We’ve all been there.  It’s date night and you’re out eating dinner at your favorite restaurant; the food is great, the ambiance is perfect, and the company is lovely, but…this darn table won’t stop wobbling.  It’s maddening.  Like a mosquito near your ear, it’s all you can think about.  You carefully put your drinks toward the center of the table and pray that you’re not wearing your wife’s cabernet before the nights over.

If you’re a restaurant owner or manager, the scenario above is the last thing that you want to happen.  You want your customers to leave dreaming about your food, or the great time they had, not complaining about your tables.  Fortunately, a wobbly table is usually easily fixed, either for free, or for a minimal cost.  So, it’s worth it in terms of customer satisfaction to fix them.

What makes a table wobble?

Most of the time a table is wobbly because the floor that it rests on is not perfectly level or flat.  In fact, any good contractor will tell you that there is no such thing as a perfectly level floor.  If you don’t believe us, put a laser level on your floor and you will most likely find that it isn’t perfectly level.

Another reason that tables become wobbly is because they are moved frequently from spot to spot.  Many table bases have adjustable levelers at the bottom of the base that are used to level the base on a particular section of floor.  If the base was leveled for one area of the floor and then moved, it may need re-adjusted.  This is an easy, free fix that many employees are not trained properly on.

In rarer instances, you might find that one of the base legs is damaged, screws are loose or missing, or a glide is missing on your table base.   If the table is damaged, then you should take it out of service until it is either fixed or replaced.

So how can you fix wobbly tables?

• If you have a 4 leg table, try the ¼ turn test. Start rotating the table slowly until you find the spot where the table is level and stops wobbling – it’s mathematically proven that somewhere between 0 and 25 degrees, you will find a spot.
• If your base has table levelers, adjust the leveler that is off of the ground by screwing it counter clockwise. This is usually sufficient when there is only a small gap under the base leg.
• Check your base and table joints and make sure all screws are tight. If a screw is loose, tighten it.
• Put a rubber wedge under the table leg that has a gap underneath it. Do not use coasters or napkins, as they slide out easily and are a tripping hazard.
• Move the table to another area of the restaurant with a more level floor

Wobbly tables are an age-old problem; one that can cause a lot of discomfort for your guests and generate bad reviews for your restaurant.  Fortunately, the problem is usually easily solved with the proper know-how.  Now that you are aware of the solutions, train your employees to be on the lookout for wobbly tables, and how to fix them.