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tipping at a restaurant
Txs
Member Posts: 17,809 ✭✭✭
I didn't want to hijack the thread on sending food back if it's not cooked properly, so...
When it comes to restaurants I'm a believer in the customer determined tip system, but too many folks don't get it and view their tip as a reward for all aspects of their meal being great.
The vast majority of the time your tip goes only to the server you dealt with, who's working exempt from standard minimum wage laws. In my region that means they're only being paid a bit over $2 per hour by the restaurant.
Even if this person does everything to perfection there's going to be the occasional * customer who doesn't get it and refuses to hand over a fair amount due to food quality. In other words, they're punishing the server because someone they never saw dropped their ball. At the end of the day that kitchen staff slug who screwed up your meal will be taking home the same money.
Logically, food quality - whether good or bad - should be addressed with management rather than a server who has zero control over QC back there in the kitchen. Your tip should fairly reflect only the quality of tableside attention you received.
When it comes to restaurants I'm a believer in the customer determined tip system, but too many folks don't get it and view their tip as a reward for all aspects of their meal being great.
The vast majority of the time your tip goes only to the server you dealt with, who's working exempt from standard minimum wage laws. In my region that means they're only being paid a bit over $2 per hour by the restaurant.
Even if this person does everything to perfection there's going to be the occasional * customer who doesn't get it and refuses to hand over a fair amount due to food quality. In other words, they're punishing the server because someone they never saw dropped their ball. At the end of the day that kitchen staff slug who screwed up your meal will be taking home the same money.
Logically, food quality - whether good or bad - should be addressed with management rather than a server who has zero control over QC back there in the kitchen. Your tip should fairly reflect only the quality of tableside attention you received.
Comments
Clouder..
My wife worked as a waitress while I was in Grad school so I tip generously for good service
I SLIPPED A LADY A TIP AT THE MUSTANG RANCH ONCE..THE SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT.
[:D][:D]
People seem to forget TIP means: To Insure Promptness..
and nothing to so with circumcision
I once had a waitress catch me in the parking lot with tears in her eyes. She gave me a hug and thanked me effusively for a measly $10 tip - because the previous table had stiffed her and her rent was overdue.
I'll never forget it.
20% is the top of the scale
0% is the bottom
On average I tip about 12%
No matter if you tip well or stiff 'em - they WILL remember you the next time.
Think about it.
I tip based on the service I recieved.
20% is the top of the scale
0% is the bottom
On average I tip about 12%
Pretty much what we do. I can recall only one time in the last 20years we left no tip. We do not use a pen and paper to figure out an exact %. In out heads we hit a number that usually is 12%-15%.
I have never sent a meal back in my life. I have had a few dull/mundane meals, but that's as close to ruined as I have got. But hey, where I grew up one gould not be too picky and make it.
I thinks its BS that they have to pay taxes on tips and some places put all the tips in a kitty and share it out to everyone, thats commie in my book.
If you have never see the Reservoir Dogs movie lines about tipping its kind of funny..............
Be Advised its not Safe for Women or Children don't watch at work
I also never leave less than a couple bucks, even if my bill was only a couple bucks.
I tip for good service, part of that service is the server making sure that the kitchen gets it right.
That's the sort of stuff I was referring to when I said some folks just don't get it.
A server's ability to make sure the kitchen gets things the way you want ends with them submitting your order correctly. They have ZERO authority over the staff back there and it makes no sense to refuse to pay someone who did their job correctly because someone they have no control over screwed up.
Their only recourse for poor quality food or prep is the same as yours - complaining to the restaurant manager. The difference is that you may be compensated in some way. That server who did nothing wrong still gets screwed out of their pay by the customer.
If you knew that you could be paid every night, regardless of how lazy you are; you'd like that system, too.
Problem is; the good servers are disincentivized by this practice, and service quickly goes South.
Having worked in all areas of a restaurant during my youth; I quickly learned to steal the "good" customers, and sometimes, I'd pay the Maitre'D to seat those folks in my area.
I still tip, but when I leave a nickel and 2 pennies; it's meant to be busfare to another job.
Pooled tips are the restaurants' way of ensuring that all the employees get "something" in their pocket at the end of the night......yet still pay their employees a fraction of minimum wage. Another example of the modern day bean counters shooting themselves in the foot.
Why would a skilled server with get-up-and-go choose to work in such a place rather than one where they'll be compensated for attention to detail and going the extra mile?
Mediocre service is the norm in places that do things this way.
If the wife feels sorry for them "she looks like a single mother" or some other nonsense only women can tell she will tip 100% or more.
Servers are taxed on a percentage of their sales regardless of the actual tip(s) they receive.
[;)] I think someone said that already.
Clouder..
If they are fun....really on top of things and the meal is good I tip well over 20%. I also try NOT to "run" the server...if I want something I ask for everything I can think of at once....extra napkins, sauce, whatever...so I'm not a problem for them.
fyi a penny heads down means you suked and is an insult, it shows you didnt foget to tip
I always tip 15 percent if the food and service are good. If really good I go up to 20 percent.
However if the waitress is sorry I love to leave a tip of 2 pennies. This is the way to say "Screw you" to the waitress.
No matter if you tip well or stiff 'em - they WILL remember you the next time.
I've always left big tips and you are correct they do remember. Even when I call in a pizza I tip the driver a lot more than probably most anybody tips them for pizza and it works. It's amazing how fast they can get there if they think they're going to make more at one stop for the night than they will at all the others put together.
Buffets usuall $1-2 bucks per person. I personally hate tipping would rather have the tip built into the food cost.
Not to try and hijack this thread but I have a great story on tipping.
When my Son was about 11 or 12 we decided he would baby sit with our younger daughter while we went out close by. I ordered a pizza for them and put $20.00 on the counter and went up to shower etc. then told my son to listen for the pizza guy. I finished my shower, came down stairs and they were eating the plain cheese $9.00 pizza. I asked, "Wheres the change?" his reply was "I told him to keep the change like you always do!" We got excellent service from that pizza guy for quite some time!
In most cases the establishment provides them only the minimum amount required by law, which is generally not much more than enough for gas to get them there each day.
That 15% you leave on the table isn't a reward for them going above and beyond for you. It's their basic salary for performing a satisfactory, basic level job and logically should be factored in as part of the cost of your meal.
'If you can't afford to tip you can't afford to eat out'
Some folks just don't quite grasp that in this country the customer is the one who's tasked with paying their server's salary.
In most cases the establishment provides them only the minimum amount required by law, which is generally not much more than enough for gas to get them there each day.
That 15% you leave on the table isn't a reward for them going above and beyond for you. It's their basic salary for performing a satisfactory, basic level job and logically should be factored in as part of the cost of your meal.
'If you can't afford to tip you can't afford to eat out'
Well then people need to get their states to change the labor laws to require restaurants to pay minimum wage. That way your discretionary tip is "something extra" for good service, instead of required for just service.