What is the most common style of table service in the US?

Answer 1

America enjoys such a vast diversity it's challenging to identify today what would be the most common style. Visit any restaurant that bills itself with the ominous moniker 'all you can eat' and you can rest assured a high percentage of diners have misinterpreted the words as a direct challenge.

In the 'dining' room, look in any direction and you'll find brobdingnagian quantities of food stacked perilously on a plate, with its owner hovering over it, with outstretched arms encircling the plate. Their face is perched over the plate, just an inch from the mountain peak, leaving an image that closer matches that of a hogsty than a dining room. The diner is most likely using a fork, or spoon. But it's difficult to see considering the tight cocoon the diner has created to protect their layers of carbohydrates.

In places such as these, there is no style - either in the table service or the diner. It's all pretty much D.I.Y., (do it yourself), which reduces business operating costs to a minimum, as there is no need for wait staff - just table clearers and defibrillator teams.

The balance between this and the semi-formal setting would be the 'Basic' table setting. Considered the most practical and functional, the diner is provided with only the essential utensils to achieve the task.

Children who attend pre-school etiquette classes are taught a story about the cutlery, moving from right to left.

The spoon loves being beside the knife, but the knife always looks across the pond at the fork, who stands alone beside her bed.

Following an american etiquette class the somewhat confusing acronym of FORKS is used.

Moving from left to right -

The Fork, then the O (representing the plate), then drop the R, then the K for knife, then S for spoon.

But the above makes no allusion to the napkin.

Nevertheless, the most basic setting is as described in both ditties.

It is also considered a 'basic' service to have a bread plate and bread knife, which is placed above the napkin and fork, with the butter knife blade facing downward towards the napkin and fork. The water glass is placed above the spoon on the right.

The above is representative of the most common style of table service in the US. The next step above is the informal setting which include in addition to the above 'Basic' setting, a salad plate, salad fork, soup spoon, tea cup, saucer, and teaspoon, and optional dessert spoon and fork.

So, depending on Demographics, the most common table service would be the 'Trough' service, as described above,

Or, with a mix of rose-tinted glasses and a modicum of hope, the 'Informal' service should prevail.

Answer 2

See the link below for a visual depiction.