When you ask someone about restaurant service in D.C., you’ll get endless opinions. Some will claim that service in D.C. is uniformly abysmal. Others will point to phenomenal experiences — but at a price. Recently, two area favorites have been at the center of service-related discussions: Cleveland Park’s Palena, where local Chowhounds have complained of very slow service, and Arlington’s Ray’s the Steaks, which has policies that at least one local food fan thinks are “suicidal” (apparently much to Chef Michael Landrumm’s amusement).

While we won’t go into specifics as far as these complaints, it’s interesting to read them in the light of a recent Cornell University study that finds that a meal’s pace is crucial to pleasing customers. Obvious, right? But Palena and Ray’s — two very popular restaurants — fall on opposite ends of the spectrum, according to some. The study goes on to chart the ideal pacing of a meal:

Survey respondents had a much greater tolerance for speed in what Noone and Kimes called the post-process stage, which occurs with check settlement after the meal is consumed. On the other hand, diners were not fond of being rushed in the pre-process stage, when they are ordering drinks and reading the menu, and they detested being rushed during their actual meal, the in-process stage.

Yesterday’s USA Today quotes Gus DeMillo (of the Tunks triumvirate) as essentially agreeing with the study, though Richard Martin of Nation’s Restaurant News thinks the the study is “a wake up call,” for a shift in emphasis from turning over tables quickly to providing comfort. We’re still a little confused — hasn’t Waiter Rant been saying that all along? Good to know someone is trying to pass along the obvious to restaurateurs everywhere.