This was inspired by a Threads discussion started by a coffee shop owner who received an angry online review after asking a guest to leave after two hours of using a large table as a workspace and buying only one cup of coffee.

When I was a server we once had a reservation for a party of six. It turned out they needed table space for reviewing architectural plans and were conducting a meeting. After several hours they ordered a total of two iced teas and were told to leave.

This week I had a two top sit in our lounge during lunch. The pushed their menus aside and loudly discussed that neither was going to order anything. They eventually got two coffees and sat there through the entire day and into the night shift. Our bartenders cover the lounge/high top area during the day and a server covers them at night. I told the assigned server to just ring in two coffees and saw they were there for nearly an additional hour.

I feel like this is getting more common, that we're viewed as a public location where you can just sit and hang out without spending money.

Anyone else seeing this?