A visit to a restaurant or a cafe is no longer a unique or special occasion, unlike a visit to the opera, for example. People hold business negotiations, dine, celebrate birthdays, or just meet friends there. Restaurants have become a regular part of our life, but some features of their work still remain a mystery to us.

At Bright Side, we decided to find answers to some of the “why” questions that restaurant guests usually ask.

Why don’t waiters like separate bills?

Why are plates so big, and portions so small?

Why is a business lunch cheaper than the same dishes separately?

Why do restaurants prefer cash?

Why does it take so long?

© Typical cook / VK

Sometimes, the waiting time for a dish (that you could cook at home in 15 minutes) can take 45 minutes in a restaurant. Of course, this happens not because chefs cook 3 times slower than you. There is a queue of orders, and there is also a rule according to which dishes should be served at the same time. In fact, one of the main tasks of the kitchen is to coordinate all actions in time in such a way that even with a full seating, dishes are prepared and served in the right order, albeit with some delay.

Why can’t I take a seat wherever I want?

© pxhere

Everyone wants to sit in a separate booth, by the fireplace, or by the window, and no one is thrilled with the prospect of having dinner at a table near the exit. In most cases, the hostess will try to take your wishes into account , but there are certain limitations. Don’t expect that on a Friday night, a couple will be seated at a table that is meant for 6 people. Even if it’s empty, this doesn’t mean that it won’t be taken in 30 minutes or that it’s not already reserved. Besides, the hostess tries to seat guests in a way so that all waiters have approximately the same number of tables to serve.

When guests see empty tables, they can’t understand why they can’t be seated there. I say, “I’m sorry that I can’t seat you right away, and I know it seems like there are a lot of empty tables, but the fact is, we don’t have enough servers/cooks on tonight. If you’d like, you can have a cocktail at the bar while you wait, or if you’d like I can seat you, and you can enjoy some cocktails and complimentary salad or some bread with our house-infused olive oil, while you wait.” People are generally understanding, and if you’re honest, they’ll go along with you happily. © David Williamson / Quora

How can it be so fast?

© ponce_photography / Pixabay

Another interesting question: how do chefs manage to cook a baked shank or beef stew in 20-30 minutes, if the recipe says “bake/simmer on a low heat for 5 hours”? The most honest restaurants warn that this kind of food must be ordered in advance, preferably the day before the visit. But the most cunning ones use pre-cooked food. You can significantly reduce the cooking time of a complex dish if you start cooking it in advance, and freeze it or pack it in a vacuum bag 20 minutes before the end of cooking.

I’m not proud to know this. As a student, I worked in a London fast food place which was pretty popular among young people. The spaghetti Bolognese was actually renowned. We boiled the pasta in the morning, drained it, and conserved the pasta in buckets filled with ice water. Every time spaghetti was ordered, one of us grabbed a portion, put a ladle of sauce and a handful of cheap cheese on top, and microwaved it for 3 minutes. © Ian De Pagie / Quora

There are definitely many more restaurant secrets. Tell us in the comments below about what other questions keep you up at night.