marc in san francisco spotted this at a restaurant in the haight called all you knead (have fun with those puns, kids). i can certainly empathize, but after reading some of the reviews…well, maybe there’s a reason the tips aren’t so great.
related: a friendly tip from your waitress
275 responses so far ↓
#1
Can't believe it,
I always go for 20% in the hopes of the next patron getting better service because of a better tip. People really need a guide for this?!?!
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:25 pm rating: +2
#2
Uncle Hunty
Wow, we give shit service and still expect 10 percent?
We lucky customers aren’t worthy to be served by such gods of the plate transportation industry.
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:27 pm rating: +18
#3
Sarah
They were doing so well until 10%. Here’s the real guide:
10%: Your service sucked, but I don’t want to be a jerk , so I’ll leave you slightly less than 15% and hope you don’t figure it out.
OR:
Moving a decimal place is the extent of my mathematical skills. Sorry.
5%: Your service sucked, but I don’t want to be a jerk. However, I am also cheap. I can’t blame it on my math skills, because halving 10% takes almost as much effort as calculating 15%.
A Penny: Look at me, I’m an asshole!
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:35 pm rating: +6
#4
nothanks
I tip a minimum of 50% and a majority of the time tip 100%
I feel that by me tipping well, even if the service is bad, it may make the day better for the server and potentially make it better for another patron.
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:42 pm rating: +1
#5
Writerrejected
How *do* you actually say “you suck and I hate you,” in French, I wonder. Anyone?
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:43 pm rating: 0
#6
yaya
Since when is a patron required to tip more than 15%?
I am sorry your employer pays you peanuts, but you can’t expect every patron to make up the difference over the standard 15%.
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:50 pm rating: +7
#7
anglophile
Go ahead, blame the foreigners if you want. But you know it’s really the locals stiffing you. Damn hippies!
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:57 pm rating: +10
#8
Troy McClure
This system is broken & one of the things I like the least about visiting the US. “We’re only going to pay you half as much as we should, & rely on your customers’ whims for the remainder. So keep that smile plastered across your face! And a bit of cleavage might not go astray.” Creepy? Or a good business nodel, to be emulated by other up-and-coming industries?
Mar 10, 2008 at 6:11 pm rating: +11
#9
Riva
I am a career waiter(tress I hate the different connotation on the words.) First, I only get mad at Americans who tip badly. They know better, and usually, I get pretty good tips from our Euro friends only because they’ve been treated like crap by passive-aggresive waiters before me who believe they will get a bad tip and that gives them the right to be an ass to the poor stinky butter-knife-on-the-salad-users.
To the posters before me, if you eat at restaurants who charge less than 20 dollars for an a la carte entree, tip as suggested above. If you are at a fine dining restaurant, you are expected to tip 20%, and if you don’t, you are showing your lot in life. It doesn’t really matter, though. Your waiter read you before your butt hit the seat and your napkin was placed in your lap.
Mar 10, 2008 at 6:15 pm rating: 0
#10
Straightline
If you get 10% from me it definitely means you sucked. And if that happens, I no longer care if you think the problem is that I can’t do the math.
Mar 10, 2008 at 6:20 pm rating: +6
#11
KittyPants
Considering how much the restaurant in question suxxxxx, a 0% tip would be fine. A talk with the manager would be a good idea too. Then again, the manager there sux as well, so that probably won’t work.
Mar 10, 2008 at 6:21 pm rating: 0
#12
Canthz_B
God asks that you love him and asks for 10% in tithes. These servers want 10% when they rate hatred?
What balls!
Mar 10, 2008 at 6:28 pm rating: +13
#13
Reno
We should make up our own PA cards to explain our tipping policy to wait staff as soon as we are seated. This way, they know the deal and can understand how we felt about the service. It takes the guesswork out of receiving a 5%…10%…etc. tip.
Mar 10, 2008 at 6:31 pm rating: +8
#14
GVI
Oh damn, here we go again with all the cranky servers and advocates for tipping.
Mar 10, 2008 at 6:45 pm rating: +5
#15
Canthz_B
I just have to ask why anyone would think that tipping well for poor service would result in better service for the next patron?
You have set the bar…poor service equals good tip. Tipping well for bad service encourages bad service by rewarding it.
Mar 10, 2008 at 7:03 pm rating: +15
#16
Quinn
I worked at a restaurant in Vermont, so close to the borer of Quebec, where such a sign with the little French-speaking man would have been oh so apropos, but here in San Francisco, I don’t know.
Mar 10, 2008 at 7:37 pm rating: 0
#17
Joe
Tip schmip.
I tip IF I get amazing service, not merely because someone was doing their job.
Mar 10, 2008 at 7:43 pm rating: +6
#18
Mishee
This is what I mean when I say The City is overrated!
Mar 10, 2008 at 8:21 pm rating: 0
#19 SXSWi p2 at Joe Doyle :: Creative Director
[...] online world. In case you were wondering, this is what a session looks like. I caught this woman adding images to her blog entry. Most people (including me) “listen” to a session while working or blogging (or both). [...]
Mar 10, 2008 at 8:24 pm rating: 0
#20
Troy
and this is why the rest of the world hates America. a tip is EXTRA money. why should i pay EXTRA for service that is only OK?
Mar 10, 2008 at 8:39 pm rating: +4
#21
bamBAM!!
It’s not their fault, the metric system is just a little too basic for the idea of “percents.”
Mar 10, 2008 at 8:47 pm rating: 0
#22
WyldEyes
Wow, I thought I was a ‘good customer’ tipping 15% on ‘average’ service. I leave 10% when service is ‘eh’ but rarely leave less (you’d really have to piss me off for me to leave less then 10%). I give 20% (or more) about 45% of the time.
To Riva… how frustrating that you ‘read me’ before I sit down! I often look like I have no $ and wouldn’t know how to tip (I come in covered in horse dirt and worn out from showing/training)… guess it would be your loss for stereotyping me! Shame on you.
For the record: I waited tables when I was younger – but I did it for the people, not the money (and believe me, I needed the money)… I usually made out pretty well on tips. Guess being a people person in that profession pays off!
Mar 10, 2008 at 9:05 pm rating: +6
#23
Chlor
Ehh…
20% for a shiny, colorful, laminated sign with a kooky looking and utterly confused French dude on it.
-20% for being condescending assholes with apparently shitty service.
See! I’m American and I’m still good at math! ^_^
Mar 10, 2008 at 9:06 pm rating: +2
#24
Biyatch
I know they are going to spit in my food, so I rub my dick all over their tip.
Mar 10, 2008 at 9:37 pm rating: +2
#25
onlooker
Nothing like rubbing a dick ‘tip’ on a debit card!
Go Team Whatacunt! I like to watch… other people stir it up.
De-lic-ious!!
Mar 10, 2008 at 10:05 pm rating: 0
#26
melissa
yelp rules!
Mar 10, 2008 at 10:17 pm rating: 0
#27
Boooooring
Holy shit – not ANOTHER fucking note about tipping? Don’t you people ever get sick of arguing over this subject? I know I am sick of READING about it. And look at all the classy, intelligent comments that appear on the tipping threads. Do we really need a new thread on tipping every couple of weeks? No, we don’t. It was a rhetorical question. There has GOT to be something better to bitch about. NEXT!
Mar 10, 2008 at 10:47 pm rating: +8
#28
Tobi
I don’t feel bad for waitresses. I leave $2 all the time and that’s it. If they don’t like their wages, maybe instead of constantly complaining and throwing pity parties such as this they should actually do something about it.
I know the concept of not bitching and actually doing is difficult for most people, however.
Mar 11, 2008 at 12:11 am rating: +1
#29
Chipmunk
…yeah. I understand that in some cities, wait staff aren’t paid a dime (like Washington DC). I almost always tip, unless the waiter/waitress was a total dick. This past Valentine’s Day I left the cute little high school-aged waitress a $20 tip on a $50 meal because she was cheery, polite, and attentive.
We’re not required to give wait staff tips. We do it because -you did a good job-, not because you did your job at all. If you are making so little per paycheck despite your hours, then either
1. Make sure minimum wage laws are being enforced. Minimum wage in California as of January 08 is $8 an hour.
2. MOVE THE HELL OUT OF SAN FRANSISCO. You can’t live by yourself in The City and work as a waiter and just magically expect your funds to cover your bills.
Mar 11, 2008 at 1:32 am rating: +4
#30
AK-00
I guess 0% = Fuck you and your snarky sign.
Oh! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the American people for introducing extortion and intimidation into my eating experience by exporting this loathsome custom.
Needless to say, I only tip in places I plan on visiting regularly.
Mar 11, 2008 at 2:30 am rating: +2
#31
Canthz_B
I wonder why no servers outside of the U.S.A. are complaining about American tourists who tip well while abroad because they just assume tipping is a universal custom.
Do you guys just give the money back to the American tourist and explain that they need not tip, or do you keep the money?
Not being snarky here…honestly, I’m just curious because I’ve never traveled abroad.
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:46 am rating: +1
#32
doeseatoats
Hey I just have to say something on all this. First of all, I waited tables in college and I got stiffed plenty of times with no tip. And you know what? I deserved it! It always came when I was having a crappy day and wasn’t smiling. I did my job, but that was it. And where is the logic on getting paid more just because the plate of food you brought to the table was more expensive that another plate of food you brought to another table? Some people left $5 no matter what they ordered. Fine by me. (Of course that was 15 years ago.) The bad part was we’d have to ‘tip out’ 3% of our total bills to pay the bartender. So there are times if you are stiffed on the tip that you actually loose money. If you still haven’t earned decent money at the end of the day, I’m inclined to believe it’s your own fault, not a foreigners, not somebody else’s attitude, just your own. To put up a note like this is just plain offensive; tipping is a choice based on service. End of story.
And by the way, I’m an American LIVING in France, married to a British national, and no matter what the ambassadors to international goodwill have written in this post, they do love Americans. Just like we love them. It’s the MEDIA that portrays it otherwise. Man Alive.
Visualize Whirled Peas
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:49 am rating: +5
#33
Krapo
“Vous sucez et je vous deteste” is very litteral…
“Vous êtes nul et je vous deteste” would be better, anyway in France, the service really sucks…
Mar 11, 2008 at 6:28 am rating: 0
#34
Lurker
What I want to know is, if they get so many foreign customers that it’s worth putting a PA sign up (complete with caricature Frenchman that Pepe LePew would probably find offensive), why don’t they simply switch to service compris?
Mar 11, 2008 at 7:17 am rating: +2
#35
Joanne
Re: tipping 20% in high class restaurants. Why should a waiter earn a bigger tip just because I bought a higher priced bottle of wine or chose the lobster on the menu? I do tip generously, but I feel a set percentage when you are dealing with a bill of $300 for 2 people is out of all proportion. I feel $40 per table for good service is fair!
Mar 11, 2008 at 8:05 am rating: +1
#36
claw71
My sxentiment on tipping are well documented but this sign is nothing short of offensive. To me it conveys a message of entitlement that is typically associated with Americans. Like FORD saying, “Pay more for our cars, evn though they suck because they’re made in America…except for all the components manufactured overseas.”
Rather than posting this sign, the manager should post the wage statements for the wait staff. Show people how this country pays food service workers.
Mar 11, 2008 at 8:23 am rating: +3
#37
GhostWriter
Tell me if this is wrong; Yesterday evening I dined at a restaurant, and the bill was $18.20. I left a twenty and $2 in quarters. Sure, the tip was enough, but is it gauche to leave quarters these days? What about dimes?
Mar 11, 2008 at 8:51 am rating: 0
#38
GhostWriter
Per my analysis, the note intends to address modern age beatniks, not Frenchmen.
This conclusion is based upon two data:
(1) The Haight is now filled with false hippies (like the one illustrated) who are actually free-market libertarians rather than socialists. These are the kids who think they will change America’s wacky tipping policies by refusing to tip.
(2) Of all places to visit in the USA, why would foreigners flock to the Haight district? Any self-respecting Frenchman would stay as far away from wine country as possible. Lawry’s in Beverly Hills, maybe- but an American greasy spoon like All You Knead, nah.
Mar 11, 2008 at 9:43 am rating: 0
#39
Summer
I can’t believe how much anger this post has incited, I think it’s a great note, perfectly assertive!
Mar 11, 2008 at 11:21 am rating: 0
#40
Mrs L Carrot
Geez… I had no idea you were supposed to tip 20% in the US, in Europe and pretty much everywhere else the standard tip is 10% – except in Iceland where it’s insulting to tip at all. You’d only ever tip higher this side of the pond if the service was completely exceptional.
Then again, their sign is the work of a sarcastic tosser. Anyone who deals with what is clearly lack of knowledge or cultural understanding using a sign like that, does, I’m afraid suck and therefore only qualifies for 10% max.
What’s more I’d make sure I wrote. “Great service at table but 10% off for your sarcastic fucking sign.” On the receipt and left it with my 10% tip.
Cheers
LC
PS Canthz_B arrogant comments like yours do a lot to damage the reputation of the US abroad.
Before you throw a hissy fit about “protecting” the oil reserves of the US and the UK er hem… sorry, the rest of us may I ask if that’s what all those people in the USA who gave money to IRA throughout the troubles were doing? I’d be keen to know because, you see, I lived through one of the bombing campaigns in London and I’ve seen the aftermath of a bomb blast and what people look like after a bomb has gone off and for you to mouth off like that I’d suspect it means you haven’t. Life is not just black and white, it’s more complicated.
At least after 9.11 many Americans now have some conception of what it’s like, as a nation, to be on the receiving end of terrorism. Thanks to the kind attentions of some of your fellow Americans over the years, we British already know.
I wouldn’t hold an entire nation responsible for the actions of a handful of people, of course. Perhaps you should try doing the same thing. American “protection” can be a good thing but not person or every nation wants it.
Mar 11, 2008 at 11:23 am rating: +5
#41
tragically mep
I think if I saw this sign in a restaurant, I’d just walk out. I’ll take my business (and hefty tips) to somewhere where they are appreciated, not expected.
After reading the reviews of this particular restaurant, I can’t believe they are still in business.
Mar 11, 2008 at 11:29 am rating: +2
#42
Treb
I was a server at a truckstop cafe where a typical tip was $1/person and I still earned way over min wage. Quit yer whining, servers. You’re making it harder for your those in your profession.
Mar 11, 2008 at 11:45 am rating: 0
#43
ServingForSchool
Long time reader, first time commenter.
Ive been serving / bartending for about 6 years now and let me tell you, I love love love my job. For the most part I make really good money – but there are shifts where I make next to nothing.
But I still love it.
I love serving our foreign friends – even if they dont understand the whole “tipping” concept you’re always so nice and polite to me and don’t treat me like crap if I forgot to grab you that extra butter so thanks
I love serving our eldery patrons – sure, you may give me $2 on a $30 meal but you don’t know any better and I remind you of your grand-daughter and you’ve been nothing but sweet to me the entire time so kudos to you cute little blue hairs!
I love serving business men because lets face it, you can drink and eat your faces off and leave me $20 on an $60 dollar meal because its on a business account! And some of you are really hot in your suits so I love you!
Who I dont like serving?
- stuck up 16 year olds
- moms who push around a stroller that cost more than 2 months of my rent but cant bring themselves to tip more than 10% on quality food and service
- dine and dashers – btw – when you run off on your bill its not the “restaurants problem” its my problem – I pay for it
- people that take both copies of your credit card slips, even if you were sweet and loved my service I lose the tip on that – and you probably took my pen in the process
- people that take out their anger on the kitchen and their slowness on me – the person who isn’t cooking the food
- people that talk on their cell phones and brush me off when I go to take your order
Ill be sad to leave the industry – yah it sucks on the nites where you dont make any money and get crappy tips etc. but lets be honest, your next shift usually makes up for it. Sigh, I’ll miss all my patrons.
Yes, even you people who seem to hate the concept of tipping and think all servers are the devil incarnate.
Cheers!
Mar 11, 2008 at 12:03 pm rating: +5
#44
ServingForSchool
Never. And I hate when people try to stereotype the typical dine-and-dasher. Its not always the college students or shifty looking couples. Ive had plenty of dine and dashers that were respectable looking and left. I had a group of business men once skip out on a $100 bill (mind you, it was a honest mistake A thought B was paying and C though A took care of the bill etc.)
Anyways, point being when you start stereotyping customers thats when you dont make money.
Mar 11, 2008 at 12:12 pm rating: 0
#45
Wilbur
I have worked as a server and have a good amount of friends that still do. Generally, I tip at least 20% and if it’s a place I visit regularly where the service is great, around 30%. If it is a friend waiting on us, they may even get a 100% tip, but that is more of a gift than a tip. However, I have left no tip 2 times in my life, and both deserved it. They were a$$holes and i should have stolen their tips off the other tables to make up for the money I spent in those establisments or just walked out. With that being said, those were rare circumstances with one server being a racist pig and the other being stone drunk. But in no way does someone “deserve” a tip, just like no one “deserves” a job.
Anyway, I worked my ass off and always tried to be the best I could be because I take pride in my work. And yes, I did get stiffed or short tipped even when I was on my A-game. This is a sad reality, and one of the many reasons why I don’t wait anymore. But in reality, 95% of the time I was tipped appropriately. A server provides SERVICE! If they don’t provide service then they do not deserve $hit! If it “costs them money” then “too bad so sad”, get the fudge out of the business if you can’t make the cut. Somewhere in the grands scheme of things, servers got the impression they deserve a tip. Let’s set something straight for you kids, you EARN tips, you are not entitled to them. If the system works against you because you have to claim 10%, that sucks. Why should a customer have to share the burden of the broken system that doesn’t compensate servers fairly? The fact is in every business, you make more money on some transactions than others and deal with it. Let’s be real, 20% to bring someone a plate from the kitchen?!? In reality the line cook, who is doing the actual preparation of the food, does relatively harder work — so why don’t we just tip them? Don’t tell me that they do get tipped out by the servers and blah blah blah, I know that most of you complaining tip your staff $hit.
In the big picture it’s simple:
The harder you work and the better service you provide = better tips.
After seeing this arrogant sign I would expect them to have great and friendly service. If not up to my realistic expectations (that they created by the way), then I would tip appropriately, meaning crap for crap service.
Mar 11, 2008 at 12:21 pm rating: +5
#46
Mr. Pink
I never tip. I don’t believe in it.
Mar 11, 2008 at 12:26 pm rating: +2
#47
Insignificant Brit
TI tip if the service deserves it and if it doesn’t I don’t. I’ve been a waitress and I believed that unless I treated all customers as well as I could and equally I was failing at my job so in this country, “reading” customers and adjusting your levels of attention on how much you think they might have to tip would be considered highly unprofessional.
Mar 11, 2008 at 12:35 pm rating: +4
#48
lou fah
i tip the hooker so the guy after me gets serviced better.
thats how i roll.
Mar 11, 2008 at 1:04 pm rating: 0
#49
Lurker
I don’t think I have ever not left a tip.
I tip 16% for anything up to and including unremarkable, adequate service (because we have 8% sales tax, and it’s easier to just double the tax), and 24% for anything that strikes me as above average (same math).
Having worked in the industry myself, I think I have a pretty sympathetic idea of what “adequate” and “above average” are. And, I also have the context to know that I’m a fairly undemanding customer.
I usually end up rounding the tip off to an even amount, so that may raise or lower the percentage.
Mar 11, 2008 at 1:05 pm rating: +1
#50
GhostWriter
Finally- the obligatory song parody!
click here to sing along…
If You Tip Only Five, Only Five”
If you tip only five, only five
If you remain alive,
If you can still survive, you may find
If you tip, ten & five, ten & five
Ain’t gonna need to test your food, test your pie
Everyone will thank you and say,
“Isn’t it wonderful today?”
If you tip twenty five, twenty five
At “All You Knead” you’ve moved up off the sign
You won’t leave a busboy stewin’
Nobody’s gonna frown at you
If you tip thirty five, thirty five
You rock like a Pimp and you’re fly
Your server’s got something to do:
Walk the street, doing tricks for you
If you tip forty five, forty five
You’d make a great husband, wanna be yo’ wife.
I’ll birth your sons, and your daughters too
Forty-five percent’s quite large of you. Whoa-oh
If you tip 7.5 to Ten
You’ll get what’s coming- you oughta learn how to spend
One day you’ll look at yourself and say,
Gads! It’s time- Tax Adjustment day
If you tip 8.5, well then,
God – I wanna shake your flighty head
Hey- either say, “I’m pleased, woman!” and tip
I’ll tear your heart right out with it. Whoa-oh
If you tip ninety five, ninety five
I’m kinda wonderin, “Is that man gone, is he alive?”
That offer’s everything an old guy can give
But he ain’t coming back to here. Whoa-oh
Now it’s been ten thousand dinners
Man has tried to beat the system
But when he never tipped,
his take-a-way had spit
But it may turn out right
If waitresses start fights
So money from their pay
Maybe will usher better rates
If you tip only five, only five
If you remain alive,
If you can still survive, you may find…
…
…
Mar 11, 2008 at 1:16 pm rating: +2
#51
Lindsey
Ok, maybe I’m not following, and don’t tell me it’s because I’ve never been a server because I have, but a tip is EXTRA. You get a tip if you go beyond the duties of your job. I agree with Insignificant Brit “I tip if the service deserves it and if it doesn’t I don’t.” It should never be mandatory. What’s this “10% = You suck and I hate you” attitude? Heck, if my server is being a jerk, they’ll be lucky I don’t talk to the manager, let along get a bloody tip!
Having said that, extra duties could be anything from a smile to being very polite to getting me water without me asking. I’m not demanding, but I am not about to tip my server for basic service for which they are already pulling a paycheque.
Mar 11, 2008 at 1:16 pm rating: +2
#52
me :)
im just going to say that i am a teenager.
in restaurants my friends and i ALWAYS leave more than a 15% tip, but that yes, I was always taught that 15% is the norm.
I also want to add, that my dad is a bad tipper and it makes me mad.
Mar 11, 2008 at 1:39 pm rating: +1
#53
Annie
Wait…
…is that a Serge Gainsbourg reference?
Mar 11, 2008 at 2:09 pm rating: +1
#54
Heidi
I have problems tipping fastfood employes like Sonic. They dont really serve you, they just bring your food to you. Give em a paycheck, why do I have to tip em. Now if they stand there and refill my drink every sec and play the fiddle for my entertainment, maybe then I will tip em.
Mar 11, 2008 at 2:17 pm rating: +1
#55
KittyKat
I almost always tip, usually doubling the tax like Lurker; if I have received very poor service I won’t leave anything except a note explaining such. However, I never tip in the City of Dayton, because the service there stinks. They try to blame it on the City, but . . . come on.
Mar 11, 2008 at 2:48 pm rating: +2
#56
Sarah
Hello – this sign is made from douchebags who expect the sky to open up and rain money on them! Did you all read the reviews of the restaurant? No management in any respectable place would EVER condone a shitty sign like that. Forget it.
Mar 11, 2008 at 2:53 pm rating: 0
#57
ServingForSchool
In Montreal, most restaurants have little mini cards they place with the bill that say,
“For our Foreign Friends,
Tipping is not mandatory – but if you enjoyed the service it is a polite gesture to leave your server a gratuity of 15%…”
I cant remember the rest but its written in 8 different languages, its actually a nice – non pretentious way to inform our fellow foreigners that we unfortunately do not make $9-10 an hour.
That said, Canadians have it WAY better when it comes to server wage, it will go up to $7.60/hr at the end of the month (our minimum wage is higher than that for all other jobs obviously but Im still not complaining!)
Industries take WAY better care of our employees here in Canada – youre still going to get the occasional crusty server but when you’re not making 3 bucks an hour it makes it a lot better to be at work!
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:00 pm rating: 0
#58
xenylamine
“Do you know what this is? Its the world’s smallest violin playing just for the waitresses.”
In all seriousness, though, I think it only takes working in food service once in your life before you feel really guilty for not tipping decently if it is deserved. However, you also recognize that the service should be good enough to merit a tip. Anyone who thinks tips should be given for shitty service doesn’t take pride in their own work and expects something for nothing.
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:06 pm rating: +2
#59
claw71
You know what’s sad? We still see the beret as the penultimate representation of effete European culture but the marketing geniuses in the Department of Defense still went ahead and slapped a snooty little black beret on the head of every Army Soldier. And they still don’t want gays in the military? I guess the hideous digital camo keeps them away.
Between those made-for-cabaret navy uniforms, the puffy caps the Marines wear and the gay-pride berets in the Army, the only manly place in the US military might be the Air Force.
Seriously, no more making fun of other countries’ uniforms. We might have a don’t ask, don’t tell policy on homosexuality but the clothes really do make than man, and you don’t get more gay than the good ol’ USA.
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:46 pm rating: +2
#60
ohgawd
you people are so boring.
Mar 11, 2008 at 4:01 pm rating: 0
#61
claw71
Attention Foreign Travelers:
A quick guide to the wacky American custom of not paying a living wage:
70% under poverty. That’s what minium wage is in this country.
50% under minimum wage. That’s what waitresses are paid
30% that’s what the waitress is expected to “tip out” to co-workers such as the hostess, the busser and the dishwasher.
25% that’s how understaffed the average eatery is on a given night. Between call offs, resignations and the manager’s desire to maximize profits so he can get a quarterly bonus.
20% is the number of customers who walk out without leaving a tip.
10% is the number of customers who skip out on the bill. Some restaurants deduct that from the waitress’ check!
Mar 11, 2008 at 4:08 pm rating: +7
#62
babycakes
Note to Self:
Do not be waitstaff when you grow.
Be a babysitter. To make even more dough call yourself a Nanny but work only babysitter hours.
Remember to read note before apply for next job.
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:52 pm rating: 0
#63
Agent Inspired
What I actually find rather funny is how the authors (I’m assuming more than one) of this PAN seem intent on sabotaging their own tips: they have effectively insulted all “foreign travellers”. (Insulted people don’t generally give decent tips, see…)
And while I’m Canadian, rather than American, and I do practice tipping… I might consider the demand for a gratuity to be in rather bad taste, and tip accordingly… that is, not at all.
If you’re going to insult your guest before you even get them a table and expect good money in return, you are in for a surprise.
Mar 11, 2008 at 6:28 pm rating: +1
#64
Ashley Reavis
I’m an American and I didn’t even know about tipping until I was a teenager or so… My parents never tipped waiters… It’s so weird to me that there’s this whole system that’s been around for years and I didn’t know about it………
Mar 11, 2008 at 9:48 pm rating: 0
#65
Mentalblank
I live in Australia, but have traveled across a lot of the USA, and I’ve always tipped (often I ask the waiter what they think would be fair).
In Aussie, you don’t tip, the waiters earn a decent wage, but in a fancy restaurant you might ’round-up’ the bill if you want to. I have found dining out costs the same (or even less!) than in the US – even after the exchange rate.
Sometimes I think the US sucks; you pay your bill, plus tax, plus a tip, and you still know the waiter is usually getting stiffed. But my withholding a tip will not create a service industry union to demand better wages. So, I pay my tip and cross my fingers that one day, things won’t be so financially hard for the servers.
I still think the note is a little patronizing though!
Mar 11, 2008 at 10:10 pm rating: +1
#66
Jimbob78
Attention Americans
When I go to eat in your restaraunts, I go for the food not to support your fucked up economy.
So I’ll tip what I think they deserve.
Mar 12, 2008 at 8:23 am rating: +4
#67
astra
Did anyone read all the reviews about this place on yelp? The staff seems to have serious attitude. But the drunks don’t care – its still open and semi-popular – all the peole with hangovers seem to love it. And we all know we will eat anything when hungover!
PS: That tofu scramble sounds uber-nasty…gak!
Mar 12, 2008 at 8:38 am rating: 0
#68
mmm
I agree that American Patrons are gutless, I’ve held my tongue along with my extra 5% more than once, but the Servers are even more gutless. Yes, it is such a shitty system to be paid nothing in hourly wages and still have to claim tips. I can only understand having to claim a percentage and pay for dine n dashers if you are making a decent hourly- but even then… But why are you putting it on the customer? Jesus, stand up for yourselves. Expecting this of customers is crazy. No other industry expects customers or end user to tip. You are a salesman, get used to it. Unless you do something better than bitching and signs like this- blaming customers- to improve your situation, nothing will ever change. “tips” will seem like they are always “getting worse”, but you know what? its the system that you are following. Become a leader servers. You think change is going to come from customers? I’m sorry but that’s just a cop out. Most of us hate to tip at all for bad service but a lot of us do to subsidize you servers. In the meantime we expect you fight for a decent wage. Believe me, we would rather the price of food go up then feel like we have to tip you for bad service.
Mar 12, 2008 at 11:53 am rating: +1
#69
Strepsi
This should also go under A LITTLE BIT PATRONIZING. Especially for how they single out the French. Imagine if you went to a nice restaurant in Paris, and there was a sign saying “Attention les Americains stupides…” which reminds me — If the guy is saying “OUI?” han he can’t speak English so the whole thing is moot, non?
Mar 12, 2008 at 12:38 pm rating: 0
#70
Ana
Unfortunately, as rude as this sign is, the stereotype of the rude French is very easy to understand for everyone.
I made me laugh…but I am not french….
Mar 12, 2008 at 1:02 pm rating: 0
#71
DF
A few comments on this thread from a long-time server:
- The restaurant’s sign is extremely tacky. You never discuss tips unless the customer asks. And you certainly don’t insult your customers by caricaturing them. This restaurant is begging people to stiff them by posting a sign like that.
- Wait staff make $2.13 an hour in nearly all the US. There are exception in places like New York City, which have a higher minimum wage due to much higher costs of living.
- You tip on the pre-tax total of your bill, not the total after taxes were added.
- Depending on policies at the individual restaurants, servers must declare 8%-10% of their sales on their taxes. At the end of the year, their total claims must equal 10% of their total sales.
18% – Server went above and beyond the call of duty.
13%-17% – Average to good service.
6%-12% – Below average service.
5% and lower – Poor service.
- Average is obviously going to be subjective, but I’m mostly looking at the length of time I have to wait for things. I give more leeway if I happen to notice the server is also waiting on a large number of others at the same time. They get less leeway if I see them goofing around.
- If your server gets you what you need before you’re aware that you need it, that’s above and beyond the call of duty. Also, if you’re asking for a bunch of extra things every time they come to the table, that’s above and beyond. If they make a special dessert and sing “Happy Birthday,” that’s above and beyond. If they coordinate with the kitchen to have an off-menu dish made, that’s above and beyond.
- Below average service means that you noticed having to wait a little bit too long for things, that your server was forgetful and that there were other minor issues. One or two little things don’t make the service below average, but a few small problems can accumulate rapidly.
- If you get poor service, it must be brought to the attention of a manager. The server obviously needs to be re-trained or needs to find another type of career. If the service wasn’t bad enough to talk to a manager, maybe it really wasn’t poor after all.
- Luckily, people aren’t as bold in person as they are online. If people stiffed servers as much as they claimed to in this thread, going to a restaurant would be a dismal experience. The capable wait-staff would be able to find employment elsewhere, leaving only the the barely competent and people who would normally never even be considered for a job waiting tables.
- “Reading” your customer has little to do with stereotypes and a lot to do with attitude. For instance, if a customer isn’t the least bit subtle in their contempt for a server, they’re probably going to leave a poor tip.
- I’ve had three dine-’n-dash tables in my career. All of them were high-school-age boys.
- Off topic, but here’s a little tip for anyone considering a dine-’n-dash: Don’t do it at a restaurant full of hostesses and busboys you go to school with.
- Unionization isn’t possible among most wait-staff. Why? Except for those servers at the very high-end restaurants, servers can be replaced – and those replacements can be fully trained – within days. When there are five or 10 people available to take your place the moment you step out the door, you don’t have the clout needed to demand changes.
*edit*
- At most places, servers tip out bartenders and bussers. At some places, hostesses, food-runners and dishwashers are tipped out as well. That’s why servers claim 10% on their taxes. 10% of the 15% average tip is what is left over after tipping out ancillary staff.
Mar 12, 2008 at 1:45 pm rating: +1
#72
Nate
If you’re a big enough loser to be hustling for tips you deserve to get stiffed.
Get a real job!
Mar 12, 2008 at 3:07 pm rating: 0
#73
george
Why the fuck is it even 20% now? I know they get paid less but in three weeks it’s gonna become 25% and keep going up as people feel they want more and more. A few people will whine about 20% not being enough and then everyone starts to do the same and suddenly a higher percentage will be the new “standard”. If the majority of waiters/waitresses cared for the people as much as their goddamn percentage of tip, they’d find they’d get paid a lot more in the end.
Mar 12, 2008 at 5:29 pm rating: 0
#74
b0xxx
The servers at this place are truly horrid. The place is horrid. Go see for yourselves.
I tip 20%. I have waited tables before. The job can be exhausting at times. So I tip on empathy. However, if the server sucked, I tip 15%. If the server sucked, and the place sucked, I don’t return. That’s my big passive aggressive move. Woo.
I will never go to this place again. Everything about the experience is wretched. Worse, you know the waiters eat out on occasion. You know they know what mediocre service is. And they can’t even manage that. If they think the bad service is in any way IRONIC, they need to work on their acting skills because it is clear they are deeply sincere in their hatred for you, the next patron, their job, their smelly boss, the Haight, and multi-celled organisms.
If you don’t understand how truly awful a job they are doing, go read the yelp comments.
Mar 13, 2008 at 9:54 am rating: 0
#75
zoe
I am poor. When I go out to eat, which is rarely, I try very very hard to tip. But I never have enough to guarantee 20%, and I’m usually not served particularly well, so I leave whatever I have left, usually 14% or so, and sometimes a picture of a palm tree as a thank you.
Mar 13, 2008 at 1:41 pm rating: 0
#76
Strepsi
Zoe that is adorable — and while it’s true, a picture of a palm tree don’t pay the rent, at least you don’t go out if you can’t afford it. Like the myth the poor can only eat at McDonald’s — last time I had a small lunch there it was $12.00!!! I mean for that I coulda bought a loaf of bread, milk, bag of rice, ground beef, apples, lettuce, and ate for 4 days! If I go to a restaurant, I order, expect good service, and tip at least 20% or not at all. Moral for people who are poor or HATE tipping: if you can’t stand the heat, stay in your OWN kitchen.
Mar 13, 2008 at 4:34 pm rating: 0
#77
Joemama
Quit whining. Don’t be a server if you can’t take the bad with the good. It seems like all you guys want to remember is the bad shit. Let me ask you something: do you claim all your tips when someone tips fat? Yeah, I thought so. You only have to claim 10%. All in all, you actually are beating the system, or the official term would be income tax evasion. Its not like the rest of us have the ability to not pay taxes on our income. Face it, some people suck and don’t tip, but others more than make up for what you have to claim as income. Cash income that you don’t have to claim is like making 133% of “taxable” income. Seriously, tips are extra that you earn and if you don’t believe that, you are a egotistical prick. I tip minimum of 20% by the way, in SoCal seems to be the “norm” even tho some dipshits don’t deserve a nickel.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:24 pm rating: +1
#78
angela
Agreed.
Look. I always tip with cash only because I KNOW working in any service industry sucks ass (which is exactly why I avoided it in the first place). I know most people are fudging the numbers. Fine. But don’t bitch at me for your poor career choices. And I don’t care if you’re just working your way through college, there are other jobs you could have taken instead. If being a waitress was the only job you could get, well, then it looks like that’s your problem and you should be glad you even have a job.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:27 pm rating: 0
#79
burt destruction
So these people think that all foriegn travelers can read in English?
Mar 14, 2008 at 4:33 pm rating: 0
#80
Matt
20%: great food & service … great tip
10%: anything less than great that isn’t rude
0%: taking your day out on me or my food
Mar 15, 2008 at 1:02 am rating: 0
#81
becxyie
i think that insted of tips the govment should just make up the pay and give it to all waiters this is for 2 resons
1 i am tired of having to dig around in my pockets for that extra money and then feeling like an ass hole when i reilise iv only got 10p on me
2 i spent much of my childhood seving in my parents restant for a bit of extra cash and i hated having to be nice to the dicks who would send food back because their eggs would be sliced too thin or there was too much chicken on their plates hell pepole sent stuff back because the order the food was placed on their plates was wrong and of course it was the dum waitress fault that the lettues was before the cheese my god people whats wrong with you we are talking about a £3.oo meal here when i look back i am proud of the fact that only one custmer ever ended up going home wearing their meal ( i was in the shit for that but it was worth it) =)
Mar 15, 2008 at 11:41 am rating: 0
#82
Chris
I’m never tipping a waiter ever again after I’ve heard all the whining from you all here.
Oh, okay, one last tip: get a real job.
Mar 15, 2008 at 12:17 pm rating: +1
#83
Smokey
Here in Australia i wait tables and currently earn $22.75 an hour ( and don’t say it’s $10 in America because of exchange rates, the AUS $ is at .95 US cents) and if i earn a tip its from foreigners. Australians don’t tip, as we get paid enough money to survive without one. Like im gonna tip someone for doing their job, i’ll go and get my own drinks and food.
Mar 15, 2008 at 10:48 pm rating: +2
#84
La Rêveuse
Wrong, RP. Waitstaff is charged based on a percentage of their sales, assuming they will make at least that much in tips.
Mar 16, 2008 at 3:43 pm rating: 0
#85
Lurker
The reason waiter don’t “stand up and demand a better wage” is that a good many of them are making a lot more under the current system than they would other wise, and most of it’s under the table (and untaxed). Your waitress is easily making 150% of what the cook is, and doing less actual work for it.
Granted, you have to have the right personality to pull down top dollar as a waiter, but that’s the same in every profession. At least in a tip-based system there’s no set limit to what you can make. I’ve known professionals like teachers and nurses who quit their day jobs because they were making far more at their moonlighting jobs as waitstaff.
Mar 16, 2008 at 4:47 pm rating: 0
#86
spike
This ain’t rocket science folks!
If you don’t like to tip, eat at home.
If you recieve lousy tips on a regular basis, you probably suck as a server.
And remember, It’s only food!
Next topic…
Mar 16, 2008 at 5:29 pm rating: 0
#87
Lurker
I think GhostWriter was onto something; I think this note probably isn’t aimed at foreigners at all. I think it’s a lame-ass, guaranteed-to-backfire attempt to say, “Only a foriegner would have an excuse to not tip us 20%, because all you folks know that’s what we expect of you ’round these parts.”
Mar 16, 2008 at 7:04 pm rating: 0
#88
agong
But really, the point here is this place sucks ASS. Who are you tipping? The waitstaff or the flies, because I guarantee you get more service from the flies!!!
Mar 17, 2008 at 3:41 pm rating: 0
#89
really now
I only saw one person mention this, but keep in mind servers are paid $2.33/hour from their employers, the rest is tips. It may be up to $3.00 by now…
So before you say, “Why should I tip someone for doing their job?” That’s just how it works here. Patrons make up a large part of the server’s income in the US, like it or not.
When I was a waitress, my income was between $10 and $12/hour with tips, because I worked at a restaurant whose food prices were moderate. It was unusual to get stiffed or get less than 15%. Often I was getting 20% because I am good.
I started at Olive Garden, and here’s a tip to the tippers there: when at lunch you order the all you can eat soup and salad for $6.00 and have the waitress running ragged for an hour refilling your bowls and drinks, please be considerate and tip more than .75 because of the extra labor. That’s not whining, it’s only considerate.
Same with breakfast. It’s no less work for the waitstaff to deliver your $4.00 entree than a $15.00 but obviously the percentages are far different.
Mar 21, 2008 at 5:47 pm rating: 0
#90
FirstAndLastTimeHere
He,he…
I was excpecting something like the last comment from CB
Mar 24, 2008 at 2:21 pm rating: 0
#91
rosie
Once upon a time a **TIP** was given for services above and beyond. Nowadays I see customer service falling and demand for tips rising. WTF? Do your job – barely – and get your paycheck. Do your job well, get a min. tip because I feel obligated. Do your job well and actually pay attention to me – the customer with the money – and get a good tip! Do your job well, recall it’s optional, not mandatory for me to tip you, and pretend for a few minutes that you enjoy waiting on me – I will tip you well. If tips are mandatory – just build it into the damned price. “TIPS” should be earned, not expected.
Mar 25, 2008 at 11:42 pm rating: 0
#92
Richard
I am an English idiot. I thought 10% was a good tip. Have I been pissing off people accidentally?
Mar 26, 2008 at 11:01 am rating: 0
#93
Olivia
Wow; as someone who thought the “Dustin Who Left Shattered Glass” note was outrageously funny, I have to say this one is pretty rude.
Mar 28, 2008 at 6:37 am rating: 0
#94
2 Cents
purhaps as part of their *cough* extensive training and education, wait staff should learn that the tip originated as such:
Tips is an acronym for “To insure prompt service” and originally was given at the beginning of the meal for this purpose. Somewhere along the line things got screwed up and tips became so common place that they were expected by servers and calculated into their daily wages. Now a waiter believes they are entitled to them regardless of of how their service is. Personally I tip very well as long as my service was normal. If the wait staff put an especially good effort into serving, and the food was good, I’ll tip bigger. If the service sucked, I make sure to fill out that tip line on the visa statement as 0.00 just to let them know I didn’t miss it. Purhaps if servers didn’t think they were entitled to a tip, but rather had to earn it, the service industry wouldn’t be the shit it is today!
As a side note, I’ve been to a couple restaurants in Quebec, Canada where the waitress wrote on the back “Tip is not included in bill” I couldn’t understand why they would right that until I read above that they don’t tip in France. Now I know…
Apr 1, 2008 at 12:23 am rating: 0
#95
Strangelove
In my country, everything I get for what I pay for is actually included in the price. Believe it or not, but in my country the employers actually pay their waitresses!
I pay for food, a table at which to sit, and a waiter/waitress to service me. If they accidentally set the price too low, surely it’s not my concern to compensate for that!
Apr 6, 2008 at 5:23 am rating: 0
#96
Dan
“I agree that part of our job is to allow the guest to have a good time, but there are some people YOU CANNOT please, no matter what you do. No matter how many times you refil that drink, or fetch them the ketchup/more dressing/6 and a half more lemon wedges…No matter how hard you smile as they wave or (god forbid) whistle you over while you’re at a another table. You may find it a bit more difficult to hold your tongue when it’s happening in your face as opposed to on the computer.
We do work for tips and it IS based on our service but an asshole is an asshole. We deal with things you’d never think of (i.e. returning a $26 steak b/c they asked for it spilt and the kitchen cut it in the wrong direction). So unless you’ve worked in a restaurant and have had to deal with this, please don’t act like you understand.
I do choose to work in the restaurant b/c I enjoy it, but it’s rude and cheap people (who act like they’re doing YOU a favor by coming in) that make it difficult.”
Because A)any job not in a restaurant *never* has to deal with stupid people, and B)work doesn’t suck.
“…once tips are added in, earn as much as others who work unskilled jobs that do not require a lot of education do.”
I have two friends that work at restaurants. Both are female waitresses. Both earn way more than I do at my “unskilled” job that pays barely over the minimum wage. In fact, they bank their paycheck through direct deposit and just spend tips throughout the week. So, while I agree the system is flawed, don’t act like the fact that a waitress doesn’t get tipped well all the time makes it the worst paying job ever.
“So keep that smile plastered across your face! And a bit of cleavage might not go astray.”
Lol. This is probably why my two friends get so many tips. From a guy’s point of view, it isn’t always about service. I’ve tipped 50-100% at bars or restaurants with cute waitresses.
May 20, 2008 at 8:16 am rating: +1
#97
Laura
Wow, how rude, then again…i read through the first few replies and someone had put that there’s isnt a union servers can refer to? Really? I mean REALLY? How backwards is that? I can understand it if that’s so, but why would anyone let their serving industry reach a point where a tip is expected instead of an extra? I just think that puts pressure of diners and it would make me uncomfortable to think that any waiter/waitress serving me is debating how much they’re likely to get out of me before they even bring my food! For one, i occasionaly have the misfortune (being a student!) of looking rather scruffy, and being rather skint. Relying on the tip expectants would make me extremely warey of actualy eating the food! (and yes i know my spelling/gramma is apalling…that goes out to all those people that seem to stroll through life smugly commenting on those inferior sods who spent less time desiring to mimic their primary teachers…i don’t want a gold star, i want to make a lazy point! Stop marking me!)
(sorry for the rant)
Jun 23, 2008 at 3:24 pm rating: +1
#98
Anon
I travel overseas a lot in Europe, Asia, etc. I didn’t manage to put enough money in the bank by tipping 20% of a bill just because someone did their job. Sorry, kids, you’ll have to find someone else to foot the bill for your college (its not like you’d come out smart, anyway, just wordy, which is annoying…)
Jun 24, 2008 at 11:03 pm rating: 0
#99
bobby
Let me add to this conversation: Waiters aren’t tipped based on how good the service is, they are tipped based on how much the food costs. Kind of. 20% of a cup of coffee is still a really shitty tip. But if I order something really small that is really expensive and doesn’t require more work or more connection, I”m still expected to tip well. Sort of. Really I just feel guilty with whatever tip I leave, even when I go home and calculate it and find out it’s actually 30%. It never seems like enough.
Jul 23, 2008 at 2:16 pm rating: 0
#100
FindMySublime
I don’t want to be a jerk, but you have got to be kidding me with all this BS about the plight of the waitress/waiter. I can never understand why tips are considered mandatory in the US, esp when the server is an ass. What makes them so much more special than other workers?
The people I know who work in restaurants are getting $8.50 an hour and their tips is around that much as well. Basically getting paid $17 per hour. Maybe that is just how it is in Northern California, I don’t how it is in other areas.
Btw. I do tip. When I am in a good mood and the server was amazing, I have tipped up to 40%. If someone is just a complete dick, I pay for my meal and write FUCK YOU on the bill. I believe in getting what you deserve.
Aug 21, 2008 at 5:53 am rating: 0
#101
Your Mom's a Waitress
I have been a waitress for a few years on and off. I’d love to know where waitstaff is supposedly making $8 + an hour ’cause I will hit the ground running there. In Massachusetts the pay rate is, get this, $2.63 an hour. That’s right kids. That’s not even enough to cover your taxes for the year. Some waitstaff actually OWE a shit ton of cash in taxes at the end of the year. It is not our fault the government decides the wages should be ridiculously low for regularly tipped services. The restaurants do not pay us, YOU DO!
On a side note, strippers have it even worse! They do not get paid AT ALL! In fact, every time they walk into the club, they are negative up to $100 dollars. They have to pay the house fees, tip the bouncers and DJ. So when those girls are shaking all they got, just give her a goddamed dollar will ya?
Oct 12, 2008 at 4:34 pm rating: 0
#102
Tech Guy
WTF? I thought 15% was customary…
Nov 27, 2008 at 12:12 pm rating: 0
#103
atom
I find it so tacky when establishments put up signs like this. If this is their attitude then FUCK THEM. I’ve worked in the service industry longer than I haven’t. It pisses me off when people try to guilt me into tipping.
Dec 9, 2008 at 12:48 am rating: 0
#104
Coyote
I’d like to apologize for necro-posting, but… actually, I have no desire to apologize, what am I thinking?
Anyway, here’s the deal:
In most places in the US, minimum wage for a restaurant server is ridiculously low because it is traditional for servers to be given tips.
In _some_ places in the US (like california), servers are paid at least minimum wage, _plus_ tips. But then, in case nobody has noticed, those places are also way more expensive to live.
Now, I almost always tip at least 20%. I tip more for breakfast, because as the prior poster mentioned, my server is working just as hard for items that cost a fraction of a dinner, and would otherwise make very little.
I also sometimes tip more when I’m getting really amazing service, and sometimes when I’m just getting good service from a server who I’ve just watched get shafted by a group of twenty bitchy, demanding, aggravating people who leave a huge mess and a $2 tip.
Now, if my server gives me crappy service, I might call their attention to it by leaving a 10% or 15% tip.
By the point where I’m ready to leave a %10 tip, or not leave a tip at all, that’s also the point where I’m going to ask to speak to a manager before I leave.
By the time I’m willing to stiff a server on the tip, I’m thinking “This asshole knows they depend on their tips, and yet they have gone out of their way to be rude, snotty, or completely careless of the person they’d be getting the thing they need from.”
Someone who hasn’t enough concern for their own well-being to do their job the bare minimum needed to get paid by me isn’t someone I want to reward. Perhaps if they keep getting shitty tips, they’ll go work somewhere else, and let a real waiter/waitress/server have the job.
May 11, 2009 at 2:49 am rating: 0
#105
spooky
As a former restaurant manager I can assure you that servers are not people who can’t get any other job. It takes incredible skill to serve well and many people are not able to master it.
I never base my tip on the food prices entirely because the breakfast server in a local cafe where I often eat breakfast (juice,2 eggs, potatoes, bacon AND toast) can be had for $5 because she works just as hard as a server in a fancy dinner restaurant where an entree is $60. She will get at least 100% as a tip less than $5 would embarass me. If she’s good I may “round up” the check to $20 and her tip is 300%. If the $60 entree server is lousy, she’ll get the same $5. Even if she’s stellar, she won’t get 300%. IF she really is that good, she’ll get the same $15 the other server got.
If my tip totals less than $5, I always explain why to the server so she can make better tips.
And as to stiffing her costing her–it sure as hell does. Maybe you think that making sure she gets minimum wage is adequate but every good server I know is making $25-$40/hr so they all pay taxes on 10% of your check even if you give them $0.
As to the sign? I don’t know. I feel someone should make sure people know that times are different than they were 70 yrs ago and tipping is no longer at all optional in restaurants, but it seems, somehow, wrong.
Jul 19, 2009 at 7:49 am rating: 0
#106
CA
I tip based on the final cost of my soft drink. If a server refills my drink enough times, to where it averages only 40 cents a glass, I tip 20%. If an establishment offers free refills, and I get only 1, then I give 10%. If there are no free refills, I drink water.
Jul 19, 2009 at 10:25 am rating: 0
#107
Ermott
75% of servers out there aren’t worth 10%. Seriously. You carry plates of food to my table, and you feel this is worth 20%? How about I get it from the pass-thru myself next time, at least then it’ll be warm.
Sep 30, 2009 at 7:15 pm rating: 0
#108
kim
In NZ we never tip. I can’t imagine paying extra money on top of the food cost, what a stupid system!
Sep 30, 2009 at 10:41 pm rating: 0
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