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

[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.

[Debrahmw]

Like other responders, I try to enjoy the view or go swimming, etc. I try to prepare for the fact that it will be a wait.

If you are starving or in a hurry, let them know right away! Say..."I am diabetic and I need something to eat while I wait for my meal to come, what do you have that could be ready right away?" or "I hate to be a pain, but we need to eat right away, what would you suggest?" The problem is when you are not prepared and you are hungry and wait and wait. I just keep on trying to remember, they are making the food from scratch...this is not a fast food place, that is why I am there!! Generally speaking, on vacation, people actually aren't in a hurry anyways. We have just gotten used to getting food slapped down in front of us in 10-15 minutes. I live in Canada but I have gone to quite alot of u.s. restaurants and diners and I don't know how they get all that food out there so quickly....it's uncanny. Food takes time.

[northcoast]

N. American restaurants tend to have everything prepped & refrigerated ahead of time (like all seasonings & veggies chopped up, or pasta pre cooked aldente & then just dunked in hot water or veal, chicken or eggplant parm already breaded & fried & just needs to be layered with sauce & cheese & stuck in the oven)....also, saute dishes are quite quick to do. Many "stewed" Jamaican dishes are made from scratch from chopping the seasonings to actually "stewing" the meat....it WILL take awhile. Many Jamaicans don't use a chopping board either which cuts the "chopping" time way down. I don't think they're used to moving efficiently in the kitchen much, evidenced in the "wait" time.