 Does it bother you when a restaurant looks like this? But then you're told you have to wait to be seated? According to this restaurant worker on Reddit, there are a few reasons for it that you might have not considered. Some of those tables are for reservations in the next hour. A server could be stretched thin. There are too many people in their section and they wouldn't be able to give you the ideal service that you expect. Seating you could also potentially overwhelm the kitchen and it would take far too long for you to get your food. Your servers want you to have as ideal of a dining experience as possible. So when the staff is overworked, that just isn't doable. The restaurant might be short staffed due to six servers or the fact that the industry has seen a 6% worker decrease in the last few years. So a little patience goes a long way.