Restaurants have been broken for a long time, at least in my game.
My two sims went out for a date. It took hours for them to get their food. There were dirty plates everywhere. People weren't sitting but standing around everywhere. Guests were singing, staring at paintings. No one was eating.
The waiter stopped serving guests and was singing, and all the guests gathered around to watch:

Plates just kept piling up and weren't taken to tables:

Will this every be fixed? It's gotten so much worse than it used to be. I like Dine Out, but they shouldn't leave it in this broken state forever!
Comments
Same with tons of NPCs, they don't do the jobs they are supposed to do. From waiters to DJs and mixologists. Also why are my sims always standing up and walking around when out dining? How come this pack doesn't get its own unique coding?
You'd think it be easy to program the sim to get a table, sit down, order food, eat and leave. THAT'S IT. They should just program sims not to do certain activities at certain lots, like singing, dancing, exercise. It's very annoying.
And I thought this was also supposed to be "fixed" in the last patch? I think it was even mentioned in the patch notes. Guess not.
Being Seated:
Waiting for Food:
Being Served:
Finished, Pay and Leaving:
Few things with this one, there were no mishaps or bad waiters... although dirty dishes were left behind.. and I messed up and only ordered food and not a drink for my sim and guests.
This is a very small restaurant, and laid out well without things to distract the sims like bookshelves, games ect. One of the sims wandered off until it was almost time for the food to come... otherwise it was pretty standard for what happens to me at restaurants. I think the star and paparazzi were outside I know I saw Judith Ward at some point but no one seemed to be fainting or paying much mind. That's a change for the better. I do need to winterize some of the restaurants I use but no one freezed to death eating outside either..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
I love the way we can choose what everyone eats and drink. The waiter brought the food and everyone ate then ordered dessert after the plates were cleared. My experience with restaurants has been very smooth.
The few problems I ever had were bad mods, bad placement of restaurant items, or not enough seats.
I do have mods, but they're all up to date and updated regularly. I honestly don't see how Mc Command Center and Meaningful Stories could possibly make a difference anyway? My game is all up to date as well.
I'll try to add more serving stations, maybe there aren't enough waiters.
I'm glad to hear it, but I think the majority of people who play restaurants agree that they're buggy. And the restaurant I make are fairly simple, only 4 tables, a serving station and a cooking stations. How much more simple could they be?
I haven't noticed this particular issue, but I'm not surprised. It seems connected to the bug of sims cooking and not eating what they make. I'll check and see the next time my sims visit a restaurant.
Yes, I only mentioned the "simple" as at many times like restaurants we can download people have used MOO and with that made the lot unplayable.. like chefs not cooking and stuff
But yeah mine do seat at their tables, maybe stand up if a celeb present, but always sit down again. And food comes to tables pretty fast.
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
The patch that introduced sentiments fixed this then the latest patch broke it again!
I had placed 2 chef stations, and the food was coming out pretty quickly and smoothly. I had also placed 3 service stations, and only ONE waiter showed up for work..? How do I get more waiters there? Because he was pretty much busy with cleaning while guests were waiting for their food. Can't complain about the waiter, honestly, he was working his pixelated behind off. Same with the chefs. I just need more waiters to show up (at least one more). Maybe add a couple more tables, cause I probably have to remove the bar too, 'cause those drink glasses sure do pile up pretty fast. Too bad, it turned out quite nice. The space can be used for more seating.
Must mention, I have disabled the annoying "practise singing", so at least that wasn't a problem.
Gallery: Kathykins
AHQ - Game help and Bugs
This has never been fixed in my game.
My biggest problem with restaurants is that the waiter might give my sim an outdoor table on a snowy Winter day, while there are plenty available tables indoors. I know I can choose the table, but I wish the waiter was smart enough avoiding the outdoor section in Winter and on rainy days.
I see a problem there. They really must change all the visitors there into winter clothing if they have to sit outside in the snow!
At first I thought the same but so far no one froze to death while dining outside. I think the patio heaters must be working good.
The restaurants I make I don't manage, they're just restaurants I build and my sims go to. I don't manage them. The game just randomly employs people for the unplayed restaurants, so I have no say on how they are run.
I may just add more waiter stations and some more amenities for the waiters/ staff.
In reality, restaurants should be a bit better streamlined than they are. They're too easily broken. I shouldn't have to come onto the forums for advice about running a non-buggy restaurant.