The Top 12 Dining Dos & Don’t’s

The Top 12 Dining Dos:

1. Do try a little of everything served to you unless you know you’re allergic to a certain food.
2. Do avoid talking with your mouth full. Take small bites, and you’ll find it’s easier to answer questions or join in table talk.
3. Do wait until you have swallowed the food in your mouth before you take a sip of your beverage.
4. Do take a quick sip of water if a bite of food is too hot.
5. Do remember solids (food) are always on your left, liquids (beverages) are on your right.
6. Do leave your plate where it is when you have finished eating, with the knife and fork in the 10:20 I am finished position. Place the tips of the utensils at 10 and the handles at 4.
7. Do look into, not over, the cup or glass when drinking.
8. Do butter bread on the plate, never in midair.
9. Do remember your posture at the table. Sit up straight, and keep your arms (including elbows) off the table.
10. Do leave dropped silver on the floor. Quietly signal the wait staff to bring another piece.
11. Do point out to your wait staff stones, bugs, or hair in your food, but do so in a non-combative manner. You’ll get a replacement immediately.
12. Do remove an object such as a bone or gristle from your mouth with your thumb and index finger and place it on the rim of your plate.

The Top 12 Dining Don’ts:

1. Don’t, in serving, overload your plate.
2. Don’t, in eating, overload the fork.
3. Don’t mop your face with your napkin.
4. Don’t saw the meat in a back and forth motion. Stroke it toward you.
5. Don’t touch your face or head at the table.
6. Don’t tip up the glass or cup too much when drinking, but keep it at a slight angle.
7. Don’t reach across the table or across another person to get something. If it’s out of reach, ask the closest person to pass it to you.
8. Don’t pick your teeth at the table, either with a toothpick or with your fingers. If something gets caught in your teeth, excuse yourself and take care of the problem in the privacy of the restroom.
9. Don’t push your plate away from you when you’ve finished eating.
10. Don’t gesture with your knife, fork, or spoon in your hand. If you’re not using the utensil, put it down.
11. Don’t talk about your personal food likes and dislikes while eating.
12. Don’t eat your neighbor’s bread or salad. A right-handed person reaches to the left across the dinner plate to eat salad. The bread and butter plate is placed slightly above the salad plate. (Remember, solids [foods] on the left.)