Eating out is governed by an unwritten rule book. Some behaviors are widely accepted, such as sending back an incorrect order. But others, such as refusing to pay for a disliked meal, are viewed by many Americans as faux pas.
A recent YouGov survey asked 1,000 American adults about the acceptability of 40 restaurant behaviors: 20 by customers and 20 by restaurant management or staff. People are generally willing to give more leeway on the guest actions we inquired about, but most draw the line at some point, suggesting that many Americans think the customer is not, in fact, always right.
Customer Behavior
Key Findings
- At least eight in 10 Americans think it’s unacceptable for diners to: refuse to pay for a dish they ate but didn’t like (90%), allow their children to roam freely (90%), debate menu prices (84%), stay past closing time (83%), and snap their fingers to get a waiter’s attention (81%).
- Some of the most divisive behaviors include asking to taste a bottle of wine before purchasing, taking too long to decide what to order, and leaving no tip after receiving bad service.
What behaviors do Americans think are no-nos for restaurant customers? At least eight in 10 Americans say it is unacceptable for diners to do each of the following: say they won’t pay for a dish they didn’t like but ate, allow their children to roam freely, debate menu prices with the staff (84%), stay past the restaurant’s closing time, or snap their fingers to get the waiter’s attention.
At the other end of the acceptability spectrum, more than half of Americans say it’s acceptable to do each of the following: ask for a to-go container to take home leftovers, send back a dish that wasn’t made as specified, take photos of their food, ask to split the bill between a large number of people, and ask to be seated before their entire party arrives.
Some of the most divisive customer behaviors — meaning a significant portion of people say they are acceptable and unacceptable — are asking to taste a bottle of wine before purchasing it, asking for multiple modifications to a menu item, taking an extended period of time to decide what to order, and leaving no tip after receiving bad service.
What about restaurant behavior?
Methodology: This poll was conducted online on April 1 – 8, 2024 among 1,042 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel using sample matching. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
