In "Jamaica mode" what is an acceptable amount of waiting time for a great meal?

[gerryg123]

I swear last time at Xtabi it took every bit of two hours waiting time at the restaurant to get my food -- I was in a great mood, so I went with flow. But god, poor me, I almost starved to death.

Three Dives can take a long time. Angelas at BB Barn can take forever, too (never quicker than a full hour no matter how crowded or empty) ... I am OK with an hour, but more than that n I need some entertainment or something!

What are your thoughts? Do we slow things WAY down when waiting for a meal in Negril? (The check can take forever, too). And, through the years, what is the longest you've endured waiting at a table?

[themermaid]

Ha Ha , I can relate. I eat about every two hours, so thank goodness the board prepared me for this 'Jamaica time' thing. I carried a snack wherever we went and when we went for dinner, at least they had soup to stave off starvation.
I sympathize .... an hour is okay but I have to question whether it's worth the wait if it takes any longer. Especially when they are not packed.
It seems our typical wait was just about an hour ~ mostly on the cliffs.

I also found it odd that snacks were so hard to order, everything was a full meal or nothing.

[Blueswoman]

A good meal is worth waiting on where ever you are in my opinion. When in J. we just go before we know we are going to be hungry, hang out, have a drink and order some french fries when you first sit down. They will "soon come" and you can whet your appetite for the main course.

[TiCtOc]

Depends on what you are waiting for really something simple with fries I will wait 30 mins max I will wait longer for freshly prepared meat although only if I am told there will be a wait not if I am just left in a seat wondering where my food is from hour to hour.

[negrilaholic]

I've never had a problem with waiting too long for food, but that's probably because most places I eat at I make my order, then hit the wata until I get waved at that my food is ready.

[wpyogi]

We had lunch at Xtabi, about a month ago, conch burger and escovitch snapper. It felt like the fastest meal we had all week. I think it only took 30-45 minutes. Granted, we were cliff jumping and snorkeling, so maybe it took a bit longer and we just didn't notice. Omar hollered over the cliff at us when it was ready...said it took "31 minutes". lol.
Dinner seems to take much longer................. Pushcart one night, hubby and I ran out of things to talk about! I agree with needing entertainment or something! By the end of the day, slow meals just make me want to go to sleep.

[Rambo]

in the 'old' Jamaica, 45 min was acceptable for a early cup of coffee.......now everything rush-rush....

I've waited longer in Chicago now-days than Jamaica for a entire meal...

[irieworld]

I never even notice the wait. I am usually gazing at the water, sipping a drink,listening to music and watching the goings on. I have never had to wait longer than an hour though.

[RastaCrab]

Two hours at 3-Dives? I've never waited that long there nor anyplace else that is burning chicken. It could be a matter of timing. When are you going - early afternoon, late afternoon, sunset, late at night? Not that there is a perfect time to be at these places, but most seem to ready up the coals for sunset and just after.

The worst I've ever heard of was a group of 12 that walked in just after a group of 20. The group of 12 ordered fish. Over an hour later, a guy came parading through with a monstrous kingfish and within fifteen minutes the plates started coming out. Hot grilled sushi style.

[DubWise]

This topic totally interests me. You can tell they're trying to speed things up.. they must be realizing that it hurts business. What I think is that reasonable should be the norm. An hour for dinner? That's not unreasonable. If it's busy maybe even a little longer. Same thing for lunch, but a half hour. If it's way over for either of those.. it had better be pretty good or it had better be busy. Over an hour for breakfast and it's dead? That's just bad service.. in any country. You're charging money you need to act like it. Internet is totally leveling this playing field in my opinion. Power of public opinion.