Kids have iPods, some cell phones have bad reception, customer ran out of data, the list goes on.

Plus for international travelers, restaurant wifi is sometimes the only way to get internet access

Many restaurants, in addition to the dinner crowd, also service a more business-oriented clientele during the day. Wifi might be more necessary for working lunches, which laptops/tablets instead of phones are necessary.

So how about this: don't work during lunch (at least not in a restaurant). Go to a mall plaza or somewhere that's not busy.

This is probably one of the most infuriating things in the work culture in Anglo North-America

I'll get right on that :-)

More seriously, I like lunch meetings. I'd rather get out of work and back to the family an hour earlier than spend it idling with co-workers.

And often times, there's really not a good place to meet. Why drive 10-15 minutes, find parking, etc. at the nearest mall when you can walk down the street to the nearest restaurant in 5 minutes? Plus, I'd never invite a potential client to a mall plaza, esp during the summer...

I'm not really against lunch meetings, what I'm against is setting shop (taking laptops outs, or reams and reams of paper) and taking a long lunch in a busy place. ;)