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Why must every restaurant, bar, and coffee shop have high-top tables?

BobPSU92

BobPSU92

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2015
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I get that some bars have TV screens 30 feet in the air and few of us are giraffes, but even places with lower TVs or no TVs have gone to these wretched high-top tables. Why are these necessary? Am I a gymnast? Do I need to scale a chair to sit down and then scale it back down to leave? Must everything be a test of one's physical prowess? Must my legs dangle in the air when I sit because many of these high-top chairs either lack support rods or have them at the wrong height (too high or too low)?

Yesterday, my wife and I went to a local coffee shop. Great snickerdoodle latte and chocolate lava cake. Everything is good at this place except for the seating. The owner got all new furniture a couple of weeks ago, and now every table is a high-top. How did this start and how do we make it stop? Do I have to bring a saw to cut a table and chair down to the proper height?

What did regular chairs and tables do to anyone to get so banished by our society?

I hate height.

:eek:
 
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Lol. I agree!! I have a restaurant and I was in corporate for 20 years. For some reason everything is going high tops and hard chairs. Took the kids to a McDonald’s the other day and I swear I was in an airport back in the 60’s looking through a black and white tv. Brown and grey are the new colors.

We have booths and low seats with color and some younger people do come in and say we look outdated. It is a mystery but hardwood floors, no carpet! High chairs with institutional looking colors is what the wave is right now.

The flintstones scenery is alive and well!!
 
The new highway pizza on west college has high chairs everywhere. My mom and dad couldn’t get up in the chairs!!!

Funny thing is about that location they reminded me that they built that location as a mini mart in the 70’s. They used to have 8 in state college before selling to uni mart. I used to do landscaping there as a kid and I completely forgot. Now Andy has it. Too funny.
 
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razpsu said:
Lol. I agree!! I have a restaurant and I was in corporate for 20 years. For some reason everything is going high tops and hard chairs. Took the kids to a McDonald’s the other day and I swear I was in an airport back in the 60’s looking through a black and white tv. Brown and grey are the new colors.

We have booths and low seats with color and some younger people do come in and say we look outdated. It is a mystery but hardwood floors, no carpet! High chairs with institutional looking colors is what the wave is right now.

The flintstones scenery is alive and well!!
Click to expand...

Muted colors definitely are the thing now. I've noticed that Burger King and Wendy's restaurants have gotten a facade makeover in the past few years and have tan brick and dark brown wood.

The worst is places that have high-top chairs with no backs. Do I need to sit on a five-foot stool? The local coffee shop I mentioned above had one high-top table with ridiculous high stools. At least the new high-top chairs have backs. They still suck, though.
 
razpsu said:
The new highway pizza on west college has high chairs everywhere. My mom and dad couldn’t get up in the chairs!!!

Funny thing is about that location they reminded me that they built that location as a mini mart in the 70’s. They used to have 8 in state college before selling to uni mart. I used to do landscaping there as a kid and I completely forgot. Now Andy has it. Too funny.
Click to expand...

You make a good point. Places in State College naturally think of students as their customers first, but they ought to remember that plenty of adults live in town and visit. Restaurant, bar, and coffee shop owners similarly ought to consider that high-top chairs are not suitable for the elderly in general, but it seems they don't. Now that I think about it, someone who is handicapped could make a stink at the local coffee shop I mentioned because they don't have adequate seating. I don't know what the laws are in my area in that regard.
 
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BobPSU92 said:
I'm not short. I'm simply uncoordinated and also uncomfortable in most situations.
Click to expand...
It can’t be that bad a problem in that you haven’t yet registered hate or outrage at yourself for patrionizing establishments with tall chairs.
 
BobPSU92 said:
I get that some bars have TV screens 30 feet in the air and few of us are giraffes, but even places with lower TVs or no TVs have gone to these wretched high-top tables. Why are these necessary? Am I a gymnast? Do I need to scale a chair to sit down and then scale it back down to leave? Must everything be a test of one's physical prowess? Must my legs dangle in the air when I sit because many of these high-top chairs either lack support rods or have them at the wrong height (too high or too low)?

Yesterday, my wife and I went to a local coffee shop. Great snickerdoodle latte and chocolate lava cake. Everything is good at this place except for the seating. The owner got all new furniture a couple of weeks ago, and now every table is a high-top. How did this start and how do we make it stop? Do I have to bring a saw to cut a table and chair down to the proper height?

What did regular chairs and tables do to anyone to get so banished by our society?

I hate height.

:eek:
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry about it. You've got much bigger problems if you're drinking snickerdoodle latte.
 
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psu1969a said:
My gripe has more to do with booths that very little room between the table and the seat. Everybody is not a Twiggy!
Click to expand...

I will save you from the onslaught of flags.....

081-twiggy-theredlist.jpg
 
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I'm getting old and set in my ways....I don't like high-tops, and because of my paunch, I don't like booths.

I despise noise, and by that, I mean the deafening noise of modern restaurants with hard floors, hard walls, and ear-splitting thump-thump music....and typically, where the waitstaff speaks 10 decibels below the ambient noice. I hate having to shriek to my dining companions when I'm eating.
 
BobPSU92 said:
The worst is places that have high-top chairs with no backs. Do I need to sit on a five-foot stool? The local coffee shop I mentioned above had one high-top table with ridiculous high stools. At least the new high-top chairs have backs. They still suck, though.
Click to expand...
I was having dinner with my daughter in Avalon a few years back. She was applying for summer jobs (early May) so not very crowed except for what appeared to be a bachelorette party. The one woman was so drunk she leaned back in her stool to fall five feet to the floor on her back (I don't think she felt it). Now this was at the bar and not a high top table, but your comment made me think of this classic moment.
 
I recently upgraded my dining room table to a high top. Being that I broke my hip 13 years ago, getting up from lower chairs presents somewhat of a problem for me. With the high top chairs, I merely lift my ass up an inch or two to get on the seat and slide off when I’m done. It’s very convenient.

But from the aspect of a bar setting... I prefer high top because not only for the aforementioned reasons, but I like to stand and lean on the table while I socialize. Can’t do that with a standard table.
 
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BobPSU92 said:
I get that some bars have TV screens 30 feet in the air and few of us are giraffes, but even places with lower TVs or no TVs have gone to these wretched high-top tables. Why are these necessary? Am I a gymnast? Do I need to scale a chair to sit down and then scale it back down to leave? Must everything be a test of one's physical prowess? Must my legs dangle in the air when I sit because many of these high-top chairs either lack support rods or have them at the wrong height (too high or too low)?

Yesterday, my wife and I went to a local coffee shop. Great snickerdoodle latte and chocolate lava cake. Everything is good at this place except for the seating. The owner got all new furniture a couple of weeks ago, and now every table is a high-top. How did this start and how do we make it stop? Do I have to bring a saw to cut a table and chair down to the proper height?

What did regular chairs and tables do to anyone to get so banished by our society?

I hate height.

:eek:
Click to expand...

High tops are good in areas where you could also stand. Half the time I go to a bar/restaurant I prefer standing.
That said, it's typically only in bar areas and everything else should be low top. At least there should be booths along the walls.

LdN
 
Serious response - it's a design thing.............. I don't mind them if they are mixed in. They started in Retail / Food Service (Bars / Coffee Shops, etc.) and have pushed into more mainstream. The issues you describe and most people have is when they are not done right. Seat height and foot rest are the two drivers on comfort. I have also seen instances where designer specs a table that is just not quite high enough for average "non-twiggy" person to sit in the high seat and fit comfortably under the table. I have had feedback from clients that like them since it is easier for their waitstaff to clean underneath while on shift, which means less to do off-hours.

Designers are typically very lazy by nature and their first instinct is mimic (copy) what "trends" they have seen elsewhere. Problem is (just like with fashion design) things come in to style and go out just as quickly. However designers and manufacturers are very slow on the uptake, hence why you see the latest trendy elements copied and used for years. Another problem is the carry-over of residential features into the commercial field, where they don't work and for the most part just don't belong.I feel a BobPSU92 level of outrage every time a client asked me if I think a feature wall of ship-lap (thanks Joanna Gaines) or rustic glue-on ledge stone would look good.....
 
LionDeNittany said:
High tops are good in areas where you could also stand. Half the time I go to a bar/restaurant I prefer standing.
That said, it's typically only in bar areas and everything else should be low top. At least there should be booths along the walls.

LdN
Click to expand...

I agree with you - much prefer high top tables to sit down booths.
 
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My wife and kids would look ridiculous sitting in a standard height chair at a high-top table! Personally I hate high-top tables. I'm 6' 2" and I hate having to climb up into a chair. A standard bar height or counter height chair is all you need. Some of these high-tops look like you need a step ladder to get into and I can tell you... step ladders and I no longer get along.
 
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psuro said:
Anyone else wondering what will be the subject of Bob's ire in the forthcoming days and weeks?
Click to expand...

Most cars have solid red rear turn signals but some have a smaller orange area which does the flashing inside the red. I think the orange is mainly on Japanese models. The orange makes no sense since that's what's used for front turn signals. Flashing orange to the rear could be mistaken for a front turn signal thus confusing other drivers. What's the deal?? Pass the scones.
 
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They are just trying to give you an option Bob , in case no serving gloves or tongs are used, and you can express your outrage with a flying elbow drop
 
BobPSU92 said:
I get that some bars have TV screens 30 feet in the air and few of us are giraffes, but even places with lower TVs or no TVs have gone to these wretched high-top tables. Why are these necessary? Am I a gymnast? Do I need to scale a chair to sit down and then scale it back down to leave? Must everything be a test of one's physical prowess? Must my legs dangle in the air when I sit because many of these high-top chairs either lack support rods or have them at the wrong height (too high or too low)?

Yesterday, my wife and I went to a local coffee shop. Great snickerdoodle latte and chocolate lava cake. Everything is good at this place except for the seating. The owner got all new furniture a couple of weeks ago, and now every table is a high-top. How did this start and how do we make it stop? Do I have to bring a saw to cut a table and chair down to the proper height?

What did regular chairs and tables do to anyone to get so banished by our society?

I hate height.

:eek:
Click to expand...

It's so when you drop food on the floor you still can't reach to pick it up with your tongs.
 
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