questionsdo you prefer a booth or table when you are…


Booth. Tables are usually in high traffic, high visibility areas and/or really close to other tables. I don't really like people that much, so booths give me a buffer zone and a sense of privacy. Fewer people around me to annoy me means a better eating experience. The wife and I will sit on the same side of the booth so we can talk without yelling over the background noise. I do have large family members, so I understand how booths can be confining and uncomfortable. I NEVER eat at places that offer "family style" meals where you sit at the same table as strangers. The closest thing to that I've done is the Asian joints that prepare the food in front of you and you all sit around the grill. Even that feels odd to be "sharing" an experiences with randos.


Mostly a booth. I generally eat alone (fiancee still hasn't moved here), and eating at a booth makes it easier for me to ease my pistol out of my holster and shoot first, should I be accosted by a bounty hunter during my meal. Always want to be ready.


Booth. We go out for lunch a couple of times a week and if a booth is an option (most places here that aren't 5 Guys), I prefer not to be in the bustle that can happen when you're out at a table.


I have always felt sorry for all the little Naugas that gave their hide to upholster all the booths in the world.
The use of Naugahyde should be banned before they are extinct. Pleather would be a more suitable covering.


I'm a table fan in the majority of cases, but a lot of it comes down to what kind of booth the restaurant has.

My family runs on the bulky side so tables are often more comfortable for some of us if the booths are small and have fixed tables.

Privacy also varies from booth to booth... some where you're back to back to the next table makes it feel a lot less private than if you were at a table (where room to move your chair back to get out separates the table more). On the other hand, if the booth has a good divider and you're not super close to the next table it does make it feel a lot more private and I prefer the booth then.

As for how often... I try to keep it to once a week (outside of summer vacation). I used to eat out a lot when I was at college (3 or more times a week even) and the cost really does add up, not to mention the calories.


I like a booth mainly because its easier for my wife and I to keep our daughter safer and easier for her to sit at as well.


@thumperchick: It's easier to use my big toe at a booth. ;)


I'm a booth man through and through. I like sitting on the outside of the table.. it makes me feel powerful.


I go out at least once a week and prefer a booth due to the extra level of quiet it affords when out with friends. Since I'm out for social interaction I prefer to hear the conversation.
When out with the "drinking buddies" it may as well be a table, since I really don't care what they have to say.

j5 j5

Wow, this just happened to my girlfriend and I this past weekend. She prefers booths and had us change seats after we were seated at a table. I'm pretty tall so as long as my chair isn't sticking out into the middle of the aisle or hitting someone behind me and I can stretch my legs a bit I don't care either way.

We eat out about 3x per month.


We eat out several times a week~hubby likes booths, and I don"t care.


It's harder to grope my husband in public at a table.


I'm very overweight and prefer booths by a mile, although I understand being hesitant-- I have had a booth or two that the table was too big/wide for the seats and it was uncomfortable.


I eat out rarely, but I always request a table: I'm a fairly small person and sitting at a booth leaves me a choice between being unable to reach my food or perching at the very edge of the bench which causes back pain. Neither of those options is pleasant, and when I eat out, I'm hoping for a pleasant experience!


Wow, I think @goldenthorn summed it up perfectly!

I too prefer a booth, though we don't eat out that much anymore -- maybe a couple of times a month.


Mostly booths. Love the padded seating.
If it's wood booths I go table. Those flat seats on wood booths get annoying over time.


I eat out at least twice a week. I live in a huge city, so I'm wonderfully spoiled for variety and choice. I don't often frequent restaurants that have booths, but when I do, I definitely want the booth. Especially if it's a diner-type breakfast place or an old-fashioned steak house/jazz lounge, the two types of restos here that most often have booths.
There's something so solid and safe and comfortable about a booth. It feels so much more private, like I and the person/people with me are completely insulated from the rest of the restaurant. At breakfast, I can spread myself out like a beached jellyfish and lumpishly gorge on my breakfast in private peace. In the evening, I can rakishly recline with my arms elegantly draped across the top of the booth and guzzle my cocktails like some flash molly in a speakeasy.
Booths are awesome.


Booth. Ever tried to canoodle in a chair? Downright dangerous.


Booths are more private but tables are less claustrophobic. For me, claustrophobia wins and I prefer a table. Plus I am pretty restless and I can shift around and sit different ways on a chair but a booth is pretty restrictive. As for how often I eat out, I eat at a sit-down restaurant about 3-4 times per week on average, more around the holidays. I pick up take-out, either from fast food places or regular restaurants, probably another 3-4 times per week, also more around the holidays. Most of my at-home meals are re-visioned restaurant leftovers. I live alone and I just don't make the time like I should for shopping, cooking and cleaning up. It's so much faster and cheaper to grab a Cabana bowl from Taco Cabana and make three meals out of it at home.


Well it depends on what I'm doing, and the restaurant. If I'm just on a solo date with my wife a booth makes sense. I feel booths are cozier (especially in winter), and let you stretch out a bit if you're seated one to each side. But once you start adding people to the booth it becomes inconvenient; if someone has to leave, someone else is probably going to have to move. If I'm out a bar & grill with a few friends we get a table, they're just easier!

Dinner for 2: Booth
Dinner for 2+: Table