My experience is quite different. When I'm in the US for conferences I'm always amazed that when going out for dinner lots of places make you wait (sometimes up

My experience is quite different. When I'm in the US for conferences I'm always amazed that when going out for dinner lots of places make you wait (sometimes up to 30min) even though the restaurant is half empty. It has happened to me especially when out relatively early. Mind you this is for dinner, lunch is somewhat different usually.