Zagat lists what they view as the 10 most annoying things restaurants do. Over at their site, they offer their own commentary. here, I add what I think of them:
"1. Dogs in Cafes/Outdoor Restaurants." Predictably, this one doesn't bother me at all. To the contrary, I like it.
"2. Tables Ridiculously Close Together." Why is it that restaurants with lousy acoustics are especially fond of this one?
"3. Overzealous Wine Pouring. If there’s one thing we definitely don’t need help with, it’s pouring our own alcohol." Damned straight. I bought it. It's my bottle. Servers should keep their hands off it.
"4. Designer Ice" Who cares?
"5. Enormous Wine Glasses" I'd rather have a glass that is too big than too small. One trend that seems to be over is for high priced Italian places to use tumblers instead of real wine glasses. My $100 bottle of super-Tuscan wine belongs in a Riedel glass, not a water tumbler.
"6. Ketchup Snobbery" Who cares?
"7. Sparkling, Flat or Filtered Tap?" Filtered tap is better for the environment and, for my money, tastes better.
"8. Unisex Restrooms." Lousy idea.
"9. Excessive Punctuation/Lower-Case Letters in Restaurant Names, Menu Items Wh.at is up wi.th all the pe.ri.ods?" it's annoying, but it's better than the 1980s fad for adding extra "e's", as in "Ye Olde Taverne."
"10. Wood-Infused Food" Unless it's smoked BBQ, wood is not an ingredient.
