re: Offshoot- What is the max time you will wait for a server

It depends. It usually happens when I'm alone and the place isn't busy enough to justify a wait. I've left in five minutes when I sat down at an uncrowded bar and the bartender was chatting with another patron and never even looked my way. I know a crappy service provider when I see one. And I've learned it by passing on my initial instinct to flee and giving a lot of bad servers the chance to disappoint me before I decided to start trusting myself. Yeah, 10 minutes is probably usually about right. But as soon as I see that I'm watching the clock hoping the 10 min will pass without service so I can leave, I'm out.

I left a place without paying a while back because I was done eating and waited 15 minutes for my waitress to bring my check but she never did. She just disappeared. I hate when the server is all over you during the meal but when you're ready to pay your check and leave they keep you waiting. It's sort of a dive bar that makes surprisingly good food for a dive bar. I wasn't drinking so the check was less than $15. It ticked me off and I haven't been back since. That was probably two years ago. Maybe it's time to go back. They make a good green sauce.