Ette1010's Profile
Gratuity on reciepts
In my restaurant, 3% of my sales go to my FOH support (host, food runner/busser, and bartender). We are also expected to tip out the expo; the minimum is $4 but I rarely give him just that. He is very good at what he does and always makes sure the food comes out flawlessly. I will usually give him $8 on a slow night and I've given him upwards of $15 on nights when he's really helped me out. I know other servers, regardless of what he's done for them, will only give him $4 or will argue with the managers to give him less. I will often give the food runner and bartenders a little extra as well. I try to take care of mine.
While this is certainly my choice and I don't have to do it, I understand that a restaurant is only as good as its players. I definitely compensate those who help me. The person with the biggest hand in the cookie jar, I forget if jfood asked this, is corporate, who will refuse to give the expo and food runners wages but increase my tip-out percentage.
I hope this helps clear up any confusion.
Gratuity on reciepts
I've worked in four restaurants, two of them concurrently, and 20% was the norm before I settled where I am now. My four closest friends, two of whom go to school in Boston, another in New York, and the fourth in Ohio, also wait tables and report that 20% is the norm in their areas as well.
After working a few shifts in my new restaurant, I was very surprised to learn that people seldom leave above 15%. Theories range from the customers lost too much money in the casinos so they therefore cannot tip or they are just ignornant? rude? unaware? I'm not so sure, but it certainly is frustrating.
I make sure the food comes out on time and am always on top of refills, even on my B+ days. I bring new silverware without being told and when my tables leave, I wipe down everything from the sugar caddies and salt and pepper shakers to the booth seats. I keep my station clean and accomodate every request as best I can. I am always polite, no matter how rude and surly the table is with me. When I finally get the check back and the tip is 15%, it is definitely frustrating.
Double tipping on a bar bill?
At the risk of sounding redundant, the bartender typically gets between 1 and 3% of the server's total liquor sales. That is pennies a drink. I feel the most elegant solution would be to pay your bar tab at the bar and let the server handle the next round of drinks.
If you don't tip, yes, the bartender is shorted.
You also wouldn't have to reduce the tip on the dining bill if said bill didn't include the liquor.
Double tipping on a bar bill?
The bartender gets between 1-3% of the server's liquor sales. I would tip the bartender as well. I understand how it feels like double tipping, but once that check was transferred from the bar to the restaurant, the bartender lost those sales.
"have you been here before? well, we recommend. . . ."
Last year, I worked in an Italian chain that had recently opened. A large part of my training was devoted to menu tours and ringing in first time guests accordingly in the Micros so the manager would then know to visit the table and make sure everything was going well.
When directing us on how to do a menu tour, the trainer would always say, "Such and such is popular with many of our guests" or "This wine is a favorite with our patrons!"
Obviously, a restaurant is a business and I only make as much as I sell (in a perfect world but, alas, not in my current restaurant). When you go to a restaurant, that restaurant wants to sell you a lot of food. I never consider an upsell rude unless it is pushy, as previously mentioned.
You said this is a new restaurant; I'd place money on guessing that you had a new server as well. I have certainly gotten better at upselling over time and hopefully this server will too.
Degrading the tip when the server suggested (probably verbatim) what he had most likely been told during his pre-shift lineup seems punitive to me. I hope this and the other posts here have been able to shed some light for you.
Gratuity on reciepts
Perhaps "warn" was the wrong word choice. I should have used the phrase "give my fellow servers a head's up." I never pass that information along with the intent the table receive subpar service in the future; honestly, in the chain I work in, sometimes the luck of the seating rotation insures service will not be very...good. Rather, I do it so my comrades, so to speak, know what to expect when serving that table. We all talk and we all compare tips. We all like to be educated about our tables, too.
The worst I've ever done is tell a server to completely avoid a certain table (who were truly awful and disrespectful and less than 10% "tippers") and pawn it off on a newer co-worker. Karma has already gotten me on that one.
However, to reiterate, I never ever relate that information with the implication the table should receive bad service. I suppose it will take some of the edge off of getting 15% after delivering very good service.
Gratuity on reciepts
It's meant to help the patron calculate the tip. In all honesty, in one restaurant I work in, I'll rip it off the bottom of the receipt because I find that if I leave it on, my guests will only tip 15% (on higher checks, 15% is barely enough to cover my tip-out). I'm sure I will incur the wrath of other posters here but I am good at what I do and when I receive 15%, I'm usually left scratching my head and warning my other servers about that table.
In the restaurant I now work in, located in a small, tourist-y city, I leave it on and pray for 15%. If I'm not bartending, my tables will usually leave $5 (unless the check is $25, in which case I'll find $3 tucked under the sugar caddy). Worse yet, some tables will either think the gratuity has already been included (???) or assume I make $7.15 an hour and leave me nothing.
It's hard being a diner, I know. But it's even harder being a server.
Ruths Chris - Wearing a bowl of soup
I totally agree with you, ccbweb. I only mentioned dessert because that seems to be the standard remedy when a mistake such as a spilled drink or dropped main occurs in the restaurants in which I've worked. It is simply a nice gesture, nothing more.
Ruths Chris - Wearing a bowl of soup
I wouldn't have left without politely requesting the bisque be taken off the check. Perhaps it was busy and since this manager seems less aware than others I have worked for, it's possible it was an oversight.
As far as comping the entire check, I know (almost) every restaurant is reticent to do so because of food and labor costs. The bisque should have definitely been taken off the check and dessert should also have been offered.
Still though, I wouldn't expect the entire meal to be comped, especially since the management (rightly) offered to pay for your dry cleaning.
Eat the invisible oysters or complain?
LJS, with all due respect, my stomach also turned when I read your post above. I agree with pollymerase and, had I been your server that night and you had said that to me with a "BIG SMILE", I would immediately assume you were going to stiff me. We don't know if the server asked the manager to take the oysters off the bill (which is what should have happened), but I can tell you that the server does not have that authority. He cannot void anything off his checks without the manager.
What would you do if a restaurant wouldnt cook your Burger to Order?
Thank you for explaining this to me! I'll file it away for later.
What would you do if a restaurant wouldnt cook your Burger to Order?
It sounds like you were eating at an Applebee's type place; I recently did some time at Chili's, which is owned by QDI (who also owns Burger King), and there was a similiar rule in place. It has been my experience that burgers aren't cooked any less than medium because of the quality of the meat. Regardless of the quality, however, I do remember someone saying something to me about there still being a risk of food-borne illness because of the surface area of a hamburger than, say, a steak. I'll have to ask Rob again and regret that I can't remember it now.
Please don't take my plate away
Those of us who work in corporate or franchised restaurants are taught to immediately clear any finished or unused plates. If more people knew about the "I'm done" fork and knife position or simply placed their finished dinner plates on the edge of the table, I'm sure this wouldn't happen as often.
Do you see severe cutbacks at restaurants because of the times?
I'm a server and I've definitely seen a downgrade in tips too, especially when guests notice changed portion sizes. That is, it goes without saying, beyond the control of the server.
Is it important to give your dishes a cool name?
The first thing you read about a dish is its name, so I am of the opinion that the name is very important. This extends beyond restaurant food as well; in Peter Singer's "The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter", he includes the renaming of Patagonian toothfish to...Chilean sea bass. He, and whatever marketing scheme came up with this, seems to think people would be less inclined to eat something called "toothfish." I agree.
tipping on table service, tehn takeout.
I work in a chain restaurant which also provides To Go service. The To Go boys are usually the kids who are under 18 and are not yet legally able to wait tables. They make $2.13, the same I do as a server. Restaurant employees always trade war stories and I've done To Go on a few occasions; the consensus in my restaurant is that most people don't tip on To Go because they either think To Go makes minimum wage (false) or doesn't "do as much" as a regular server (also false).
To Go is responsible for ensuring your food has the proper modifications (if there were any), temperature, or substitutions. To Go is also responsible for packing your meal, making sure you have condiments, cutlery, etc. The To Go person is also responsible for answering the phone every time it rings, regardless of whether it's a To Go order or not.
In short, what I suppose I'm trying to say is I believe it to be in good taste to tip the To Go person 20%, unless your order is beyond bungled. In that situation, it is always necessary to talk to the manager. If I ordered two $20 meals, I would tip $8. If you ordered something to go at the end of your table service, that is usually added onto your existing check and you should still tip 20% on that order as well.
Apologies for being long winded, but I hope this helps answer your question.
Pittsburgh Restaurants
My sisters and I are planning to visit the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh sometime in mid-August. I was wondering if any of you had suggestions on where to eat. We will only be spending the day and are looking for a reasonably priced, delicious meal. Maggie is the most adventurous in her food choices and while I am willing to try new things, I do not eat beef or seafood. Kelsey is much more conversative than Maggie and I, so a place with a good variety of menu items would be ideal. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Your worst service experience?
My question for you is, if you saw the server struggling to reach the end of the table, why didn't anyone move his chair without being asked or offer to pass the drink down the table?
Ruby Tuesday's: So Very So-So
That's true. That sort of prep is done in the morning. It's not butter either; it's hydrogenated cotton seed oil. 100 calories per tablespoon and found at every chain restaurant in America.
Ruby Tuesday's: So Very So-So
How did your mother in law get coconut shrimp? That was taken off the menu at least a year ago. FYI, at most corporate restaurants, particularly Ruby Tuesday and Applebee's, there are very strict alcohol policies. Bartenders must use their Bar KDS to ensure everything is "spec", and, yes, those drinks are mostly simple syrup and sour mix. Besides, if you were looking for a real margarita, I'm surprised you ordered one there.
