Why not segment restaurant customers by time?

 A while ago, I was in Trudeau International Airport in Montreal awaiting a flight home to Toronto. I had plenty of time before take-off, so I wasn't in a big hurry to get some dinner before boarding the plane. I could relax and have a relatively leisurely meal.

More recently, when returning from a business event in Victoria, my time was tighter. I asked the host of the White Spot Restaurant in the airport if I could have lunch in under a half-hour. "Of course," she said cheerfully. I wolfed-down a hamburger and salad, and got through Customs in good time.

These contrasting experiences got me thinking about how restaurants (especially those in airports) could respond to these diverse dining scenarios. Why not have two or more designated sections of the restaurant, along with differentiated menus, to effectively serve these customers with differing time parameters?

This approach would enhance the dining experience for those travellers in a hurry, since they'd have fewer but speedier menu options, and they wouldn't impatiently wonder why a server at another table was seemingly not racing to serve them.

As well, it would simplify life for restaurant servers by eliminating the need to repeatedly explain how long various menu options take to serve, and by allowing them to spend a bit more time providing friendlier and more relaxed service to those guests who aren't itching to pay and dash off to their gate.