I would have to put food at number one. Then service in a very close second. Ambiance - as long as it is clean and not too loud, I’m pretty good to go. On those occasions we go out, we tend to eat at the bar of whatever place we end up at, so I would hope service is good, or my poor drink won’t stay filled! That being said, we also tend to go out at times the places we like will generally be less busy, so that increases the likelihood of having the staff’s attention.
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I absolutely f’n HATE TVs in restaurants or bars, but I’m not a sportsing fan by any stretch of the imagination.
I watch TV at home. I don’t need to go out to do the same. It completely and utterly ruins any place for me.
My hometown is drowning in sports bars 
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I hate sports bars. Can’t imagine why …
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I like TVs in sports bars. Then again, I like sports. I detest TVs in restaurant dining rooms. That’s why god created both bars and dining rooms. One is for watching and drinking and munching with like-minded fans. The other is for drinking and dining with like-minded friends or family.
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So, reading through other peeps’ responses, I suppose an asterisk is in order: while food is ideally my #1criterium for choosing a place, there are less than ideal situations — the most recent example being a ridiculously short trip (2 nights, 1 half day) to NYC. It’s already overwhelming enough to choose The Perfect Restaurants for 2 dinners & 2 lunches for a weekend trip, much more so when you have to factor in location, timing, and practicability.
So, occasionally, location/convenience (as in Din Tai Fung) will win over food quality.
In college towns, bars & dining rooms are often combined.
I just avoid the ones with TVs. Problem solved.
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Me too. Our favourite Italian, which we most recently visited this week, is attached to a hotel near the airport. It attracts business customers - most often men on their own. It sort of has two rooms - the main dining room and an adjacent dining area, near the entrance. They are only partly divided one from the other. They tend to seat the single diners in the adjacent space, presumably providing the TV for them. We have been seated in there before and not really noticed the TV. This week they seemed busy and the free tables were in the adjacent area. The football match was a distraction.
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There’s an Italian/pizza place with a great outdoor area–multiple seating areas, two bars, pleasant greenery and grape vines disguising the fact that you’re in the city. The bars always have their large tvs tuned to football. If it was American football I may find it distracting, but since it’s actually European soccer I can ignore it 
The guys sitting at the bars seem to find it fascinating though.
Location would be in my top criteria ( sometimes can’t handle an hour in traffic, searching too long for parking, feeling unsafe), but I will go with food then service.
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Parking can definitely be an issue. There’s a town (small city?) near me that is known for its restaurants. But I just cannot deal with the parking situation. It’s also somewhat of a PITA to get to from my house.
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Like location as a factor, wait is also a factor. I won’t wait in a long line. Anything beyond20 minutes is too long. I’ll wait longer with a group, special occasion or something planned but generally no…and absolutely no known 2 hour waits for BBQ or such. Similarly I keep driving distances and time but there’s always exceptions, like haven’t seen long lost friends.
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Brings up a good point - no interest from us on a restaurant if you can’t make reservation (or can use something like Yelp Waitlist).
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Agreed. I am not going to hang about waiting for a table. Nor am I going to drive to, say, the other side of the metro area only to find they are full that night. Fortunately, the vast majority of places take reservations, so the question rarely arises.
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There’s a fantastic hand-pulled noodle place in Berlin (with now three branches, AFAIK), and each branch has a line down the block from the time they open until they close. Not to mention that nobody wants to linger, given the peeps waiting.
They also deliver, however, and we usually had our noodz within 15 min.
I don’t do lines nor velvet ropes.
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No risk no fun 
My question is, are you willing to wait on line for anything. A museum exhibit, a free performance, better seating?
I no longer flinch at waiting on line. I bring a good book, I talk to people. I’ve made some seriously great connections while waiting on line. After all, we are there for the same thing so we already have something terrific in common.
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I time a lot of my visits and come back later when it’s less busy. I will visit in the off hours or on a day that is less busy. One of the bakeries I frequent has a long line from the time it opens until around 2 pm on the weekend. I visit on Fridays, and on rainy days, to avoid the wait.
I will wait in line if I have to, but- I really prefer viewing art in a museum when it’s less crowded, and visiting restaurants that don’t have a wait to place an order or be seated.
I am a patient person when it comes to waiting for a doctor’s appointment or in line at a government office.
I can always find another good coffee shop or good restaurant in Toronto, when I find there’s a long wait at the first place on my list.
If I’m on vacation, somewhere that is special, far from home, like a special BBQ place or an ice cream parlour, I will wait in line. Probably won’t be back any time soon.
The last time I remember waiting in line in NYC would have been at Van Leewen for an ice cream in Aug 2019. The line I’ve waited in the most is the TKTS line at Times Square.
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The last line I waited in was for the Prado museum in Madrid last summer. Couldn’t buy tickets online so I hoofed it over and waited for about 40 mins, which wasn’t too bad tbh. The time passed quickly after starting a convo with an English speaking couple in front of my. Well worth the wait.
The last restaurant that I waited in line for was Cervejaria Ramiro in Lisbon a few years back, before they started taking reservations, also worth the wait.
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Wait time is a variable factor for me. If the food is really great, I’ll wait a long time (45-60 minutes). If it’s good but not great, I may wait 20-30 minutes. If I’m just in need of something decent and there are alternatives, I won’t wait much at all, maybe 5-10 minutes.
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I’m not at all sure what relevance your question has to the subject of discussion, as the examples are clearly very different. But I’m happy to answer “no” to it.
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