Sims 4 - Dine Out , eating out takes so long!

I’m still confused by Dine Out. Am I supposed to order one thing at a time and wait for them to bring it out? Example: order entree, eat it, order drink, drink it, order dessert, eat it...

When I go out to eat with Dine Out, I tend to just order one drink and one food item such as a main course. That tends to fill my sims up, so I don't tend to order more but in theory, you can. I guess it is set up that way because if you want to have a long lunch or drawn out date, you can keep ordering courses. In practice, I tend to just order a meal.

Sometimes, I have a group of sims where one is less hungry than the others, they might just get a drink or an appetizer or dessert. That helps to keep them at the table. The annoyance that I have is the recent tendency to wander off or to start dancing in the restaurant. I have to repeatedly cancel out the dancing and to repeatedly direct the group to sit together which is annoying.

I guess that dining out goes slower or faster depending on how much my sims socialize, including before they request a table or order. Every so often, you get a restaurant with poor service and then it is really slow. They'll drop dishes and bring poor quality food. Obviously, that's just part of the pack. I tend to say that most of my sims won't go back to a place where they experienced bad service at least for a while (or until I forget about it).

I think it all depends on how you set the place up. Having 2 cook stations instead of one helps.

The ease of access from the kitchen to the patrons matters. Don't make the restaurant too big or too far from the kitchen. Make the kitchen central. Have enough of the waitress stations about for them to dispose of dirty dishes fast...

I usually order a drink and main course at the same time. Once I notice their food is almost done and their drink is empty, they order another glass of wine as an appertif.

"fullspiral;c-16340512" wrote:
I think it all depends on how you set the place up. Having 2 cook stations instead of one helps.

The ease of access from the kitchen to the patrons matters. Don't make the restaurant too big or too far from the kitchen. Make the kitchen central. Have enough of the waitress stations about for them to dispose of dirty dishes fast...

I usually order a drink and main course at the same time. Once I notice their food is almost done and their drink is empty, they order another glass of wine as an appertif.

Whenever I order a drink and main course at the same time, they just bring out the main course and never bring the drink.

"Evenstar606;c-16340517" wrote:

"fullspiral;c-16340512" wrote:
I think it all depends on how you set the place up. Having 2 cook stations instead of one helps.

The ease of access from the kitchen to the patrons matters. Don't make the restaurant too big or too far from the kitchen. Make the kitchen central. Have enough of the waitress stations about for them to dispose of dirty dishes fast...

I usually order a drink and main course at the same time. Once I notice their food is almost done and their drink is empty, they order another glass of wine as an appertif.

Whenever I order a drink and main course at the same time, they just bring out the main course and never bring the drink.

I always get my drink and main course. Are you sure you are clicking for each round?

I can be in and out of a restaurant in four hours. I have learnt that in order to eat faster, have your Sims be seated and order ASAP. That way you'll be ahead of other Sims who are also ordering.

Mine often skip dessert as they're too tired to eat it; the arrive for dinner at about 7pm and end up back home at about 3am.

"cameronw209;c-16340837" wrote:
I can be in and out of a restaurant in four hours. I have learnt that in order to eat faster, have your Sims be seated and order ASAP. That way you'll be ahead of other Sims who are also ordering.

Also helps if your kitchen is located near the dining tables - otherwise the waiters have a very long walk back and forth.

I just looked up my last two dine out experiences with two sims eating
The first took 4 hours give or take a couple mins.. one course, one drink and one unskilled chef. Trips to the bathroom included and a chat with other people in nearby tables.
The second was a date event and took 5 hours one course with drink and then they ordered desert. The meal lasted almost as long as the date timer. My sims date was insane and spent some time conversing with objects in the kitchen. Food poisioning with that one but found out if you report it before you leave .. get that money then pay the bill and leave you can report it again. My sim got $246 the first time and $298 the second.
I really enjoy this pack.. yes the meals won't be quick but I look at them as events and plan accordingly. I make sure they are hungry and rested enough to go.

It's weird this takes so long for u guys :S I used to have this issue sometimes until I upgraded my CPU and one of the patches (I think the one before C&D). Since then, eating out is a really snappy and quick experience. And since the last update, the vet clinic also appears to be fast again... Not saying it's due to your CPUs of course, I'm just wondering out loud what may be the reason some people experience this so much still.