I am much, much slower than people like Jen and Tinlizzie, so sometimes I need a different strategy to reach goal. Here are a couple of general slowpoke tips...
If you have trouble losing customers from either the tables or the line, try seating fewer tables per round. This is especially good if you have a podium. I have made Expert on a number of rounds through all the DD games by seating only 3 or 4 tables per round. This will also increase color bonuses. Museum Level 5 is a perfect example of this--I use 6 rounds where tinlizzie uses 3. But I can't do 3 because I'll lose customers.
If the customers at the tables are very happy (easier when there are fewer of them), you should be able to hit the podium in the following spots in a round:
a. Before you seat anyone.
b. After you pick up orders and give drinks, but before you give out food.
c. Maybe after you give food, although you may get snack and mop requests then.
d. Always when people are done asking for snacks and have started asking for dessert (just keep an eye on joggers who don't ask for dessert so they don't get too unhappy)
e. After you give out checks and before you pick up dishes.
f. After you pick up dishes.
Again, using Museum Level 5 as an example, I might use the podium 4 times during a single round in order to keep everyone happy enough to make Expert.
Another slowpoke tip: if you don't have a podium and you have trouble losing people just as you're about to seat them, try to seat impatient people (like yappers) in the tables closest to the line. This is the reason why my slowpoke walkthrough for one of the disco levels is the reverse of Jen's--I seat yappers next to the line and she seats them on the far side of the room.
Also...if you're a slowpoke, faster shoes are usually the best upgrade choice. The real world slowpoke issue is probably your own thinking/reacting/clicking time, but a faster Flo can help make up for that.
The regular walkthroughs for faster people will usually get higher scores. But if those don't work for you because you're losing customers, you may need a method that relies less on speed.
Good luck!

From one slowpoke to another. Thank you so much. Candy

Robin, thanks so much for the slowpoke tips. I fit right in there! It's great to know we have a strategy too! :-)

hi robin, actually I like some of the slowpoke strategies as well, especially for the baseball park where there aren't any desserts but on the beach shack levels I'm finding I need a longer chain (but I can't keep up with the long chains!). Any advice would be appreciated!

Another tip I found is, on those levels where you're afraid of losing an impatient group waiting in line, if your still taking orders where there's lots of seats, you can run to the podium and charge the heart meters, without breaking your chain.

bless you Robin, my old hands are way slower than Jens, and she has given me a mountain of wonderful tips, but sometimes I just can't...because I'm so slow, so thanks for this!!

robin, you are so right. That's what I do too, so I guess I'm a slow poke. If I don't have a podium, I'm dead in the water.

A couple more...
If you have a chain going and you thought it was over so you started to do something else but then you see the chain could continue, don't be afraid to carry around something and go back to the chain. An example: you gave out two snacks, then went and got the mop to clean up a spill. While you were getting the mop, another party asked for a snack. You can go ahead and give them the snack before doing the mopping--just carry the mop with you.
.
Knowing who to sit where is very important for slowpokes. You need to know, for example, that yappers don't like the noise from teen boys, but joggers don't care about either. I often wait to seat any teen boys until I have teen girls to sit near them.
.
The only reason to give a family a high chair is to keep the baby's crying from bothering patrons who are bothered by noise. But if you can seat the family away from others (Or near other families or joggers), the noise won't matter. This has two pluses: you can seat, for example, two mothers with babies at a two person table if you're not going to give them high chairs. And you save yourself a trip to get the high chair. So while I usually do give high chairs, I don't always.
.
For slowpokes, keeping patrons from getting impatient can be more important than longer chains. This is one reason I sometimes end up with rounds of only 2 or 3 tables--maybe I need to serve some yappers and I only have one other set of customers who doesn't mind sitting near them.
.
The mop is almost always near the drinks station. So when you go to get the mop, look and see if there are drinks ready and you can pick them up on the same trip.
.
Try to give drinks to any set of customers at 4 hearts or below right after you've picked up all orders and before you start giving out food. The drinks recharge each time so by giving out a set early you'll usually get one more set per round, which can be important for slowpokes. I usually turn in the last orders, immediately pick up drinks and give them to whoever is lowest and then run on over to the podium.
.
Once the restaurant is closed you can spend as much time as you like at the podium. So take your time looking to see who is in line and where the best place is to put them for the final rounds. It helps if you can think ahead to maximize color bonuses.
.
As Jen says, "The restart button is your friend." If you get part way into a round and realise you're just not going to reach your target, go ahead and restart the level rather than wearing yourself out completing one you won't want to keep anyway.
.
If you have to leave someone in line for a long time, families and bookworms are usually the most patient. Yappers and businesswomen are the least patient.
.
Some things are certain, some things are random. For example, on a dessert level usually everyone who is happy enough (except joggers and hungry men) will order dessert. But snacks are just random. Water spills are also random.
.
This tells you two things--you can influence the number of desserts by the happiness level of the customers, so you can use extra drinks to increase the number of desserts. And, if you get really close on a level with randomness (lots of water spills or snacks), maybe it was just bad luck--sometimes doing the exact same strategy the next time WILL make your goal. This is particularly true for the disco levels. I had a couple of strategies there that would get Expert about 1 time in 3, because they depended on the water spills coming at just the right time in the chains.
.
So if you're having trouble on a level, analyse how much random factors are involved before switching strategies.
.
Good luck!

Really nice job putting together a lot of valuable tips, Robin! Will be helpful to all. Thanks so much!

These are GREAT! Thank you!