The restaurant served you in a leisurely fashion and obviously did not have a problem with the amount of time that you spent there. On the other hand, they have the policy clearly posted so that they can point it out when others come in, order an appetizer and dessert, and then linger over coffee for 90 more minutes while other diners could have been accomodated.

I would choose a restaurant based on the food, service and ambiance and not worry about some silly little notice that has nothing to do with me.

You are totally right, joesource, about choosing a restaurant for the food, the service, and the ambiance. That's what I do. Having a sign on my table telling me I am not welcome after one and three-quarters hours totally ruins the ambiance for me. Ambiance has to do with how welcome a customer is made to feel, so they have failed me in that respect. Maybe some can ignore it and say, "oh that doesn't apply to me", but I don't feel that way. If it's on my table I think it does apply to me. If they have to insult reasonable diners to take care of a few unreasonable ones, then I feel it has ruined the ambiance for me.

And you are right about the service too -- which extends to the manager and maitre'd. With the reaction I got from those last two (who have apparently never learned how to handle customers), I now have two of the main three reasons to strike it off my list -- the ambiance and the service. In Naples there are dozens of good restaurants who can give me all three.

The sign was an unfortunate visual indication of the owner's poor judgment, but my interpretation would have been that as long as I'm ordering and dining, I am welcome to stay, and that includes lingering over coffee, but *not* to extreme. They certainly wouldn't have hustled you out at 8:45 even if you'd just set your forks down and drained the last of the coffee. I'm not defending the note, it was absurd, but I can understand the problem they are trying to address, albeit rather crudely. Turn those tables!

Tampa's Berns Steakhouse has addressed the issue and accomplished the same goal with their "dessert room". It's a genteel maneuver that allows you to dine, then vacate, without it seeming that you are being ousted from the money making segment of their operation, but that is precisely what is happening. The dessert room has to be reserved at the time you sit down to order dinner, and who knows then whether or not they will want dessert. If you decide after you've eaten, the wait to get in is over an hour, simply because it is a time when people sit and visit (and you can't wait at the table you just dined at--you wait at the bar).

So, there is a problem, but there are approaches that work, where you feel "privileged" to go on to something else, and those that only offend...but both were intended to accomplish the same goal.

I think the card was a rude way of telling their customers about the policy. BUT -- times are tough out there, and tables need to be turned. What good is a great restaurant if it goes out of business?

There was a wonderful restaurant here in Toronto some years ago; it was relatively small, and they generally served dinner in two sittings. When you phoned to make a reservation, you were advised that if you wanted the earlier sitting, they would like you to keep in mind that the table would be needed for the second sitting, a couple of hours later. If you reserved for the second sitting (you were also told this at the time of making the reservation) you could linger as long as you liked. There were no signs anywhere, and nobody ever seemed to be troubled by the idea, since it was obvious that there was a limited amount of room. I guess there's more than one way to accomplish the same thing.

I can't resist this thread, Patrick.
And I couldn't agree w/you more. The
owner is obviously not a people person, needs better business acumen plus a copywriter & may have to hire a PR
firm to undo the unsavory taste this will leave on the public IF you forward these comments to him. While you're at it, cc
The Food Editor of your local bugle.

BTW, just how new is this restaurant?

It opened last summer, I believe in July. It has only approached reaching capacity in the past month making reservations necessary. But I have not seen it approaching the place where there are two complete seatings, so it seems to me that staggering reservations would handle the problem quite easily. Seven is earlier than I'm used to eating, but we did that for our clients sake. Maybe we weren't rushed out at 8:45 because there were no parties waiting for a table. But if there had been I'm not sure what they would have done as we had just been served our entrees. Would they have said, "sorry you can't finish that, your time's up", or would they have let us finish then said, "sorry, no coffee and dessert for you"? I am never offended for them to say on the phone that they have openings at say 6 and 8:30 or whatever, better than taking my reservation and then when I get there telling me I have to eat and run, and skip drinks and dessert, because they can't serve us all that in their alloted amount of time.

You're right; if you are alerted up front of their time policy you can decide whether you would be comfortable w/
that time window.
Business is difficult enough these days w/o having to also worry about ceding your table. And esp. at @ $300/4 .
Wonder where Shoney's will stand profit-wise THIS July. do cc the food editor if you receive no response from their management. It's the "regulars" who pay the rent...not the snowbirds.

LOL, RHEA, if I forward this to STONEY'S, they will certainly get a kick out of being confused with SHONEY'S!!!!

Ok; so I need a prufreader!
However which will have a better bottom line this July?

Well, Rhea since the local Shoney's with their cheapie all you can eat buffets went out of business a few months ago and boarded their windows, I'd guess that Stoney's will have the better bottom line regardless.
Hope you didn't think I was slamming you for that typo -- but it was just too good to pass up!!!

That was a nice little laugh, Rhea, thanks! You know inflation has taken its bit in its teeth when a meal for 4 at Shoney's is $300! LOL Please don't anyone send this thread to Greenspan lest his glasses prescription has not been updated recently!

I'm glad I could provide some mirth...
Now let's get back to the situation at hand, Patrick.
You going forward w/this complaint or just venting? Cause I hope you are.

Thanks for the "Heads Up" on Stoneys, Patrick! Reminds me of something that happened a couple of years ago. I invited a friend to lunch to celebrate a "significant" birthday. I called the restaurant...a fine dining establishment... & made a reservation for 1:30. When my friend & I arrived we 'settled in' & while perusing the menu we each ordered a glass of wine. Our food arrived around 2:15. When we finised we asked to see the dessert menu. "Sorry. No dessert. We close @ 2:00!" This was said as plates were whisked away & the bill was unceremoniously dropped on the table! "Not today!", I said. "You aren't closing @ 2:00 today." However, as it wld have been extremely difficult to continue to enjoy our "birthday celebration" under these conditions, my friend & I left. We went across the street for dessert. But, we never went back to "the fine dining establishment"! And, because this story soon "got out" a lot of other people did not go back too!

Hey Patrick, guess I won't be trying Stoney's. Actually, we kind of avoid the "hot" restaurants in "high season". With this published attitude, this amateur restauranteur will probably not make it to next "season". The Naples customer is very sophisticated and there are many options for good dining. The restaurant landscape in Naples is littered with "one hit" wonders.

If you see this, we should try the off-line lunch at Campiello or somethere maybe after the March rush. You suggested it sometime ago but that thread got purged by the Fodors police for a critical remark on one of their recommended restaurants or something.

LilMsFoodie

Well, since the flow of posts has slowed, I just copied off this thread -- all nine pages of it--and am sending it to the owner of Stoney's. Since I'm finally learning how to paste and copy here, I thought I might as well share my letter with you.

"Last week we were extremely put off by the new signs on the tables telling us about our limited time allowed at the table. I understand what you are trying to do, and understand the problem if people linger too long. But to insult regular diners is another matter. Particularly ironic is the fact that we spent 2 and a half hours at our table, leaving immediately after being served our coffee and dessert. The only way your restaurant could have managed to get us out in the hour and three-quarters would have been for us to have ordered immediately when we sat rather than ordering cocktails first, and to have left immediately after the entrees – no dessert and no coffee. That is not the kind of restaurant I enjoy dining in.

I was equally put off by the attitude of both the hostess and the manager who I called the next day. Basically, both said, “too bad, that’s the owner’s decision and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

I spend a lot of time on a travel forum – message board – sponsored by Fodors, the travel guide people. I have become sort of an “expert” recently for the many questions visitors from all over the country are asking about Naples – particularly hotels and dining. I had recommended Stoney’s several times.

After my experience last week, I decided to post the situation on the message board, an open forum for travel issues. I thought maybe I’d find that your practice is common now, and I just hadn’t run into it during my many travels. I thought you might be interested in seeing the results posted by knowledgeable travelers over a few day period."

Oh, and yes, LilMsFoodie, let's do a Campiello lunch, maybe in April.

I may just have to fly down there at Easter and meet up with you two!

Patrick, the email addresses are no longer in the old posts and mine never was but I remember we have the same internet provider so email me at lucypetunia@..........

Be not afraid, that is not my name.
LilMsFoodie

More the merrier, Paul

Patrick: Please let us know if you receive a response!

I'm guessing the owner is inexperienced in the restaurant business. Perhaps a "situation" arose a time or two, or this was conceived as a brilliant solution following a very busy night when patrons were turned away.

The owner, no doubt, found his cards clever and amusing, rather than ridiculous and offensive.

I'm sure you will agree that there's a huge difference between eating out and dining out. It's not just the prices, but also the level of service. When I want to dine and will be paying premium prices for the "experience", I expect a leisurely paced meal, all during which I am taken care of, at my own pace.