ballet that’s impossible to conduct if staff can’t predict how many people they’ll be seating and how long they’ll be there.

If you are celebrating a special occasion, by all means request more time when you book your table. Otherwise, show up as scheduled, order your whole meal as soon as you can and don’t dawdle over the digestifs unless your server lets you know there’s no rush after all.

Article content

Tips start at 20 per cent now

Tip creep is insidious and may feel especially egregious when everything else is so expensive, but until the day everyone agrees to abolish the practice of tipping, it is what it is.

The customer can be wrong

For many years, hospitality was built around the idea that the customer was always right. But then the pandemic showed us that the customer could also be an aggressive bully who would happily put other lives at risk for a cheeseburger.

Of course, a diner should never feel reluctant to raise a concern if, for instance, the wine is corked or the steak overcooked. But there is never any excuse to be rude, insulting or violent, to make suggestive comments or touch anyone who works in hospitality.

Now restaurants are willing to set boundaries. And you know what? This is one change I hope we can all agree on.

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   Food Front: Patio pizza parties heat up summer

2. 

   Food Front: The caviar comeback

Article content