The wait staff in resturants are ususally paid less than minimum wage and have to share their tips with the bus staff and rely on tips to make the difference....as the legendary rockabilly singer Wayne Cochran once told me many years ago when I thanked him for a large tip he had left the day before, he said his mother worked for years as a waitress and her tips where what kept a roof overhead, food on their table and clothes on their backs growing up, he quoted her "son if you can't afford to leave a decent tip, don't sit at the table sit at the counter and if you can't tip don't sit down go round back and see if you can wash dishes for something to eat".
If you can't afford to tip, go the grocery store and eat your food at home or in a park. I tip way too much for my budget, but I only eat out where the food is great and the service is excellent.
I used to wait and bus tables when I was younger. Ed is absolutely right. I know how hard those guys and gals work to make their pennies. I do my best to over-tip when deserved and tip well even if I did not receive the best service. It's not an easy job, and it is not a glorious job, so do them a favor and help them out with a good tip!
I work in a local restaurant, but as a hostess so I don't work for tips but it AMAZES me how many people think that COMPLIMENTING a waitress is as good as leaving a tip. It's not - those girls and guys WORK HARD ALL DAY/NIGHT - and are working because they NEED MONEY - so sure, go ahead and compliment them - but LEAVE A GOOD TIP WHEN YOU GET GOOD SERVICE. It's only right.
I agree with George 100%! If you can't afford to tip good service, then you shouldn't be going out. I always tip well, as a result the places I frequent go even farther and above for me. They appreciate me because I appreciate them.
I'd rather leave a good tip to somebody who works hard than hand loose change over to a panhandler. The way I look at it, the economy is tough, times are tough, we've shipped most of the good paying jobs overseas, the politicians don't care, and we're all in this together. If I can afford to tip a little extra, I do.
I used to know a guy who would put $20 on the table at the start of the meal. Every time the waitress messed up something or walked by without acknowledging the table he would take $1 off the table. Most never earned the full $20 but the good ones always received a great tip.
People that don't tip make me want to vomit. Some waitresses are infact not awesome. Some are new, some are burried and overwhelmed. Some are just plain tired of being treated like crap. To anyone that thinks waiting tables is easy work I invite you to give it a shot. Serve rude and impatient people that believe that they are the only people in the restaurant for 8,10,12 hours a day. Try to be polite and cater to obnoxious drunks. Give it your best to not slap the face of the nasty old pervert. Do everything you can to not dropkick the nasty woman that sends her food back 6 times because her toast isn't dark enough or because her rare steak isn't still actually making a moo sound. Do all that you can to please the pretentious "upper class" jerk that walked into the restaurant already considering you a failure because you are "just a waitress". Waitresses make FAR below minimum wage. In some cases they do infact have to split earnings with other workers and they do have to pay taxes on the money they make. Regardless of how awesome or not awesome they were, they provide a service. They should be tipped. Always. How would you feel while at your job, your boss decided to garnish your wages everytime you screwed up or had a rough day? As if being treated like a second class slave all day wasn't bas enough they also get to constantly be worried if the bills will get paid. Restaurant life is tough in every area. Stress is through the roof especially when it is busy. So next time you are in a restaurant and weren't coddled enough and decide to be rude or tip poorly, take in to consideration that these people are not failures or dropouts or second class citizens. They are mothers, wives, daughters or fathers, husbands and sons. Maybe your wife or daughter will be a not so awesome waitress one day surviving on the gratuity of others.
I tip about 18% as that is what I understand to be the going rate. I have gone up to 35% for very good service but I do not penalize if somebody goofs. Occasionally we enjoy going to Old Country Buffett, and while it is a buffett, it amazes me that 95% do not leave anything for the person who clears your plates and busses the tables. Shouldn't they be tipped?
I'm with Brett and Ed and Irene and Elizabeth. It is hard work. Pat; How arrogant and full of himself does your friend get? I wouldn't break bread with someone like that.
I really resent that tipping is necessary because wait staff and others in the restaurant are allowed to be paid a crappy wage and then sometimes at some of the big corporate chains, their sales are added up and they are automatically taxed whether they got a tip or didn't. I don't particularly care to supplement the owners' profit margin, but I know it's not the waiter's fault.
Anecdotally, I was a salesman with a company based in Buffalo in the 90's which is now gone, and we had a corporate account at a restaurant in Cheektowaga, that we could take clients to and just sign the tab. I was instructed that we always tip at least 25%. Let me tell you, whenever anyone from T-W walked in there, the hostess, waitresses, managers, bartenders treated us like kings, they knew us by name. My boss gave them all small gifts every Christmas and if there was ever a complaint (extremely rare) we were to write it out and the boss hand carried it to the owner, or else forget it, no drama scenes ever. They took another rep's card away for being an ass to a waitress. It was mutual respect, and the customers were always impressed, such a small thing in the grand scope of the company (the extra tip and the no embarrassing the waitress if a mistake was made) but worked really well.
I guess I never really considered that to be arrogant the waitress generally ended up getting more then they would have normally. Then again my only real venture into the food service industry was feeding the burger machine at BK for one summer. I don't really consider that relevant since it wasn't customer facing.
I double the sales tax as a rule...maybe a little more for exceptional service. It depends on the restaurant also. Higher end...bigger tip. Sometimes, it even comes down to waitress or waiters demeaner. Like any other job, there are people that know what they are doing, and people that don't. The later seldom last very long.
My Mom and my two sisters all worked as waitresses at one time or another. So I always tip and tip well. I know that those tips put food on my plate and clothes on my back growing up.
Some of these comments are just fascinating. If someone CHOOSES to be a waitress/waiter, it's not up to the customer to subsidize her/his paycheck. Earn your great tip! Smile, don't serve burnt toast, don't be intrusive, don't take too long, etc. You have a responsibility to the customer---not so much the other way around. Your conduct during the dining experience can set the tone for the rest of your customer's day, too. There should be no shame in being a waiter/waitress--good ones make the $$. But do not ever complain--in this day and age--that you are "stuck" being a waitress/waiter and that we should feel sorry for you and/or just accept poor service. BS!
I have a cousin who is a waitress and have many friends that are or were waiters and waitresses, so I know that they earn their living off of tips and that the busboy gets a cut of it as well. If I can, I always try to tip between 25-35% and I always at least try to tip 20%. If I feel that the service is exceptionally terrible then I will ask that tip be given mostly to the bus boy. Paying a gratuity is part of the dining experience and has been for decades, as Phil and George said, if you cannot afford to tip thdn don't go out!
When my daughter was going to GCC, she worked for a while at a now defunct Buffalo restaurant checking hats and coats. The restaurant paid her minium wage and kept all her tips. Plus the manager and assistant manager tried to hit on her all the time. Needless to say, she didn't stay for long.
Also, I don't know if this is still a practice, but it used to be at very upscale restaurants, the wait staff received NO wages and actually had to PAY the restaurant to work there!
The wait staff in resturants
The wait staff in resturants are ususally paid less than minimum wage and have to share their tips with the bus staff and rely on tips to make the difference....as the legendary rockabilly singer Wayne Cochran once told me many years ago when I thanked him for a large tip he had left the day before, he said his mother worked for years as a waitress and her tips where what kept a roof overhead, food on their table and clothes on their backs growing up, he quoted her "son if you can't afford to leave a decent tip, don't sit at the table sit at the counter and if you can't tip don't sit down go round back and see if you can wash dishes for something to eat".
If you can't afford to tip,
If you can't afford to tip, go the grocery store and eat your food at home or in a park. I tip way too much for my budget, but I only eat out where the food is great and the service is excellent.
I used to wait and bus tables
I used to wait and bus tables when I was younger. Ed is absolutely right. I know how hard those guys and gals work to make their pennies. I do my best to over-tip when deserved and tip well even if I did not receive the best service. It's not an easy job, and it is not a glorious job, so do them a favor and help them out with a good tip!
I work in a local restaurant,
I work in a local restaurant, but as a hostess so I don't work for tips but it AMAZES me how many people think that COMPLIMENTING a waitress is as good as leaving a tip. It's not - those girls and guys WORK HARD ALL DAY/NIGHT - and are working because they NEED MONEY - so sure, go ahead and compliment them - but LEAVE A GOOD TIP WHEN YOU GET GOOD SERVICE. It's only right.
I leave a great tip for great
I leave a great tip for great service, good tip for good service, and no tip for poor service or if I'm offended in any way.
I agree with George 100%! If
I agree with George 100%! If you can't afford to tip good service, then you shouldn't be going out. I always tip well, as a result the places I frequent go even farther and above for me. They appreciate me because I appreciate them.
I'd rather leave a good tip
I'd rather leave a good tip to somebody who works hard than hand loose change over to a panhandler. The way I look at it, the economy is tough, times are tough, we've shipped most of the good paying jobs overseas, the politicians don't care, and we're all in this together. If I can afford to tip a little extra, I do.
I used to know a guy who
I used to know a guy who would put $20 on the table at the start of the meal. Every time the waitress messed up something or walked by without acknowledging the table he would take $1 off the table. Most never earned the full $20 but the good ones always received a great tip.
People that don't tip make me
People that don't tip make me want to vomit. Some waitresses are infact not awesome. Some are new, some are burried and overwhelmed. Some are just plain tired of being treated like crap. To anyone that thinks waiting tables is easy work I invite you to give it a shot. Serve rude and impatient people that believe that they are the only people in the restaurant for 8,10,12 hours a day. Try to be polite and cater to obnoxious drunks. Give it your best to not slap the face of the nasty old pervert. Do everything you can to not dropkick the nasty woman that sends her food back 6 times because her toast isn't dark enough or because her rare steak isn't still actually making a moo sound. Do all that you can to please the pretentious "upper class" jerk that walked into the restaurant already considering you a failure because you are "just a waitress". Waitresses make FAR below minimum wage. In some cases they do infact have to split earnings with other workers and they do have to pay taxes on the money they make. Regardless of how awesome or not awesome they were, they provide a service. They should be tipped. Always. How would you feel while at your job, your boss decided to garnish your wages everytime you screwed up or had a rough day? As if being treated like a second class slave all day wasn't bas enough they also get to constantly be worried if the bills will get paid. Restaurant life is tough in every area. Stress is through the roof especially when it is busy. So next time you are in a restaurant and weren't coddled enough and decide to be rude or tip poorly, take in to consideration that these people are not failures or dropouts or second class citizens. They are mothers, wives, daughters or fathers, husbands and sons. Maybe your wife or daughter will be a not so awesome waitress one day surviving on the gratuity of others.
.
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I tip about 18% as that is
I tip about 18% as that is what I understand to be the going rate. I have gone up to 35% for very good service but I do not penalize if somebody goofs. Occasionally we enjoy going to Old Country Buffett, and while it is a buffett, it amazes me that 95% do not leave anything for the person who clears your plates and busses the tables. Shouldn't they be tipped?
I'm with Brett and Ed and
I'm with Brett and Ed and Irene and Elizabeth. It is hard work. Pat; How arrogant and full of himself does your friend get? I wouldn't break bread with someone like that.
I really resent that tipping is necessary because wait staff and others in the restaurant are allowed to be paid a crappy wage and then sometimes at some of the big corporate chains, their sales are added up and they are automatically taxed whether they got a tip or didn't. I don't particularly care to supplement the owners' profit margin, but I know it's not the waiter's fault.
Anecdotally, I was a salesman with a company based in Buffalo in the 90's which is now gone, and we had a corporate account at a restaurant in Cheektowaga, that we could take clients to and just sign the tab. I was instructed that we always tip at least 25%. Let me tell you, whenever anyone from T-W walked in there, the hostess, waitresses, managers, bartenders treated us like kings, they knew us by name. My boss gave them all small gifts every Christmas and if there was ever a complaint (extremely rare) we were to write it out and the boss hand carried it to the owner, or else forget it, no drama scenes ever. They took another rep's card away for being an ass to a waitress. It was mutual respect, and the customers were always impressed, such a small thing in the grand scope of the company (the extra tip and the no embarrassing the waitress if a mistake was made) but worked really well.
I guess I never really
I guess I never really considered that to be arrogant the waitress generally ended up getting more then they would have normally. Then again my only real venture into the food service industry was feeding the burger machine at BK for one summer. I don't really consider that relevant since it wasn't customer facing.
I double the sales tax as a
I double the sales tax as a rule...maybe a little more for exceptional service. It depends on the restaurant also. Higher end...bigger tip. Sometimes, it even comes down to waitress or waiters demeaner. Like any other job, there are people that know what they are doing, and people that don't. The later seldom last very long.
My Mom and my two sisters all
My Mom and my two sisters all worked as waitresses at one time or another. So I always tip and tip well. I know that those tips put food on my plate and clothes on my back growing up.
TIPS=To i{e}nsure proper
TIPS=To i{e}nsure proper service.
Some of these comments are
Some of these comments are just fascinating. If someone CHOOSES to be a waitress/waiter, it's not up to the customer to subsidize her/his paycheck. Earn your great tip! Smile, don't serve burnt toast, don't be intrusive, don't take too long, etc. You have a responsibility to the customer---not so much the other way around. Your conduct during the dining experience can set the tone for the rest of your customer's day, too. There should be no shame in being a waiter/waitress--good ones make the $$. But do not ever complain--in this day and age--that you are "stuck" being a waitress/waiter and that we should feel sorry for you and/or just accept poor service. BS!
I have a cousin who is a
I have a cousin who is a waitress and have many friends that are or were waiters and waitresses, so I know that they earn their living off of tips and that the busboy gets a cut of it as well. If I can, I always try to tip between 25-35% and I always at least try to tip 20%. If I feel that the service is exceptionally terrible then I will ask that tip be given mostly to the bus boy. Paying a gratuity is part of the dining experience and has been for decades, as Phil and George said, if you cannot afford to tip thdn don't go out!
When my daughter was going to
When my daughter was going to GCC, she worked for a while at a now defunct Buffalo restaurant checking hats and coats. The restaurant paid her minium wage and kept all her tips. Plus the manager and assistant manager tried to hit on her all the time. Needless to say, she didn't stay for long.
Also, I don't know if this is still a practice, but it used to be at very upscale restaurants, the wait staff received NO wages and actually had to PAY the restaurant to work there!