I recommended a small restaurant to my boyfriend for a date. I had previously tried another branch of the same restaurant around 7 pm (which he knew). I didn’t have to queue and I was the only customer there. I had assumed perhaps the restaurant offered light meals that were more popular for lunch than dinner.
When we arrived at this branch at 7 pm, there was a queue. I was surprised and said, “I didn’t expect a queue here.” I wasn’t even complaining about the wait. The restaurant was more popular than I had expected. My bf immediately told me that I was being rude.
I was genuinely confused because I had never heard saying this at a restaurant was considered rude. Once we were seated, I explained the context and my intention, and I kept asking him to clarify exactly what was rude about the comment and whether this was a general etiquette rule. We debated for about 5 minutes until he said “stop saying.” And I stopped.
After we left the restaurant, I still wasn’t sure whether I had actually done something socially inappropriate. I reiterated my intention and asked whether saying “I didn’t expect a queue” was inherently negative. He paused for a few seconds and said, “I don’t see anything positive in it. That sounds like the restaurant didn’t deserve a queue. Anyone who runs or works in a restaurant wouldn’t be happy hearing this.”
I disagreed. I said I would admit it if I had done something rude, but in this case I felt I needed to defend myself since my intention was neutral and I didn’t understand what etiquette rule I had supposedly broken. He gave a big sigh, and the conversation ended.
What I was thinking and feeling:
When he initially told me to “stop saying,” I thought he believed this was a commonly understood rule, and that my not knowing it was embarrassing him.
When I asked again after the meal, he paused before answering. I saw it as hesitation, meaning he wasn’t actually sure, and there was a gap between our understanding, which urged me to keep asking. If it were an obvious etiquette rule, I would’ve expected an instant reply. The big sigh at the end also made me feel I was actually being rude, overreacting and somewhat dismissed.
I still think I have to defend myself since I can’t get rid of the confusion, but I feel like I’d be overreacting if I brought this up to him again.
For context, he is kind to me and I don’t think he has any manipulative traits. He generally avoids arguments.
TLDR
- Is there actually a commonly recognised dining etiquette rule against saying “I didn’t expect a queue” at a restaurant?
- Was I overreacting by continuing to discuss/argue about a dining rule during and after the meal?
- Should I ever talk about this again - as an apology or defence?
- If someone said this at the entrance, would you normally see it as an offensive complaint, or simply as a neutral expression of surprise?