What about salad plates? 20-40-60 answers

YOU ASK! WE ANSWER! YOU DECIDE!

QUESTION : When I go to a restaurant and before I am halfway through with my salad, the main course of the meal is brought out.

What, then, do I do with my salad that I am still eating? Move the bowl/plate out of the way? To the right or left? Or keep the bowl/plate in front of me and let the waiter put my main course to the side?

Also, is it still proper to turn an empty glass upside down on the table if I don’t want water? That’s what I was taught as a child.

Callie’s answer: Most waiters or waitresses serve from the left and clear from the right. I would place my salad to the right because I am right- handed, this way I can still eat from my plate. Most waiters or waitresses will ask if you are finished with your plate before taking it away.

Also, who doesn’t want water? I was taught water cures everything, so drink it!

Lillie-Beth’s answer: That has happened to me many times — you go into a restaurant hoping to have a leisurely dinner with friends and the waiters bring out the appetizers and/or salads and the meal right on top of each other. Good-bye to spending time enjoying friends and atmosphere on a night out. Hello to rushing through your meal so the restaurant can seat the next table.

By the time the second group of food arrives, it’s too late to tell the waiter you’re not ready. He or she can’t send it back. So, I think you have to do what feels most natural to you without being rude. If you’d like to keep eating, say something like “Oh, no. I haven’t finished my salad,” then make room for the dinner plate above the salad. If you’re through with the salad, then hand the plate to the waiter.

As for the water cups, I was always taught to turn coffee cups upside down if you didn’t want coffee, but I have never seen that with water. A simple “no thank you” should work when offered water, although I don’t see anything rude about turning the glass upside down.

Helen’s answer: I usually move my salad to my left, so I can reach it better if I want some more. That is where the salad plate starts out when you set the table…on your left. If would be a lot of juggling if you put the main course to the side. Then, for more room on the table, ask the waiter to move the salad plate when you are through.