Restaurant etiquette

[magid]

I lunch at the Milk St. Cafe regularly. It's a restaurant with a cafeteria-style line and trays to take to a table, with staff busing trays when customers are done. They're only open for breakfast and lunch.

Last week, I noticed a man sitting nearby eating his own lunch from home: not only was it in a brown paper bag, it included items that were not likely to be kosher (gummy candy). He hadn't bought anything from the restaurant, nor was he meeting anyone for lunch.

This week, a suited man came in with a bag from a restaurant up the street, chose a table, and ate his meal. Again, nothing was purchased from Milk St., nor was he meeting anyone. I noticed as I walked by that the restaurant he'd gotten his lunch at was quite full; apparently he'd decided that since there wasn't a table available there, he'd walk down the street to another establishment and eat there instead.

Am I missing something? I know it's winter, but it still doesn't seem appropriate to use a restaurant's table (at noontime, their busiest time) without at least buying a drink. Is there some circumstance that would make this acceptable?

Comments

[cellio]

First, that strikes me as thoroughly rude. You don't use an establishment's resources without either permission or patronage.

Second, I'm surprised that a kosher restaurant would allow outside food in at all.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they're businessmen who patronize the restaurant at other times, so feel they've got a right to use the space when convenient for them. (Not that I think this makes it right.)

I don't think the people behind the counter noticed the outside food (there are three different areas for eating, one raised a foot or two from the others; it's an irregularly-shaped space). The outside food didn't get put on their trays or used with their silverware, so technically not a problem, but from an institutional kashrut point of view, far from ideal, yes.

[cellio]

The outside food didn't get put on their trays or used with their silverware,

This time. But if I ran a kosher establishment, I'd do my best to prevent outside food lest something unfortunate happen to my utensils. It's not just dishes and flatware, either; what happens when he touches the nozzle from my ketchup bottle to his hot sandwich? (Ok, lame example especially as this started with a dairy restaurant, but you get the idea.) As the hypothetical restaurant owner, I have to be more cautious than my customers if I'm going to stay in business.

[magid.livejournal.com]

*nodnod*
And I can come up with plenty of other possibilities: what happens if the bringer-in of outside food uses some of the restaurant silverware? What if they put their leftover food on a conveniently abandoned tray? Etc.


I think I'm going to take Osewalrus' suggestion and call/email the mashgiach tomorrow.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

In the DC area, the restaurant could lose their kashrus certification for allowing in outside food (whether or not they noticed it). Are there signs posted that say "no outside food or drink allowed" in the restaurant?

If so, you might discretely notify a manager next time you see this happen.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I haven't noticed any signs, but I wasn't looking for them, either, so it's not surprising.

I don't know what the KVH rules are for this, but I'd assume they're like DC. Next time I'll tell the manager (it can be hard to get his attention during the rush; I really hope it doesn't happen again).

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Second the comments of others. It is bad manners and jeopardizes kosher status.

find out who the mashgiach is for Milk St. and alert the mashgiach. Just about every place has a mashgiach t'midi these days. Mashgiach will be easier to get ahold of than the manager.

Do not wait for the event to recur. Tell the masgiach and ask HIM to be on the alert for a recurrence. This person is clearly taking advantage of the daily rush to get a table. I do not suspect Milk St. of complicity so there is no reason it threatens their heksher. But this needs to be stamped out before someone else notices it and causes a big problem.

Worse, from your description, this appears to be a widespread habit. Milk St. needs to stamp it out aggressively. By telling the mashgiach, and not waiting for the situation to recur, you will be doing everyone a big favor.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I'll call/email the mashgiach tomorrow.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Email sent to the restaurant (since they listed a feedback email address on their website).