Definitely clear the plates as the diners finish. I'm not up for looking at leftovers after I'm done.

"...because it is the biggest plight on the face of Portland service." Seriously?!? Boy, yeah, that really trumps rude servers, overcharging or over/undercooked food.

On topic however, when I'm done with my food I really don't need or want my plate. It should go away, the sooner thwe better. I certainly wouldn't be in any way offended if the server removed my dining companion's plate and I was still eating. If someone thinks that that's actually rude, they obviously have a giant gilded sick up their shiny alabaster ass.

As a server who is anxious to get on with my life and go out after work, I like to clear people's plates as quickly as possible. Obviously if a person is still chewing, or if there's a sizable portion still remaining on the plate, I don't clear it. But really, who wants to "wallow in their food detritus" while they wait for others at their table to finish? I don't want to see it, and I think most diners feel the same way. Except this guy, who clearly doesn't want me to go out after work. He'd rather I stay and do dishes until 2 in the morning.

When I was just a pup, my folks were big on manners. Among many other dinner-time rules, they said that we all had to stay at the table until everybody was finished, and then all the plates were removed at the same time. Now it just feels like the right thing to do, and I feel like I'm going to get in trouble having a plate cleared while others are still dining. I realize it may inconvenience our server, but it's how mama taught me.

As a former Glamorous Waitress I can answer this one.

Typically the establishment requires the server to clear the plate when the guest has finished. To not do so, in most cases would look poorly upon the server by the management staff. To change this, I would suggest contacting the restaurant cooperations and encouraging them to change it in their training manuals/and or their server specification guidelines.

Really people, to expect the server to clear an entire groups plates at once is really asking a lot, don't you think?

It's BLIGHT for chrissakes people.

God, America is fucked.

As someone who has worked in several dining establishments, anyone who thinks it's a matter of training servers is revealing him/herself to be an imbecile. When to remove plates is generally not a decision up to the server. In all but the most loosely run establishments, it's a matter of the restaurant's policies and training.

Speaking for myself as a restaurant customer now, I hate overattentive staff who are watching me eat to see when they can inject themselves into the situation. Sure, being ignored is bad, too, but to have someone swooping down on me all the time drives me nuts. I've been known, when sensing that overattention is the policy in the restaurant, to tell our server that we'll signal when we want some attention.

Another thing that drives me nuts is waitstaff who insist on pouring my beer for me, usually with the intention of making sure the beer has no "head." When did heads on beer become bad? I missed that memo. I try to catch them before they do this, just telling them that I'll pour my own.

But really, everybody is different. There are as many people out there who want/demand the overattention as there are those who want a "hands-off!" approach. Hopefully your server is in tune enough to sense what type of diner you are.

And my earlier post referred to big parties (10-tops, 8-tops) only, because that's all I do. I can see how it would be rude to take plates in a small party.