photo taken by @wakeupkitty host of this contest on behalf of @freewritehouse.
This reminds me of the food alarm system, which is available in most of the famous and crowded restaurants.
The story goes this way.
When you order for the food and when the payment for the same is done, we are given a food alarm machine by the cashier. Once you get it, you immediately can look out for a suitable table to sit and can have a leisure talk with the one who accompanied you.
Once your food is ready, the food alarm given to you either beeps or blinks, to make sure your food is ready and can collect it from the counter.
This doesn't mean that the restaurants keep you waiting. Its just to avoid the crowd during the rush hours, such things are put to practice. So next time give a try in such restaurants, iam sure you will find one.
The brown one probably should be a table and the partly visible white colour object should either be a flower vase placed on the table or a bowl.