Restaurants with no seating time limit

Most restaurants in Taipei have 1.5-2h seating time limit which is really annoying when going out with a group, catching up with a friend or just trying to have a relaxed meal without the staff reminding you how much time you have left every 10 minutes.
I understand this during rush hours and there’s people waiting for a table, but most places kick you out even if there are empty tables or no one waiting.
Any recommendations of restaurants(not coffee shops) without time limit?

They’re everywhere, you just have to look harder.

Campus Cafe is the first place that comes to mind (for me) with no time limit. I personally don’t like the food there, but coffee is good and you can sit for as long as you’d like.

http://www.gocampuscafe.com/

There’s a few locations in Taipei, but make sure you make reservations in advance. Place is famous for being recommended by 小S on her show, 康熙來了 (Kang Xi Lai Le)

Thanks for your response!

I have been there several times before and even though food is good, they are particularly strict with their seating time limit. I’ve even had some bad experiences with waitresses asking us to start clearing the table 10 and then 5 minutes before our 90 minutes were done.

I will have to keep looking!

Ok, so the rules have changed? I know the one by my place, Guang Fu store, they don’t have a time limit. I pass it everyday and there’s ALWAYS a line, but the last time I dined there was roughly 2 years ago.

This is a little change of style, but you can try this place…

The HK style mac n cheese is a MUST order.

You can also try any of the Louisa Coffee locations. I know it’s kind of main stream, but at least things aren’t too expensive and you can order drinks AND some sandwiches if you get hungry later on.

I like ones with outside seating and not too much traffic wizzing by every second…

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F3rkdLb888

Lol! That’s basically how it happens…

I ask for a private room if I know I it’s going to be a group that takes a while. It’s extremely rude to the restaurant if you stay taking away customers during rush hour. Don’t be That guy. Walk over to a coffee shop if you need to to continue or to a bar.

Mos Burger.

What?

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I was kicked out of a pizza hut because they had a 1.5 he timer, we looked around and the store was empty , no reason to kick us out but they said that was the policy. 3 people came by to tell us to get out, 10 minutes before ,5 minutes before, and 1 minute after the time was up.

I complained to pizza hut head office and the next time we went in, I noticed nobody bothered us when the "time was up " . In my complaint I didn’t name names and I said I didn’t expect any compensation but if it’s not busy they have no reason to kick people out. Besides we were finished, sipping on a final coffee and not eating any more food. I still like going to pizza hut but where I am now, they don’t have a pizza hut buffet so I get my fix from the take out across the street.

Agree with you in principle, particularly in relatively professional environments. Restos are happy to put you in a private room - provided they have one available, and you inform them of your intention to camp out for the evening. As a server, there’s nothing worse than campers if you’re trying to turn tables and get your slice of the second seating. As a manager-owner it’s infuriating and one of those times when the customer is NOT always right. You’re not. I know people have special moments they want to share and prolong. The camping privilege costs dollars. Hell, you can’t even pitch a tent for free in the great outdoors. Pony up or…do as @Andrew0409 says.

However, they shouldn’t even allow it in coffee shops. My good friend owns a cafe-slash-breakfast-slash-lunch place that originally started out as a 7-to-11 coffee shop cafe. She had major problems with campers; people coming in for a 69NT breakfast burger and cup of coffee and staying all fuckin’ day. During the busiest times you couldn’t get a table cuz of the squatters. She couldn’t kick them out; at least she wasn’t willing to put her foot down. A lot of 'em were regular faces on the block.

Anyway, what she decided to do was cut the nighttime hours and start closing in the late afternoon. In the meantime, she raised prices (slightly), and that scared off the shit pigeons. Of course, the void was filled by new shit pigeons in time. She’s now at the point where she will say to somebody, “Look, the lunch rush is coming and I need that table.” Her main business partner is far more brusque about it. Which is neat.

Now, I completely understand the rationale behind the Taiwanese penchant for camping out in every available spot. If I lived with four floors of my family, I’d never go home. Meanwhile, most people want to get out of the house sometimes. Nothing to do in the concrete box except watch TV. At least at the ole MOS Burger, they feel like they somewhere.

So I believe a minimum expenditure policy is a slightly more polite way of telling squatters to make haste. This is a business, not a library. Either you spend 150NT upfront, or choogle your ass down to the park.

It’s ridiculous because customers are much more likely to go into a restaurant that has at least some customers than they are to go into an empty restaurant.

Completely missed my point. I’m not looking to taking away customers nor camping at a restaurant lol. The minimum expenditure policy wasn’t even in dispute.
Most of the time I simply cook at home or get some take out, but in the special occasion that I feel like having a good meal with friends, I just want to be able to enjoy it without having the pressure of the time running out. Considering how long some restaurants take to serve the food I think 90 minutes is definitely not enough. (Of course I’m not talking about fast food or all you can eat restaurants)
If you have any suggestions of places without this time limit or at least where the staff is more understanding, I would really appreciate it!

Like I said, many restaurants will be happy to accommodate if you need extra time if you let them know ahead of times. They may say no as well, just depending on the restaurant, management, and time.

Also, although the restaurant may indeed have open seats, you also have to consider the servers. Many places keep track of how much the server racks in for them, and it hurts their performance if you stay for 2+hrs when you may be in their section, I don’t think you’ve considered this point.

I think it’s just polite to ask and let them know ahead of time if you want to stay for a while, or just be mindful and move on to a coffee shop or bar close by.

I know in Canada with tips and all sitting around screws their stats and tips. Without tips in Taiwan I figured it didn’t matter.
They might have some average time per table rating they are ranked on , who knows.

I usually go to privately run smaller restaurants now, take notice if it gets busy and leave if so.

Side story, had a student that owned an 85C, she said high school students would come in, one would buy and the rest just sit there for hours taking up tables. I asked why she didn’t ask them to leave or buy something, she said they can complain to the head office and the store gets in trouble. I guess the table squatting is so common here it’s entrenched.

There is also a bag lady that is at McDonald’s every day for hours at a time, they never ask her to go. She gives me the evil eye if I sit next to her :slight_smile:

Sorry, I wasn’t really directing my comments at your dilemma, it was more in response to Andrew’s suggestion. However, tangentially you did vaguely bemoan the dearth of places you can hang out as long as you like, and perhaps my comment was in explication, which may or may not have been necessary.

As for suggestions, I’d only point you in the direction of fair to mundane Western joints like Friday’s and possibly even Carnegie’s; both places I can’t imagine getting rousted from, but I suppose they might have a limit at Chili’s. Dunno. Last time I was there, we stayed longer than three hours, but we were drinking like fish and constantly ordering more food. Moreover, Andrew repeated again that if you let management know in advance they’re usually willing to cut a deal. That’s all I can offer.

You know where you can sit forever basically, 711. Homeless people buy like a drink at night and nap at my 711 next to me.

There’s also A LOT of cafes near the NTU/NTNU area that do not have time limits. I don’t frequent the area, but I always hear of the NTU language center students saying there’s a lot of options there.

If you want to actually rent a room, BooGoo cafe over by Nanjing Fuxing has that option. I forgot what the rate is, but it won’t hurt to give them a call.

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