Why Restaurants Want You to Use Coat Check

It’s that time of year when many of us put on multiple layers of clothing to keep the winter cold from penetrating. Sweaters, coats, gloves, scarves, hats and a partridge in a pear tree are part of the season. When we enter a restaurant wrapped in winter clothes, the warm restaurant air envelops us like a woolen glove and we soon feel like we are in a sauna – and as if we have to take off our clothes. Then you start with the winter accessories and quickly decide what you want to do with them. Where are they going?

Use the cloakroom

If the restaurant offers a cloakroom, be sure to use it. Tuck your gloves and hat into your pockets, tuck your scarf into your arms, and let everything hang comfortably and securely on a hanger while you enjoy your meal. The tip only costs you a few dollars and you don’t have to think about it for the next 90 minutes. If you’re someone who wants to hang your coat on the back of a chair, let me tell you why that’s not the best idea.

The chair back is not an option

Coats take up space and space is a valuable commodity in a restaurant. For every coat that sits on a chair, there is less room for others to walk past you and others, I mean the restaurant staff. In a small restaurant where everyone hangs their coat on a chair, it’s like trudging through a forest of quilted jackets and we need a machete to get through. Since cutting customers’ coats is usually frowned upon, we wade through, hoping we don’t trip over a scarf that’s fallen to the floor.

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Or sit on it

If you own a coat that reaches above your knees, you can be sure that a large part of it will be on the floor when you hang it on the chair so that non-slip footwear can step on it. We don’t want to step on it, but sometimes we have no choice. If there’s no place to check your coat, store it in as space-saving a way as possible, even if you have to sit on it.

Seats are for butts, not bags

You may also be burdened with extra luggage since Christmas shopping comes with going out to dinner. Some people have the luxury of leaving such items in the car, but for those in cities who rely on public transportation, that means the bags go to the restaurant. The New York MTA has a slogan: “Seats are for butts, not bags.” The same goes for restaurant chairs. A few bags from Macy’s are comparable in space to another person’s space, but that doesn’t mean you can always use an empty chair to rest your shopping loot.

If there is an unused chair at your table, it’s like you’ve won the lottery because you can put your coats and bags there. If you see an empty table with four equally empty chairs, that is not an invitation for your things to sit down. These chairs and this table are for other people. If you leave it there until someone needs it, the onus is on someone else to ask you to move your stuff, so just don’t do it. Put your shopping bags under the table and take care of them. This is not an airline and you will not receive payment for extra legroom.

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Restaurants know that this time of year, customers have no choice but to come with extra equipment. You would like to provide a cloakroom or closet, but sometimes that’s just not possible. They do their best. There may be some hooks in the restaurant that you can use, and if so, use them. Otherwise, your coat could drag on the floor, a waiter could trip over it and spill a tray of drinks on it and your shopping bags, and then the entire vacation would be as disappointing as a glass of mulled wine with too little cinnamon and even more clove.