Some people find fast eaters annoying. Is the same true for those who are always the last one at the table to finish?

As long as people are eating politely, I really don’t care if people eat fast or slow. It’s not something I worry about. If I’m having dinner with friends and one of them eats slower or faster than me, as long as I’m enjoying their company, I couldn’t care less. If they take a long time to finish their meal, that’s fine.

I don’t think you should be concerned about it. If I were having dinner with you, I’d much rather you enjoy your food than feel you have to rush or not finish your meal because I’m being impatient. What trouble does it cause me to sit and talk to you while you finish your meal?

People who put tiny portions of food on their fork, tilt their head as they place it into their mouths & daintily nibble like a fucking baby rabbit…they make me wanna throw my dinner at them.

In a fast eater. In certainly not “frantic,” and I still engage in conversation throughout dinner (without talking with food in my mouth). My husband and I are “in and out” people – we go to the restaurant, eat, and leave. We have a similar attitude about shopping. We don’t sit and talk for hours. We can do that at home. If we’re with other people and conversation is flowing freely, I don’t mind sitting and chatting for awhile after everyone is done, though.

To answer your question, I do get annoyed with slow eaters. My sister takes forever to finish a meal. I’ve never left her (or anyone else) sitting at a restaurant because of it, and I never would, but waiting around for one person annoys me in any situation. Come on already!

I had an office luncheon before Christmas and didn’t want to be the first one done, so I slowed down my pace quite a bit. I was still the first one done at our table of 5. I don’t know how or why some people eat so damn slow. I felt like I was moving in slow motion and it still wasn’t slow enough.

I expect to be done first, so I’m used to waiting a little bit, some some folks eat at a ridiculous pace and, yeah, sometimes it gets under my skin. I’ve never commented on it, though.

If someone is eating slower than I am because they are chewing thoroughly that’s a good reason.Personally I could use a bit more chewing time.
But there is a family member who fiddles endlessly getting her condiments just right then poking meekly into her meal and is half finished when everyone else is done. She has some kind of eating disorder so nobody wants to bug her, but it really, really seems indulgent.

I’m a slow eater and I know it bothers my mother and sometimes my husband. Both of them eat faster than normal, especially my husband.

When someone at the table eats as slowly as I do I get all happy and make a mental note they are a good person to eat with.

There are far more important things in life to worry about than the speed with which one eats.

I’m enjoying a good meal, with hopefully good company. What do I give a crap about other peoples eating pace? It has zero affect on me.

@ucme

You are too funny for words.

Fortunately, I’m not a nibbler nor do I take tiny bites.

@dabbler

Someone like you describe might be annoying to me also. I sure as hell don’t have an eating disorder and really can’t understand those who do.

But your comment about chewing is an interesting observation. I probably do chew a bit longer than average and all those “little bit longers” add up after awhile.

@JLeslie

I have a feeling we would be great dining companions.

But poor you that your own family finds it bothersome. I’m fortunate that my long term friends and family know me so well that it doesn’t bother them.

Plus they know that if they’re in a hurry and have something pressing to attend to, they can just get up and do it. I certainly won’t be offended.

And it was after reading your response, I realized that the only times I feel apologetic about my eating time is if I’m eating out with strangers or people whom I don’t see that often.

But I’m fortunate to have long term friends who don’t mind it and don’t stand on ceremony if they’re eager for dessert or need to leave the table for any reason. That’s what friends are for.

@Buttonstc It’s not like every time I eat with my family they make me feel bad. I am annoyed also with how fast they eat. It’s the too extremes together.

In the informal setting if eating at home, it’s less of a deal because sometimes we just eat in front of the TV and it isn’t like I’m holding my husband up from doing whatever he wants in that case. He isn’t waiting for me to finish per se. If we had children I think it would be worse, because we would both want that family time meal thing.

It’s awful when I’m at a restaurant and not all the food comes out at once and mine is the dish delayed. I’m always going to tell people to start eating if their meal is a hot meal. It rarely happens that food is staggered luckily.

When I’m eating with new people or if it is eating during an interview I order food I know I can eat fairly quickly. Salad takes me a very long time for instance.

I also have to think about not ordering something I need to change. I figure one change is the limit with strangers. Two with family. Plus, I don’t want to make it too hard on the waiter or kitchen. The most difficult is usually American restaurants. It’s usually not a big deal, but it’s another thing that factors into the dining experience where I don’t want to be annoying to use your word in the original question.

Some examples that are very common in American restaurants is I don’t like tomatoes or cheeses on salad. I usually just 86 the cheese if the salad comes with it and not mention the tomatoes. On sandwiches and burgers I typically only want lettuce. I don’t like a lot of condiments. I don’t want mayo, sour cream, pretty much anything creamy like that I don’t want. Not even whipped cream on hot chocolate. I think people get annoyed by altering menu items too much.

I eat way too fast, I’m generally the first to finish. When eating with someone is slow it can get annoying to have to sit and wait for a half hour or longer while the other person polishes off their meal.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Are you ever self conscious about how fast you eat?

I have a friend who eats really slow. My friends and I occasionally poke fun at her about it, but it’s not something that bothers us.

Maybe don’t poke fun if it doesn’t bother you.

@Buttonstc Well then you’re fine in my book :)
I have to say, i’m frequently the last to finish a big heavy meal in my family, say if its a Sunday roast dinner. Not a slow eater by any means & they certainly don’t wolf their grub down either.
Just a thing I suppose, nowt more than that.

I’m neither fast nor slow. When I’m out with friends or family, depending on what the occasion is and who it is, we may be in and out fairly quickly or we may linger, chat, eat and have coffee for 2 hours or more.

I met family the other day for pizza and salad in a pizza restaurant. We were fairly pressed for time as two in our party had to catch a train. My cousin is apparently a slow eater because he was still eating salad when we finished our pizza. His mother was encouraging him to finish up because we were “outta there” and he was lingering. I got the feeling he’s a slow deliberate eater. That would not bother me except on an occasion like that, when we were fairly pressed for time, we were kind of in a rush.

I, too eat slowly and am one of the last people to finish a meal. It might annoy some people but I prefer to savor my food rather than gulp it down. After eating the meal slowly, I rarely finish the dessert.

@JLeslie It’s just unusual, that’s all.

I just eat. Usually I’m the first one done because I don’t eat even half of what I’m served.
I have a family member who is always still eating 15 minutes after everyone else is finished. Not because he is eating slowly, but because he fills his plate up 5 times. We’re all making “Well, it’s time to go” noises, picking up our coats, purses, whatever, and he’s at the end of the table still stuffing his face. Yes, he is obese and yes, it is irritating and gross.

The only thing that bothers me are smackers. As long as you have your mouth closed while eating I don’t care if you use your hands, eat slow or eat fast.

Oh, I knew someone like that. It was disgusting! It’s like, WTH is wrong with you?

@Dutchess_III: Someone who can’t leave the table before eating five plates of food I would find extremely annoying. That, to me, is not necessarily eating slowly. It’s being a glutton, and I would not have time to entertain that. Eat and eat more if you want, but five plates while everyone else is ready to move on? Hellz no.

I know. It floors me how they can’t see what they’re doing, how extreme and odd it is.

In my family and amongst my friends, if someone ate five plates of food, someone would definitely say something.

Personally I don’t care, never gave it much thought. What annoys me are loud eaters who smack and suck their food, or bang their forks or spoons into plates and bowls.
Smack smack sluuuuurp ting ting titititing sssssluuuurpsmack.

I hate that shit.

I hate that shit too. Just want to take a video and show it to them.

@dxs To you. My guess is that person doesn’t feel great about having it pointed out. I could be wrong.

@JLeslie no, but my wife gets annoyed by it at times. She eats sloooooooow

@ARE_you_kidding_me Do people assume you are still hungry when you finish? Offering you seconds, that sort if thing?

I am more annoyed with fast eaters than slow eaters. I have a friend that seriously scarfs down their entire plate by the time I have my third bite, and I’m not a slow eater. It’s like they didn’t even try to enjoy the flavors that the chef put together.

But I guess if I was eating with someone and they were taking so long that the food got cold, I could be irritated as well. But at least they still show some respect for the food preparation…

@JLeslie sometimes but not usually because when I’m done I usually say something like “I’m full”