photo for illustration
I was 19 years old and my girlfriend at the time had said she had always wanted to go to a particularly upscale restaurant. I made the reservations, and on the appropriate date we dressed up and headed over. I knew it would be expensive, so I made sure to bring enough cash.
We got there and I got a very distinct, “Where-are-your-parents” treatment. I was then told that I would have to pay in advance for my meal at the time we ordered. I wasn’t particularly happy, but my girlfriend really wanted to eat here, so I’d put up with it. We were told our table would be ready shortly, but being under age 21, we would have to wait in the lobby.
30 minutes go by. The dining room is still mostly empty, and the few people who arrived were seated immediately. I politely ask how much longer the anticipated wait is and was told they were short-staffed that night. Finally (when I suspect they figured we wouldn’t have the good taste to simply “go away”), we were seated. I caught one of the wait staff saying something like, “Oh great, I hope I don’t get the kids’ table”.
The final straw came when my girlfriend stumbled slightly (she didn’t wear heels often) which started a round of snickering. She was embarrassed and upset and asked if we could just leave.
So we left, and ended up the most well-dressed patrons of Kelly’s Roast Beef on Revere Beach (a well-deserved local legend) where we sat on the seawall, and had a much better time without having to pretend we were something we weren’t.
Source: Ouora post by Jon Toner