Unless you are tipping double or triple, to make up for the loss of the next tables this isn’t fair to the server. I’ve worked places where two people got 1.5 hrs. The time starts the moment the table is sat at, not when the last guest arrives. The next reservation would have to be sat in this lounge type waiting area while late diners finished up and they’d be incredibly mad at us. So It’s also not fair to the next guest who was on time and booked the table. The is completely reasonable. If

I was in NYC this summer at a sushi restaurant. It was very small. We waited about 15 mins for a table but I saw the waitress go up to the table we sat at and told the two ladies to leave, then she did it to the two men sitting next to us. They are both chatting. I had never experienced that but being it was a super small restaurant I can see them sitting there taking away from their bottom line. A couple people almost walked out bc they were told there was a wait.

The longer you stay the more alcohol you drink and the more money they make.