Do you pick up or leave the fork you accidentally dropped in a restaurant?

Question

I was in a classy restaurant and accidentally dropped my eating utinsel onto the floor. I wasn't sure what the proper etiquette was at that point. Do you pick it up or just leave it and ask the waiter for a new one?

Does this rule apply for food too? If I drop a cherry tomato or an olive and it rolls across the restaurant floor, what do I do? I surely don't want someone to slip on it.

Answer 1

Proper etiquette would be to leave it, a waiter will pick it up and exchange it for a new one.
However I think this is such a silly waste, if there isn't a waiter very close I'll be eating again before he gets to it. I'm not a germaphobe :-)

Dropped food I wouldn't pick up in a restaurant, that'd be too much of a faux-pas.

Answer 2

Regardless what Miss Manners or Emily Post might say about this I would pick up the fork and place it out of the way on the table.

Should I drop food on the floor and it rolls, scatters, or splatters across the floor I would immediately summon a waiter or waitress.

Answer 3

IF proper etiquette calls for you leaving a fork on the floor, within easy reach, then I say that is outmoded and inappropriate etiquette for today's world. Common decency would cause me to pick up the fork and place it on the table away from the food, and ask for another. If it wasn't easily reached, and not going to be stepped on by someone else, then I would leave it.
Common sense should prevail on food dropped, as well. If it isn't going to cause problems with someone slipping, then leave it. If it is easily reached and might cause someone to slip, then pick it up with a napkin. If you've made a real mess on the floor somehow (knocked over a plate of something, for instance), and the waiter to send someone to clean it up and apologize. Tip the bus boy who does the work as well.

Etiquette is to make our lives better, not to rule us. Common sense should always be your number one priority.

Answer 4

Be conciderate and pick up the fork and let the waiter/ress know about it right away. Classy and leaving it? I wouldnt want another lady trip over it with her high heels, new or not.

Let the food roll and let the waiter/ress know about it right away. Wouldnt want anyone to slip on it while walking by. I would feel bad since it came from my own mistake.

Answer 5

If your food rolls across the floor, you leave it. If your fork drops close to you you pick it up place it in the middle of the table and ask the waiter to bring you another one, or just kick it under the table and forget about it :) They will find it eventually.

Answer 6

I would leave it on the floor and ask for a new utensil. Even the upper-class eateries have their share of germs, dirt, grime, and the like. As for the food on the floor, just discreetly alert a waitstaff person. They don't want anyone to step on it either, and they will take care if it.

Answer 7

I would think of it as a nice thing to do to pick it up and put it aside so the waiter doesn't have to, but in order to be neat and classy just leave it.

Answer 8

Pick it up and signal to a waiter and tell them to replace it for you because you dropped it. They will gladly do it. Same with the food, but tell them to remove it from the floor to be discarded of course.

Answer 9

Never pick up anything you drop on the floor, food or utensil, Instead ask a waiter for a clean utensil and a replacement food as appropriate.

Answer 10

I've taken etiqutte courses and you're supposed to leave utensils on the floor and ask the waiter for another. As for food, cover it with a napkin and pick it up.