Florence Fabricant answers diners' questions.

Questions about dining etiquette.

Florence Fabricant gives advice on the fine points of entertaining at home and eating in restaurants. Ask her a question.

Advice on confronting someone who just doesn’t seem to get the severity of your food allergies.

What to do when a dining companion is uncouth with a bowl of olives, and when your dinner party hostess shakes you down for cash.

What should a guest do when faced with the possibility of the mayhem of food poisoning at a dinner party?

What to do when a restaurant hustles you out before dessert, and why restaurants impose that automatic 18 percent gratuity for large parties.

Advice on how to squeeze between tightly packed tables at a restaurant, and how much to tip on a pricey bottle of wine.

How to shush the baby one table over without getting into a brawl, how to split the check with close friends who always over-order, and what to do when some plates are cleared before other diners have finished.

Advice on paying for friends' food, tipping on a free meal and putting hands on the table.