20 Things I've Missed About Restaurants

I've missed restaurants. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife's cooking. Heck, I don't even mind my own cooking. But, there's something about being able to go someplace and letting other people take care of the food and the cleanup. Here are 20 things I've missed about restaurants:

1. I've missed getting to decide what I want to eat when I am hungry, instead of having to decide, plan, and prepare meals hours (or even days) beforehand.

2. I've missed trying to decide WHICH restaurant to go to. (There are so many to choose from!)

3. I've missed the joy of hearing my mispronounced name yelled (or having a round buzzer go off in my hand), meaning we're getting called up from the lobby and going to be able to sit at an actual table.

4. I've missed walking into a restaurant to the smell of food cooking.

5. I've missed getting the seat with the view of the television, so I can keep my eye on the score of the game. (Remember when there used to be games on the television?)

6. I've missed looking at all of the choices on the menu, even though I know I’m going to get the same thing I always get, because I know it is good.

Choices!!!

7. I've missed the sense of accomplishment when I find all of the words in the word search on the children’s menu (without having to circle them.)

8. I've missed the sight of multiple servers bringing out all the plates for the entire table all at once.

9. I've missed touching the plate that the waitress/waiter has warned me is REALLY hot, just to see how hot it actually is.

10. I've missed being around other people. (Even those noisy people at that table in the corner.)

11. I've missed having someone else clean up all the mess from cooking the food.

12. I've missed the joy when they bring that second (or third) basket full of tortilla chips (at a Mexican restaurant) or breadsticks (at an Italian restaurant.)

13. I've missed eating food prepared by someone other than myself.

14. I've missed when my wife asks me if I want to try a bite of her meal, because, maybe I should have ordered that?

15. I've missed that satisfying feeling when the waitress/waiter refills my drink at the exact moment I thought, “I could use a refill on this drink.”

16. I've missed having someone else clearing the table and doing ALL of the dishes.

17. I've missed trying to figure out how much to tip.

18. I've missed after dinner mints.

19. I've missed taking home the to-go box.

20. I've missed the satisfying feeling of actually remembering to bring the to-go box in from the car.

Edited from the version originally published in the May 2020 edition of the Serve Daily newspaper, available in fine locations throughout southern Utah County.