[General] Answering a barker in a restaurant

[mrwroc]

"barker" - I don't know if it is an appropriate word. It is a person who encourages you to enter and order something in front of a restaurant.



Can I use the expresion below to answer a barker if I only look at the menu in front of a restaurant and don't need help:

I’m just looking / browsing.

I know I can use that expression in a shop but I am not sure if it is possible also in a restaurant.

 

[tedmc]

Yes, I think that's natural.

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, you learn something new every day. I have never heard the term "barker" in this context in my entire life. For me, those people are just "waiters who try and drag you inside"!

 

[Tarheel]

Are they so hard up for business that they go outside and try to talk people into going into the restaurant?

 

[GoesStation]

It's very common in many places. I'd say it's more a matter of matching the competition than of desperation.

 

[Tdol]

I'm familiar with the people, but the word was new to me. I will be using it in future.

 

[emsr2d2]

Are they so hard up for business that they go outside and try to talk people into going into the restaurant?

On the beautiful waterfront in Chania in Crete, it's impossible to go for a nice stroll along the pavement that's lined with restaurants. Every one of them has a barker who will step into your path and say "Good afternoon/evening. Are you looking to eat? We have a wonderful menu, blah, blah, blah". Obviously, you say "No, thanks. I'm just out for a walk/I've already eaten" etc but two metres later, you're outside the next restaurant and you're met with another one, and then another, and another. They're not hard up for business - most of them are pretty full already. There's just so much competition that they've resorted to what I call these strong-arm tactics. They've ruined many a nice evening stroll for me when on holiday in various places!
They're not quite as irritating as "chuggers" (charity muggers) - the people who loiter in the street and ambush you to try and talk you into signing up to regularly donating to a charity, but it's a close-run thing.