torgone

You don't have to sit where they lead you. The host (hostess, maitre'd) ideally wants to seat people in a way that spreads the work among the wait staff evenly, but they may also direct the people who look like they might be better tipping to a favorite's area, or whatever. Bottom line is if you don't like the table, you can and should ask for another. Pick the table you want and ask to sit there. They're there to serve you.

I can see the hostess's point in Flyguy's post - if the have one big table, they'll want to reserve that for big groups, so they don't have to dick around pushing a bunch of small tables together. But beyond that, I think you should be able to sit where you want.

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