How do you tip?
 

My mom was browsing the craigslist Rants/Raves today and she showed me a long thread devoted to what one should tip their server. It made me wonder if what the people on there said was typical of a broader populace.

I'm a server. Contrary to popular belief, it's a very difficult job. People, for the most part suck and timing is everything. I've given shitty service and I've also given fabulous service. (The shitty service, I always apologize for--long food times, spilled beverages, perceived bad attitudes, etc--and get a manager and more often then not, you get a free meal.) Servers don't get breaks. The closest thing--there are exceptions to every statement, but at least at the two serving jobs I've worked at, you only get a half hour break if you're a closer--we get are smoking breaks, and of course that's only if you smoke. Even then it's dangerous. In the amount of time you take a smoke break you could have been double or triple sat. (The bane of any server's existence. Yes, you get sat quicker, but I guarantee you the service is going to be shitty because greeting/serving tables takes TIME. More time at one table takes time away from another table and you can apologize all you want for a slow greet time, but some people are still going to be pissed.) We're also not allowed to sit down. Every so often there may be a glass rack laying around and we take about thirty seconds there, but for the most part, no sitting. At my old job, I had 8+ tables to take of. Granted, not all of them were sat at once, but still, people need to realize that they are NOT the only people I'm helping. And for the record--At Olive Garden, at least--our goal is to give you the best evening possible. Anyway, I digress.

Basically, what I wanted to know is what to you generally tip your server and why?

Me? I always tip at least 20% or more. Generally more. The only time I tip less is if someone really sucks. My paychecks are like $20 each because my tips are taxed, so I know how important good tips are. It's hard to live off of $2.00 a table especially on a slow night/day.

20% minimum. One time this other couple was giving this server a ton of shit for a long wait which turned out to be the kitchen's fault. They didn't tip her. Also they were enormously fat, and furry so I tipped her 200% of mine.

I like to feel like a high roller, and I imagine it makes people feel nice too so you know, win-win.

Also 50% if they're hot.

Unlike Radez, I can't afford giving out wicked good tips for wicked good waiters. ;_;

But I generally tip between 20-25%. Rarely do I dip below 15%, and that's when the service is absolute shit.

I used to do 15% because I'm a stingy Asian. Since my brother's a server and some people are even worse than that, I do 20% minimum now.

Occasionally, I'll do 30% if the service was amazing. More if needed.

I generally tip 20%, but will go higher or lower depending on service, with a minimum of $3. There have been times I've gone out alone for lunch and the bill ends up being around $10. I wouldn't feel right leaving $2, even if it's justified because of a small bill.

I have only ever purposely stiffed a waiter once, and that was one evening at an Italian restaurant. We were seated, brought drinks, our order was taken, then the waiter completely forgot about us and served 2-3 other tables before he came anywhere near us again (about 40 minutes), and we could flag him down to ask wtf was going on. We watched him walk over to the window and get our order, which had been sitting there for god knows how long, and then he actually served it to us. It was cold, of course, and we sent it back. The guy was unapologetic and treated us like one of us had peed in his soup or something.

I'll usually tip between 15-20%, unless service was real bad, altough I can't say I'm very hard to plese on that front. If I go out to a restaurant, I'll usually not mind waiting a while for my food since I usually only go out to eat when I don't have anything particularly important to do in the next few hours. The service would have to be really awful for me not to tip at all.

The most generous tips I leave are usually when I go to a coffee shop, since I usally tip at least 25-50 cents on a coffee that will cost a dollar to 1.50, and usally at least 50 cents on a 2 dollar coffee.

I have augmented this post to put stress on the important bits. Other than that I agree. To add my own "wow, that group was a dick" story to keep up with Radez, I once dropped a c-note on a waitress. She had a table of eight frat boys that were all over her and generally being dicks and then walked out without paying after she didn't like the idea of blowing them at the table. Apparently this was her problem.

So she got a hundred bucks for her trouble, and the next time I was around, well, I got her number.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...all/apples.jpg

How you like dem apples.

Will you come to Iowa so I can serve you? The best tip I've ever gotten was $30 on $90. ;_;

Why isn't there a QooC for regular posts?

I try to be part of the solution; I tip 20%ish.

I tip close to 20%, rounding up or down to the closest dollar (usually I'm over 20%). It doesn't happen often, but I have stiffed servers who gave poor service, such as forgetting about me or having a nasty attitude. That hasn't happened in awhile, since I don't return to those restaurants unless I know someone was having an off night. Also, as Deni and Radez pointed out, I've tipped extra generously for cute waitresses, or ones that go out of their way to be friendly without coming off fake (nothing annoys me more than a server that tries to be my jolly friend).

My dad, on the other hand, grew up in a small town and hasn't traveled much since. He's still stuck on the old "tip 15%" rule, and before he got one of those tip cards for his wallet, he'd sometimes leave less than that. I don't think he's trying to be malicious, he just 1) has trouble with the math, even simply moving the decimal and/or 2) he doesn't comprehend the cost of living has gone up.

I usually tip between 20-25%. I'd like to tip even more than that if I had a really great time there but I can't afford it at the moment. I was working at the Olive Garden and I feel if you are going out for a nice dinner, or just going to the Olive Garden at all plan to leave more than a 2 dollar tip. I got sooo many of those, I can't even tell you.

The OG has a meal called the Soup, Salad and Breadsticks. You get as much as you want and it's only $5.95. People are such cheap asses and leave $2 when you are running your ass off to refills their bowls, I have even gotten a .98 cent tip on one of those.

The Neverending Pasta Bowl is worse. Both of them are gluttony at it's finest. Nothing is grosser than watching someone eat 6 bowls of pasta or 8 bowls of soup in one sitting.

It sure is, the most I had was some obese guy eat 6 bowls of soup and some other guy eat 5 bowls of pasta. It'll be over soon and then they'll come out with better entrees and more expensive entrees and you'll get a little better tip. I was there for 9 months and I was disappointed at how poor the people tipped and acted. This one lady complained to a manager that I made a joke about an entree, and ruined her meal with her family and I got written up. The OG sucks. Food is good but I would never work there again.

It's over now. We have some stupid Chicken Carbonara that we're pretty much required to SIE. I've been written up twice. Once because the host was a moron, sat a table that wasn't in any body's section, told me five minutes later that I had to pick it up and then we were out of breadsticks and apparently they really wanted breadsticks(I kissed ass and apologized, but I was still pretty new and forgot to get a manager I guess. They claim I didn't do anything, but I've always gotten a manager and apologized for even the tiniest thing wrong.) and wrote in and complained to corporate so I got written up and then some lady left me a tip on her credit card and totaled it wrong (should have been one dollar more than it was) and emailed corporate and told them I was stealing money.

Ewwwww.


I'm on the edge of broke most of the time, and so I tip 15% plus whatever change it takes to round the charge up to an even number. Now it seems 20% is the standard, and I feel like a tightwad.

Yikes... I hope corporate didn't harass you about it.

My manager told me I did everything correctly. I had to get written up because she said "crappy server" instead of just "server". So goes life.

Those situations are when it would be nice as a restaurant to just say "Grow up".

I also tend to tip on the higher end, knowing all the crap a server has to go through, and how important tips really can be. Similar to Deni and Radez, I've covered for other people in restaurants, and if the waitress needs to apologize for anything, I'll usually wave it off and say 'I know how it is'. Its amazing how encouraging that one remark can be to an overwhelmed waiter or waitress on a busy night.

And yeah, I tip more if I get a hot waiter. Doesnt happen often though. :(

You guys do percentage?! I don't. I'm a server, too, and I'm sorry, the percentage thing just doesn't cut it anymore--especially since servers tend to make only $3.50 an hour. And, just think, up until recently, servers were making $2.13 an hour--the wage when minimum wage was $4.25 an hour.

So, how do I tip? It depends on the service, but I never go below $2 dollars for myself.

I tend to reckon the 15% tip (cheap, I know, it's a simple divide by ten and add half of that up) and then round up to the nearest dollar.

I have a simple way to tip: I take the tax and double it. If the sum ends up in any change whatsoever, I round up a dollar; even if it's less than $0.50.

Example: Tonight my check for a local dinner for myself was $47.81. Tax in California for this meal would be $3.82. The tip for this is $8 even.

I'm a rather stern customer. If you don't seem to be overly interested in doing your job, you're not going to get much out of me. Waiting on the customer is what you're there to do, and I know you have other customers, but they're not really my concern, are they? I don't come into the restaurant seeking excuses to stiff the waitress; do your job and you'll get tipped. But there are some very easy ways to lose a significant portion.

• Make me ask for the same thing several times.
• Make me ask for silverware at any point.
• Refill my coffee and neglect to ask if I will need more creamer.
• Bring back my soda refill with ice even though I specifically asked for no ice.
• Fill an order incorrectly and not promptly resolve the situation.
• Attempt to blame the above error on someone else; it doesn't matter who got it wrong, it's still wrong.
• Return to ask if the meal is satisfactory only after I've consumed 75% or more, the point at which any criticisms are probably moot.
• Pester me about the dessert menu, especially if I've already declined.
• Make me sit around waiting for the check when I'd like to leave.
• Dump off a to-go container without checking to see if I need assistance transferring my food.
• Drop off the check while barely saying a thing, like I suddenly no longer matter.
• Go on your lunch break and fail to inform me who will be covering your duties in the interim.

Most of these errors can be avoided through common sense and courtesy. I'm not asking for perfection, only that my server appear to give a damn. If everything goes well, I'll usually tip a good amount. I don't even follow a mathematical constant. I just look at how much I have on me, weigh it against how much time I and my party occupied your table, and then try to find an amount that seems fair. Most of my dining experiences are in places like Denny's or Chili's, so if I'm leaving a $10 tip, that usually seems quite flattering. If I can afford it, I'll almost always leave something, even if it's the last couple of dollars I have at the time.

Though there have been two occasions where I was so livid with the poor service that I left a single penny. That's the ultimate insult to a waitress - the penny tip.

I always leave over 15%. I don't really keep track of exactly how much it is but I rarely tip as low as 15% and you have to really piss me off to make me tip lower then then.

This is one such situation that caused me and my friend to tip lower then 15%. This woman waiting on us at IHOP had us waiting about 15 minutes past the time we finished eating without bringing the bill, we notified her as she passed that we wanted out bill. We were polite about it. She then proceeded to take the orders of like 4 other tables and never seemed to be getting around to coming back. We had to notify another waitress who went by that we wanted our bill, I believe she scolded our waitress about it. So our Waitress finally brings the bill and gives us an attitude as she slaps it down. Yeah, fuck you bitch if you think you're getting a good tip.

This was on top of the fact that she didn't seem to want to wait on us in the first place. I don't know if it was because of my friend's face piercings or what but you can't treat customers like that. I've worked in retail and I'd be fired if I treated someone like that.

The only time I can think of that I didn't actually leave a tip was when our waitress actually went home without so much as a word or even giving us the bill.

I rarely leave a tip, simply because waiters/servers in Europe actually get paid some decent money (seriously, 3.50 an hour?). It's not really customary, since the service is assumed to be included in the check, but I see it happen more and more these days. People will never leave 20% (that would be a very costly tip, considering that a two person meal in the restaurant where I work costs 120 euros), but they'll often leave change, or if they are people that I know they'll leave more.

I have to say though, that serving in the US seems to be a lot worse than in most European countries. I've worked in a fair share of restaurants or catered events, and I rarely encountered trouble with customers. Of course, it all depends on the type of place, so I have to be careful what I'm saying here, but I like serving people, I enjoy the interaction with the customers, and it's a bit strange to hear how much shit people have to deal with on the job.

My mom always told me to leave 15%, so that's usually what I leave. I don't have a lot of money as a student, and it's usually other students waiting on me, so I figure leaving the standard is doing pretty good. A friend of mine that was a pizza delivery guy said he *hated* delivering to college kids, because they never tip. I try to not do that.

Occasionally I do the double-tax method, but usually I actually figure out what the percentage is and leave that.

Where I work, servers have their own bank on them and when someone gives us big bills we may not have the change for it. Then we have to find someone else to get change, find a to-go specialist, or a manager. All of which tend to be way busy. This means, even though I may be working as hard as I can to get your change, it's going to take me a while.

I've had people get really pissed off at this. What do you want me to do, NOT give you change?

He's not talking about getting his change though. He's talking about not getting the check/bill. As in he hasn't even been allowed to TRY to pay yet.

I am known for being a generous tipper, and usually I don't even bother figuring out percentages, I just make something up. Obviously it depends on the person and the service, but let's just say tipping well usually leads to better service on repeat visit. When I go to places I go to frequently, I usually tip better than a place I don't think I will be returning to.

It's amazing what a reputation for being a good tipper can do. For awhile me and one of my friends always got the same waitress at Red Robbin and since we were leaving her like $10 tips on $30 orders, she was REALLY going out of her way to make sure we got good service.

This also reminds me... One time Frank and I were at a local restaurant that brews their own beer and we ordered a beer. Keep in mind, I'm there twice a week either to write my lesson plans or to work on some design.

I'm also known for being a damn generous tipper and I know every single server that works there so whenever I show up with anyone they only thing they wanna know is what my company is having for dinner because they already know what I want, "Liter of IPA, right? What's everyone else having?" Some new kid that had actually started working there and even though he'd already taken our drink order, he decided to card Frank. Frank didn't have his wallet on him because I was buying. This little prick wouldn't serve him a beer!

Needless to say, I didn't leave a single tip but Frankie, ever the sucker for being a kind soul, pulled him aside before we left and gave him a $5 tip for having brought me my liter of beer. I was still kind of pissed that this little shit wouldn't serve him so I just told Frank in mid-transaction, "What the fuck are you doing? I could've bought another pint with that." I left a penny on the table as well.

I'll tell you what though, they've never refused service to anyone who walks in with me after that and that boy never worked the floor again.

I thought Frank was too young to buy alcohol anyway.


As for me, for poor to average service, I will tip 15% and round it up to the nearest whole dollar. Pretty simple. For awesome service, I will usually tip at least 25%. When I am using my company purchasing card while on company business, I stick to 15% regardless of how awesome the service is though, as I don't want to get in trouble.

I can't serve people alcohol if they don't have an ID. That's sort of an asshole thing to do, really. He could have lost his job if a cop came in, saw Frank with alcohol and no ID.

I've known people to get fired for serving people they know are 21 but don't have an ID. So, really that was an asshole thing for you to do, he was just doing his job.

Seriously Paco. Dude was just looking to not get fired.

I do apologize for the fact that, apparently, where you live cops just walk up to patrons in restaurants and card them to ensure that the law is being followed down to a "T".

Tell me. When you take a drink order do you go and place the order, bring it back to the table and THEN card people? What would you think of someone who did that to you? If he was REALLY doing his job he would've carded him PRIOR to going and filling our drink order.

He got fired anyway, so... what did we learn from this?

Serve every motherfucker around so that we may all eat, drink and be merry. For tomorrow we might die.

I know this is a silly question, but I often wondered about this. I hope the servers here could answer, does it actually matter whether if the tip is in cash or electronic? Does the electronic tip go to you specifically?

Here in the UK, it's very uncommon for tips to be a part of an electronic transaction, so I'd assume that anywhere that allows tips from cards incorporates it into a staff 'tip pot'.

Sugar coat it all you want, Encephalon, but you basically got mad because some kid wouldn't break the law for you. As you said, he was new, so he didn't know you, and he didn't know that you weren't an undercover cop. He probably had the "don't serve underage people" spiel drilled into his head in training, and wasn't comfortable enough in the job to bend the rules (not that I'm saying he should have in any case).

A logical person would assume that an underage person wouldn't have the audacity to order alcohol in a classy restaurant. Maybe in a bar or nightclub, but a normal restaurant? He probably took your order, then started thinking about how old Frank really looked while he got your beverages, and decided he'd better check to be on the safe side.

That's interesting, thanks Krelien. I had never had a serving job of any kind that would beget me tips. I'd be terrible at customer service! ;)

Anyway, so how does that work? The electronic tips are included with your paychecks later on or handed out by management? How long would it take?

Depends. 20% is my average tip (the "base tip" if you will). Then, I add or subtract percentages depending on the quality of services.

Only one place I've worked at had a communal 'tip cup' that was divided among whoever was working. At the end of your shift, you'd take whatever was in your cup. I've worked two other jobs like that, and you kept whatever you were tipped. That said, I generally tip 20-25%, unless the service was crappy... But I still tip.

Also... I can't believe the 'minimum wage' for servers in the US. Here, minimum wage is $8.75/hr, and even servers make $7.60/hr plus tips. To see that most places in the US only make like, $3 is just crazy.

If you leave a tip on your credit card it automatically goes to the server. The computers keep tabs on it. At Village Inn at the end of the night they cash you out your credit card tips. At OG, we keep all the money given to us on us, so at the end of the night we either give OG the money that was given to us, or if it's less than we made in credit card tips, they owe us money.

You HAVE to claim credit card tips because they're already in the system. Which is why it's fabulous when people pay by credit card and then leave cash tip. That's one less dollar that's taxed.

At the Olive Garden, the computer automatically figures out the credit card tips to credit card sales ratio and you HAVE to claim that amount in cash. I've had a few rough nights where I've actually been required to claim more than I made because I had a few awesome credit card tips and then average cash tips.

Because my tips are taxed, I end up with paychecks that are about $30 a week. Before tax they're well over $150.

The place I work for tends to ask if the customer wants to add the tip to the bill--if it's a group of 10 or more. And if they say, "yes," then a slip is printed out for the server to hand back to the cashier--since the extra money is in the register.

For smaller groups--people are asked if they would like cash back for a tip. A LOT of people say yes to this, although once in a while you get a few who think the tip is on the card and I'll get the money later--although they already got the money themselves....

If the guy is new, I can definitely see this being an issue. When I was at Wally World, I found out that you had to card EVERYONE in a group. So, if person X is buying alcohol, and person Y is with him, and person X has his ID but person Y does not, you can't sell it even though person X is the one buying.

And they drilled that through both computer-based training (although admittingly that did not mention carding everyone...but did repeatedly state you would lose your job if you sold drinks underage) and in person training (where I found out from a co-worker you had to card everyone, which was verified by a manager the following day and then really verified when the aforementioned situation happened resulting in a pissed off customer).

And I can definitely see the "just in case" situation. I know I ran into it where I would have a customer come up, about to let him/her go, then think about my job being at state and it being the law, and card them anyway. Granted, it was before they were sold the alcoholic beverage. However, there is a difference between where I was (in which you have to make a decision then and there more or less) and at a restaurant (where you have time to give it more thought).

As it goes for tipping, I always heard it was 10%...but I guess I was wrong on that. Also...someone mentioned a penny...someone once told me that was actually a compliment somehow...but I can't really see it being so...

I don't use a universal 15%, it's hit or miss with me. I understand if they're busy and what not when service for us is slow. I'm a person who's somewhat easily satisfied with their service as so long as you provide my refills and initial service/checkup, you're bound to at least get %20+ of the bill.

No, you're supposed to leave a very small amount so the server knows you didn't forget to tip, but that you thought their service was poor.

As for the carding everyone in the party and not selling to anyone if there's an underage person, at least one of the grocery stores in my college town did that. I suppose it would shoot them down once, until they realize to leave the underage person in the car. To do it in a restaurant is just stupid. If Encephalon had bought 2 beers, or bought one and then handed it to Frank, it would have been obvious, and the server could have dealt with it. No need to deny a legal-aged person alcohol.

You know, of all people, I didn't expect you to say this.

I don't understand why you'd get mad and not tip for someone doing their job. I mean, if you want to feed Frankie beer when he's underage, why not just feed him beer at home?

I don't know, man. This was ridiculous of you. I'm sorry.

The loophole here is that for places where you make a lot of money on tips, they're allowed to pay you as little as $3/hour as long as you "on average" make enough money to be over minimum wage again. Same with retail store employees on commission. A friend of mine worked at an electronics store that runs on commission, and his hourly pay was something like $4.50/hour. He made a percentage commission on everything he sold, and there was on top of that a giant "pool" that everyone split in their paychecks. All told he would actually make something like $9-10/hour when he got his commission and pool added to his base rate.

While some states have different laws, this is the federal one:

(from here.) This is why workers who get lousy amounts of tips lose their jobs: not only do they cost the business money in lost customers if they're bad enough, but they have to pay more per hour for an underperforming employee.

For one, they brew their own beer there so we don't just get to take a pitcher home with us and, second, it's GOOD FUCKING BEER. It should also be noted that he'd already been served there before when he came out there the previous summer so it was especially irritating to have to argue with a kid who still hadn't hit puberty about whether or not my friends could drink there. Last I checked, I was literally putting money in his pocket to make sure the above happened.

I know it was ridiculous of me. Who said it wasn't? I may be sugarcoating it and, yes, I'm an uptight asshole. I just think that there should be a little leniency for patrons like myself and their guests who sink roughly the equivalent of one waiter's yearly salary into this joint.

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that either.

Additional Spam:
This is another thing I don't agree with. Tips being taxed. Where I eat, the vast majority of my waiters, waitresses and busers are great people and they often deserve their tip, if not more. One of them tells me that their tips left by credit card are taxed because, well, you can't really hide that kind of thing without the help of a guy named Vinnie who runs a drycleaning business in Jersey. This is why, when my friends and I eat anywhere, I go out of my way to ensure that their tip is left in cash if their service was good. I really don't care if I'M the only one having to take the brunt of the tip.

I mean, seriously, if I have a party of 6 and service is exceptional, a crisp Jackson is in order. No questions asked.

Do you realize all the things that happen if you are caught selling alcohol to someone who is underage? You WILL lose your job, you will be fined, the business you work at will be fined, and in some cases the business can lose their license to sell alcohol.

I can't count the number of times I was ready to slug a customer working as a cashier because some asshole started yelling and cussing at me cause he couldn't buy beer because he didn't have enough sense to leave his underage friends outside. But it was always satisfying if a manager overheard them swearing, came over, and notified them that they were now banned from the store.

me and my friends always tip 25-30%. that way the waiters always remember us and they don't sit in our food.

we always go to this diner, so yeah. and 25/30% split with 6 people isn't too bad at all

Please confirm that you don't assume that I yell and cuss at my waiters/waitresses? Nigga please. Get back to me when you're not in a thread bitching about the money that I'M giving you.

In all my years of working behind bars, nothing is more likely to make me ID an entire group of people than them swanning in like they own the place and saying "Why are you IDing me, I come here all the time". If you go there all the time, you should have learned to take some fucking ID with you.

I delight in turning kids away though. Bar staff don't get tipped over here (We just get proper wages), you just get bought drinks but it's rare for kids to buy you one so chucking them out is always entertaining, especially when you know for a fact that they're over 18 but haven't got ID on them.

I use a pretty ornate system. California usually floats around 7.25%~8.25% depending on the area I'm in, so I usually double the tax and round up to the nearest dollar if service was up to par, but not extravagantly good (meaning they did nothing wrong but wasn't fantastic).

If I'm not satisfied, I round down to the nearest dollar. If I'm really unsatisfied beyond that, I state my problem on the credit card receipt the store keeps (that way the manager has it on file and sees it) and leave a crappy tip confirming what the problems was.

If the service is good I default to 20% tip.

Once I went to Applebee's with a party of 20+ people, and we just had to be split up to 3 parties just because of the sheer size. Everyone at our table was just sharing large appetizers (we're all college students). Our server even made sure our subtotals were divided up per person on the check! I've never seen that done before. I wanted to make sure our server's efforts were well rewarded since he didn't make one stint about the party being so large (composed of broke college kids might I add), with us having 3 separate people needing to pay by card separately, and yet he still was making absolute sure everyone's needs at the table were fulfilled and came back more than enough times to refill our drinks and make sure everything went smoothly. I knew for sure 15% on 6 appetizers wasn't satisfactory when our server was going back and forth for 11 people at the table, so I left a $40 tip for my $8 cup of chili.

Tipping is not mandatory where I live. So being the cheapskate that I am, I don't give any most of the time. Especially if the restaurant has a 10% service charge.

For everyone bitching about being broke college kids. If you're broke, don't go out for food where you get served. Either get take away, eat somewhere cheaper, or learn to cook your own goddamned food.

I've heard there's a practice in some countries of leaving a poor waitress/waiter an overly large tip as a sign of, "You're going to be needing that extra cash soon..."

I generally tip around 18% or so, though it does go up a lot with some meals. There's one place I go to where my school's students can get a cheeseburger, fries, and unlimited refills on soda for $2.25. I'll usually go with a friend or two, and the tip is generally at around 100% since the meal's so absurdly cheap and the guy there knows us. I actually took my parents there because they have really good normal food, too. While we were leaving my dad wound up talking to the one of the managers or the owner or something and found out my dad was :jew:. Turns out the guy used to live in Israel and when we went back there the next week they gave us a free appetizer and 25% off of our bill.

Er, what? One would hope that the restaurant employed enough staff so that everyone eating can get their food in a reasonable amount of food when the place is full. Serving a bunch of people at once isn't some act of heroics, it's what he's paid to do. I think tipping extra because a place is busy is pretty retarded really, it's like you're assuming that the normal state for a restaurant is half empty, in which case, if the waiters aren't busy then the owner is employing too many people.

If there's a party of 20 and you're the only server then, yes, you SHOULD be given an extra tip. I realize it's their job but when you're waiting on 20 people single-handed that's a little out of the ordinary.

No I don't assume that and I'm sorry if you thought I did. I more or less just got myself going on a particular subject and said more then I needed to.

But the customer is always right motto only holds true for so much. Getting mad over a business obeying the law is pointless.

It's the law that's the problem. Why should tips be considered as part of minimum wage? That makes no sense. Where I come from, you are expected to a good job for the salary that you get, not force me to give you cash just so you don't spit in my soup, and not stand and glare at me if I give you less than 15%.

I completely agree. If you go out to a proper restaurant, where you know it's customary to tip, don't be a fuck and short the person serving you because you can't afford it. Most restaurants, no matter who they are, are willing to allow you to order your food to go.

My co-worker wrote this yesturday. I can only assume he had a shitty day.

Rules of Service

1. IF you can afford to go out to eat, but you can't afford to tip, hey guess what you can't afford to go out to eat.

2. This is 2008 people. 10% is not acceptable anymore. Standard tipping for GOOD service is 20%. If your server has given you GREAT service then tip a minimum of 20%.

3. Now, I understand that 10% is good enough for God. That's fine. But this isn't church, and you're not tithing.

4. Ordering a well done steak will constitute a longer ticket time you will be okay. If you wanted fast food, you should have gone through a drive-thru.

5. It is really not necessary to snap at me or wave your hand in the air like your having a spasm or get up and follow me. I saw you, I acknowledged you, and you saw me. hold the fuck on, and sit the fuck down. I am coming.

6. When I take the time to be courteous and introduce myself please don't be rude and cut me off. Sometimes the place I work at requires me to tell you about the specials and offer you an appetizer. When I ask you how you are doing please don't reply with what you want to drink, its called manners.

7. I follow a strict rule that you should never reward bad service with a good tip however; you should also never punish excellent service with a bad tip because you're a tight-wad.

8. Please don't take it out on me because you have had a bad day. I'm here to make it better. Relax.

9. When I deliver your food and ask if there is anything else, you can tell me. I asked didn't I? Don't get all bent out of shape because I'm not psychic and cannot read your mind. How the hell am I supposed to know you needed A-1? Also, please tell me the moment I ask if that's everything you need. If you have to think about it that's okay, I'll wait. I'd rather spend a few more moments at your table then running back and forth to the kitchen because you forgot you needed extra something or other.

10. I know sometimes you can't help it. But do you really have to ask for something every single time I walk past the table. I mean really. Jessica Simpson is not even that high-maintenance.

11. Hi, look around you. You are one of probably twenty people I am waiting on. Did you happen to notice that? So if you have to wait for a minute. Be patient. I promise I will take care of you.

12. Treating a server like a SLAVE because we are serving you is the quickest way to get the worst service you ever thought possible. We are people too and you are no better than me. I don't give a fuck what you do.

13. Just think about it like this. Your tip left on the table is how I pay my bills. I am making minimum (most of time $2 0r $3 dollars an hour.) So no, I don't get a paycheck. After taxes and claiming tips I'm lucky if I even see one. Remember that next time you decide to be cheap. Please also remember when using a To-go service, that the people that bring out your food don't always make 7 or 8 dollars an hour. Most of the time they work for tips too.

14. Don't assume that my job is easier then yours and I am some simpleton who can't get a better job. The restaurant business is a fast paced environment with a high stress level. You don't even see all the things we do behind the scene. So have some respect. I don't come to your office and treat you like shit for sitting on your ass all day do I? No. I don't.

15. Most people do not know that we pay taxes based upon what we claim to make. News flash, we have to claim at least about 10% (In most cases we claim 100% of our tips) of our sales. Often times we often must tip out other workers in the restaurant i.e. bussers, bartenders, and hosts. What this means is if you are one of the stingy people that can't tip, I just paid taxes on your meal that I worked to serve you. Thus, meaning that I just paid to serve you. Better yet, if you walk out on your tab, chances are I just paid for your meal! Karma people...Karma

16. You fuck with your server - your server will fuck with you. I know this may not be true in all cases, but there are times when servers come out on top! To all of you stingy people who don't tip or just treat servers like SLAVES in general - Remember this we will show you the same courtesy you show us. If there isn't a boss around to see something happen then I will surely pick up your well-done, charred steak that fell on the floor, wipe that rock off on my shirt and serve it to you. With a smile of course!

17. I also want to add...why do people think that it's okay to walk into a restaurant and eat when it's 15 minutes before closing???? FYI...there's a lot of stuff to be done after hours, i.e. cleaning up and Stuff like that! So if it is vacuuming and shit like that you don't want to hear when having a decent meal...then don't show up 15 minutes before closing time! Not only are you holding up your server from leaving the damn place, but you are also pissing off the individual who's cooking your damn meal...remember that!

18. People please teach your kids 'RESTAURANT MANNERS!' Restaurants aren't playgrounds! They will get hurt and it will not be our fault. Keep them seated!

19. Ranch is NOT the nectar of the Gods. It is however one of the main culprits of the obesity epidemic in this country! So yes I will get you ranch just tell me when you order.

20. Telling your server how wonderful they were, and how great they were DOES NOT pay the bills. Church pamphlets, monopoly money, or (my personal favorite) your number. Also DOES NOT pay the bills.

21. This is another one I would like to address; your server does not want your number. He or she is being nice because it is their job. They are not into you we usually date people in the industry.

22. We work double shifts, go to school or have multiple jobs, or all three, and sometimes our last day off was... well we don't remember. We do this because people don't follow these rules. Please help us out.

Speaking of the God things, you've no idea how many people leave pamphlets about Jesus. Chad has about 20 in his book.

I'm sorry, call me a cheap bitch, but this is where I draw the line. If my dinner is leaving the restaurant in styrofoam containers, and I have not used a table, I am not tipping.

Yeah, of course. If you can so easily go get another job then why not go and fucking get one rather than writing out a long list of bullshit demands and ansty complaints? I mean, if being a waiter is so fucking hard and the pay is so shit then get another job, it ain't rocket science.

From that list, Americans must be proper fucking rude when they eat out to illicit that kind of response.

Wait, there must be something I don't understand here. How is it legal for you people to be paid "$2-$3 an hour"? Isn't the minimum wage in the United States $6.55 per hour under federal law?

As I understand it there's some exemption for waiters that says that their average wage, including tips has to be minimum wage, hence everyone's expected to pay twice what the meal costs to make up the wage deficiency. Works out geat for the rest of the world when Yanks are on holiday though because they still leave monstrous tips, even though waiters here get the same minimum wage as everyone else.

THIS bothers the SHIT out of me. I work in a small enough place where you sit yourself and I'll come over and get your order, or you wait and the end of the counter where I'll get your order to go. We see every customer that comes in at all times, and we have to greet you. Its part of the friendly atmosphere of the place. So every time someone comes in, I'll greet them with 'Hi, how's it going?' or "Hi, how are you?".

A good number of people just reply 'good, how are you' and wait patiently for me to specifically ask for their order, but the ones that just go right into "I'll take this this this and this to go"... drives me nuts. Normally I proceed to cut them off and say 'One moment please', and finish what I'm doing. I didnt ask you for your order, and you dont know if there's someone waiting ahead of you. Patience, you will be served.

Okay.

See, if I am paying full price for a meal during a restaurant's business hours, I expect to have an experience similar to experiences of earlier customers.

I realize that sometimes, when I walk in at 15 minutes before closing time, it's a hassle to you. Consider I don't know your business hours. I also expect that the hours listed are the ones where you're actually doing business - just as you were doing earlier in the day.

I don't like the notion that I have to sit through vacuuming when I want to have a conversation with the people I am with. Save your loud tasks until all your customers walk out the door. Find something to do that DOESN'T fuck with my full-priced meal experience if you need to. Just do me the fucking favor of NOT VACUUMING IN MY FACE when I am trying to enjoy a meal I am paying for.

Maybe I am a bitch for thinking this. I don't know. I also agree with Midna re: take-out tips. If you're making less than minimum wage working take-out, bring it up with your boss and not me. You're not "waiting" on me, I am not holding up a table, and I am not asking you to fucking serve me. Take-out guys don't get tips unless they deliver to my goddamn door.

Lastly, I was pretty sure that with a party over 8 (depending on where you go), gratuity is included in your bill as a separate line item. Sure, it's proper to tip over that, but you're not getting 20% in the check AND another 20% unlisted tip.

How do I tip?

Well, if I like the service, I tip at least 20%. Otherwise, I punch her in the back of the head and hold her down while I carve a backwards 'B' in her face.

You're supposed to do that after you see her bumper sticker.

:INCONSISTENCY:

>=\ You also need to take $60.

The tone of this one struck me. Yeah, common decency and all, but I am the customer. You're not doing me a favor. It's your fucking job.

On one hand, I understand this person's claims. On the other, I think of the simple fact: it is your job. I can't begin to tell how my frustrations I have had with past jobs regarding various issues. However, that's the point. You have to swallow hard, take it, and do your job.

One thing this person should keep in mind is that given the economy, they should be thankful people are still coming out to eat (and tip). Even if they tip 10 or 15 percent, that's better than not tipping at all.

Instead of quoting and responding to each of the points in Melo's little list, can we just agree that her friend is a whiny faggot and needs to get a different job?

I can't agree to that. He's a whiny faggot who can't and doesn't deserve to get a different job.

Another thing...I just remembered some friends who are LOOKING for jobs LIKE his and HOPING to get one to HAVE a job...

You caaaraaazy American's and your tips, you'd be completely fucked down here! Tips consist of 'keep the change!' when the bill comes to something like $98 and they leave a $100 note.

I agree, but we were a party of around 20-24 ppl, taking up at least 2-3 tables each in the 3 sections we were being split up into. Considering all were college students, with at least 2 people sharing appetizer entrees that are only like $8 each, when you compare that to normal customers who would come in as a party of 4, take 1 table, and each order an entree of at least $15 each with drinks, appetizers and possibly even desserts, that makes a difference in their sales share.

I just wanted to make sure the hospitality of our server, his very reasonable manager(s), and the kitchen staff was well rewarded. I don't think what I did was absurd. The restaurant pretty much sacrificed 5-6 tables they could have used to serve customers that would have ordered alcohol, a full-price entree, and possibly appetizers and desserts, so given that their sales could have been impacted by our huge party, I would think that leaving down a couple extra Jacksons would not be too crazy.

Why not just buy more food?

Funny thing about that. One of my friend's worked at Bennigans and they wouldn't let any of their servers gratuitize parties of black people because they were worried they would think it's a racist thing. Even though it's the law they wouldn't let them do it and around here black people are notorious for not leaving a tip. So yeah, they'd serve a party of like 8-10 people and get no tip.

My mom once attempted to get a server in Chengdu to "keep the change". Poor guy looked terrified. Maybe we need to go to posher restaurants.

Well, in China you almost never tip. I am trying very, very hard to think of one time I tipped in China. And this wasn't me being a cheapskate...they just don't do it. I remember one time going back last year I went to my hotel, only to find out they overbooked. They then moved me to another hotel, gave me fruit, and begged forgiveness. And they were long gone before I could even think of tipping them.

Yeah, I'm pretty much with Sass on her sentiment--regardless if how much it INCONVENIENCES the staff to work their restaurants advertised hours, the servers should do it with the same courtesy and respect they would give someone who waltzed in at 3 in the afternoon.

Same goes for the cook, too. Yes, like, I know it's late and everybody wants to go home and there's all this other shit in the restaurant that needs to get done before you can close officially, but that is really no reason to be STINGY on the quality of the food OR to fuck with the customers meal or whatever. Nobody likes the last minute customer, but since you are essentially a slave to the store hours, just do your fucking job and do it without being a colossal dick.

The reason it matters is because your food is going to take more than fifteen minutes to make. You are going to take more than fifteen minutes to eat. This is more directed to the people that come in fifteen minutes before we close and don't leave until a half an hour to an hour after we close. We can't kick you out. We can't even mentioned that we've closed because it's against policy. If you're gone before we close or just two minutes, that's not too bad and we don't really mind, especially if you're a really nice table. (I'm referring to attitude, not tip.) But if you're still there when we're no longer accepting more guests because we're closed, you can listen to us vacuum. It's your fault for not respecting company hours. Although, I did once have a manager vacuum hours before we closed and that was annoying. It's like, you know the floor around those tables is just going to get dirty again, and you're pissing off my guests, I'd be pissed.

Perhaps it's a good idea for staff to pressure management to close earlier so as to not inconvenience yourselves with YOUR JOB.

So you think it's perfectly acceptable to stay somewhere a half an hour plus after they've closed?
Last Monday a table didn't leave until 11:50. We close at 10:00. Basically you're saying we have no right to be upset at them even though they're the ones not respecting company hours. If we were to go by what Sass and Seris are suggesting, we wouldn't even begin closing until they'd left. Almost two hours after we were closed, simply because there was one table left.

If your employer had an issue with people remaining to enjoy their meal after your normal business hours were over they would take steps to let people know about it. The fact that it is against your policy to even mention that you're closed suggests that your place of work has no problem with people finishing their meal leisurely.

Find another job.

I've worked RETAIL jobs that have required employees to tend to customers long after the store has closed. And we--the employees--managed to ring every customer out, bag all their shit, and say "have a nice night!" without being jerks about it.

I'm not saying that having to do that is annoying, but it is your job to do that sort of thing every so often. Some of the customers coming in, they might be working long days too and the only time they have to get what they need to get done is 20 minutes before closing time. Shit happens. It does not entitle you, the employee, to take your frustrations out on them regardless of the circumstances.

Perhaps this recession will reduce the sense of entitlement some employees in the American hospitality industry seem to carry.

That aside, I'm convinced that the minimum wage law has to change - to NOT include tips in the calculation. The provision is probably there for small and medium restaurateurs. But it's still unfair.

I wasn't complaining. Nobody does anything to the customers. I'm just saying it's incredibly rude to think that you're entitled to stay well past closing time. They get the same treatment as everyone else. However, you can't expect to stay past close and have the ENITRE restaurant hold everything just for you. This goes for anything. I'm sure if someone was at Yonkers past closing time, everyone except the cashiers would continue to close as if it were normal.

According to my mom who's been a manager for about 18 years, if restaurants DIDN'T pay their servers so little and use tips, the cost of your meal would double because it'd need to include the cost of paying the servers. In essence we do it because it keeps you from having to pay $50 for a $25 meal. (I have no idea how accurate this is, just that that's basically what my mom told me.)

That's total bullshit. Servers are paid at the very least minimum wage here, and there are still plenty of places you can go to get a meal for $15 if that's all you want to spend.

Where's "here" wingman? In the land of blue cocks and all points northward server's make $2 and change plus tips. It ain't a bad deal in the long run, but that damn fool in the Schwarze squadron doesn't know what he's talking about.

Sense of entitlement? I work for tips, if you can't afford to tip then you can't afford to go out to eat, recession or no.

I don't think anyone's saying you don't have the right to be upset. Just that people will come in while you're seating new customers, and they will stay until they are ready to leave. Don't expect that to change, and don't expect my sympathy when it happens.

Canada. A server's entitled to minimum wage here, even if tips would put them far above it (which they generally do), and this doesn't result in someone having to drop $30 to go out for a burger.

Well, I don't know about all the provinces (I know for sure it's not the case in New Brunswick), but in Quebec servers are taxed on their tips and so if people don't tip they can end up making less than minimum wage. I've been in a situation once where I had miscalculated the amount of money I had, and could only give about a 10% tip. The server got pretty fucking bitchy on me.

This was in a bar, and I had been there for a while, having already payed for and tipped quite well on a few beers. It so happened my bank card had been deactivated so I could only use the cash I had on me to pay. At the end of our visit, I had ordered some food and one last beer, and when I went to pay I realised that I had just a bit less money on me than I thought and ended up only leaving about 10% tip. I even apologized to the girl for the relatively small tip, but she wouldn't hear it. She decided instead to start using profanities to tell me I could have ordered something less expensive, etc. I had been there many times before and had always left good tips and again, I had paid for a few beers beforehand and had left good tips on those. And she couldn't have forgotten about it since this was during the daytime and the place was pretty much empty.

No need to say I never set foot in that place again.

There are a number of restaurants (cheap and high-falutin') that don't allow tipping because they pay their servers adequate wages. One place I go to a lot for lunch is Noodles & Company. A lunch there usually costs $8 - $10, including drink. No double price here, that's how much I routinely pay for lunch.

Well, I guess I know for sure New Brunswick is a shitty province. Get with the times, east.

I believe that in this case I was saying that Quebec was the shittier of the two, by making servers pay out taxes on their tips.

What you should've done was take your tip back. I mean, she was yelling at you already, might as well go for broke.

But no that's pretty shitty.

That is what came to mind once I got over the shock of what had just happened.

Unfortunately, by then I was out of there and well on my way home. :(

In all seriousness though, I usually tip $3-5 if the service was exceptional, meaning we got our orders in a reasonably short time with no errors, we got refills when we needed them, and they didn't take forever getting the check.

Just the other night though, we went to this barbecue place that's usually pretty awesome, and the waiter had little to no personality, like he didn't even want to be there, didn't come back to ask if the food was good, and when he took my glass to refill it, he ended up giving it to the table next to us. I would've tipped him a dollar (Hadn't heard of the penny tip until now. I may start bringing a penny with me to restaurants just in case now.), but the lowest bill I had was a five and I'd already crossed out the tip section on the debit receipt. So he got nothing.

Shouldn't the cost of the meal go up more like 15-20%?

I mean, I'm no math whiz, but I don't see how you losing a 20% tip on the cost of a meal and moving the weight to your employer would suddenly cause the price of the food to go up 100%.

How on earth can it take someone 2 hours to eat their food? That is pretty inexcusable but you should be more mad at your managers for not telling them to get the fuck out. I work at a grocery store, so we deal with customer service. But the managers would never let someone loiter in the store more then a half hour after close. And we don't even have as much to do as a restaurant after close.

Funny you mention Noodles, I have a friend who works there. Yeah they don't accept tips, at all. They'd get people that won't take no for an answer and would slap down a tip and run out the door. Yeah, good going cause the manager is going to pocket it, not the person you gave it to.

Yea, that's unreasonable. If I notice a place is close to closing up for the night, I usually DO in fact rush things. BUT:

I didn't say IGNORE your closing duties, Melo. I said it's rude to vacuum when a customer is trying to enjoy a meal DURING business hours. DURING business hours, I mentioned that people should maybe possibly find more quiet back work to do until the place is sufficiently empty

After hours, I think it's fair game.

And DarkMage, when I go out with friends or family, we can sit there for up to four hours. People enjoy talking over food, knowing they don't have to get up and serve others around the table during a conversation. I PREFER those sorts of meals.

I'm sure you don't do that after the restaurant is closed though. Honestly I've been to places that don't let you order anything after closing hours. So if you stayed past and want dessert you're SOL.

I generally want to eat and leave. Since whoever I'm with is probably hanging out with me outside of being at the restaurant anyhow. Course if I had a girlfriend, I'm sure that would be alittle different.

At least no one does (or do they) a trick some people I knew from England did.

It would be near closing and someone would come in and ask for something. If it was something they alreayd had prepared, fine. If not, they then "accidently" gave them something else they had prepared. They would then say "Oh sorry. we can fix it but it will take us about 20 minutes" in which the customer would generally just go with what they have.

I work at a corporate restaurant. Our managers would get fired for sending the guests away. There's a BIG difference between working for corporate and a local restaurant. You can get away with a lot more at a local diner or something.

For people telling 'me' to get a different job if I don't like it, that's BS. I do like my job, for the most part I love it. Like any job though, it has it's negatives. I'm sure servers aren't the only people who sometimes dislike their jobs. For the most part, servers are upset when there are jackasses that think they have a right to treat other people like shit, etc.

So basicly what you're saying is that someone could decide they don't want to leave til 6 am the next day and there is nothing the managers can do about it?

Does it really take them that long to deep fry a whole cow for you?

that would be a good question. I could see higher ups who don't run into those issues themselves saying "Our customers come first, no matter if they are here 6 minutes after closing or 6 A.M.".

I wonder what the official policy is that distingushes between "conducting business" (namely buying and eating food) and "standing around" (or whatever the term is). The problem is, even if there was a nice "line" most companies would be afraid of a bit of bad rap of actually pushing that line.

I do know though SOME companies draw the line. One of them surprised me. At CiCi's (and all you can eat pizza place), one friend told me there was a kid who could really pack it away. The manager came out and said "That's enough. You have had your share" or something like that. Then again, they might be able to get away with that as they are not quite a nation-wide company (at least from what I last heard...they have multiple stores but not to the degree of McDonalds or such).

All I'm saying is, when I go to a restaurant and I'm done eating, if I happen to have my laptop I'm gonna have a few drinks and get some work done. After all, my work is almost directly paying your salary; which you're complaining about.

Unless you're continuously/constantly ordering drinks while you work, you taking up a table / seat is actually costing the restaurant more than you think. If you're done eating, satisfied with your meal, had the pleasure of enjoying your meal with good company and have throughly satisfied yourselves with your conversation, then it is more polite for you to leave the restaurant and open up the table / seat so the restaurant can offer that seat to another customer. More customers = more sales opportunities = more revenue = more tip/income.

You taking up a table for an overly extended period of time (basically past the point where the restaurant has no revenue opportunity out of you) is just you being a jackass (unless, again, you're ordering a beer every 5 minutes or so).

See, Wing Leader, you're a damn good tipper, so it isn't an issue.

OK... You've, like, seen me drink. Do you honestly see that as being a problem for me to be ordering a beer every 5-10 minutes or so?

In two hours' worth of time, I will write lesson plans for a whole week, finish a couple of designs, dust about 3 pitchers of beer, pay my tab, tip my server in cash, stumble to my car, drive home, talk my way out of a ticket and be home in time for House M.D..

Who's kidding who now?

lol we very nearly did that one time. Of course, we were trying to tip the manager, because we had a tasting and it was all free. They put up a really excellent spread too. Good place all around.

Which would be true if minimum wages weren't described in terms of pre-tax earnings. If your gross wage, before any tax or other deductions is more than the published hourly minimum wage (Which it will be, otherwise you'd take your employer to court and win) then you're earning above minimum wage. Also, the beauty of any system where tax is expressed as a percentage of income is that there is no possible way you can take home less by earning more.

What you meant to say is that as waiters get taxed on their tips (As they do in the UK), then if you don't give them a big tip they barely earn more than minimum wage. The problem therefore lies with their ability to get a job paying more than minimum wage.

Someone said on an earlier page that if you were too cheap to tip then most restaurants will prepare your food to take away instead. I can't think of anywhere that I'd describe as a restaurant rather than a fast-food joint that'd prepare you food to go. I guess I have a different idea as to what constitutes a restaurant than some of you guys.

So you consider Big Boy, Bennigans, IHOP, Red Robbin, Chinese Restaurants(Not just the carry out ones), and Coney Islands fast food?

Just because you've never tried to order a carry out meal at a restaurant doesn't mean it's not available. Just about any restaurant that has boxes to put your left overs in will let you order your meal to go. You just obviously wait longer then you would at a fast food place.

Alright, fair enough Chinese and Indian places often offer a takeaway service but from Googling those other places, they're not the sort of places I'd tell people I was going to a restaurant if I was going there, no. They're diners if anything, glorified cafes. When I talk about going to a restaurant I mean places like these, all of which with the possible exception of Lazzatis if you asked really, really nicely would laugh at you if you asked for takeaway food (Those are the last four restaurants I went to, in case you were wondering). I guess it's a cultural and language thing but I generally think of something a little more high-brow when I'm talking about restaurants rather than a burger joint or chain pizza shop.

See we basicly have a different idea of what is considered a "restaurant" because we don't really have many fancy places like that around here.

It's a matter of definitions for restaurants. In the US, nearly every place that serves food qualifies as a restaurant, be it a chain of diners or a fancy place like one Ramsay's places. In Europe, the definition for restaurant isn't nearly as broad. A restaurant here implies a place where you can enjoy an entire evening, where you can sit for hours after finishing your meal, where the focus is on enjoying the food and company, instead of on filling up, and serving as many customers as possible, as is the case in most diners (from my experience). We don't really have diners like in the US, let alone whole chains like the Olive Garden, but just small, independent places where you can get a quick meal (brasserie), but where you can still sit at ease.

On the discussion of closing hours, most restaurants here only have a closing hour for the kitchen (10 PM for most places), so people can sit and enjoy the rest of their meal, but they can't come in at 10:15 and expect to be served. I think that this is the best method to deal with closing hours, this way the kitchen can clean up, whereas the waiters will still be busy serving the guests drinks and whatnot, all while cleaning up without causing any disturbance.

Seems that way, yes. :)

I just find it hard to imagine walking into a restaurant that wasn't a take-away place and asking for food to go, it's just not something you'd do in my experience.

And call me a snob but asking for a bag to take away the leftovers at the end of a meal is really chavvy.

Additional Spam:
What he said, except obviously our draconian licencing laws means places only stay open about an hour or so after food service ends.

Well, in some cases restaurants often give larger portions than what you're willing to eat at the time. And lets say you drop down 30 dollars on a meal that you've only half eaten. Call me trashy all you want, but saving 15 dollars worth of food for later takes priority over looking high-class.

Besides that, that's un-eaten food gone to waste. It's not like they can recycle that steak you didn't eat; it just goes straight into the garbage. That should be considered a CRIME.

Shin, to clarify, I was talking more about the average place here in the U.S., and not a high-brow restaurant. I wouldn't walk into a place like that and ask for my lobster to go. I would assume if someone wanted food from a restaurant, but was being too cheap/broke to tip, they likely aren't going for a place that requires wearing a tie.

I agree it sounds awful to ask to take home the scraps off your plate, but in the U.S. the average restaurants serve you so much damn food you more often than not can only finish about half. It's disgusting. The leftovers issue has become very common here because of it.


Edit: Sorry for the repeat. I was being really slow and Seris posted before I finished.

heh, that's what you get for living in a nation of drunks and chavs xD.

I have never had anyone ask to take their leftovers, not even for their dog. I fear that I wouldn't be able to resist ridiculing anyone who asks for that. This is mostly because the enjoyment of the food is important, you don't need to have huge piles of french fries or a 2 pound steak to enjoy a meal, it's about taste and flavour. Even if people would take their leftovers in a doggy bag, it still would not be the same experience, as having it freshly served in a restaurant, and if you are that desperate for food, perhaps you shouldn't eat in a more expensive restaurant in the first place.

There's also some rad restaurants where you get huge portions and it's really tasty. There's this one place near me I like to go to since you get dinner for $10, they've got a fantastic salad bar (two soups, lots of fresh fruit, and tons of other stuff) that I like to fill up on quite a bit, then I can only eat about half of my meal. I save the rest as a snack for later at night (If I'm going to be in the office) or as a quick lunch the following day.

Also, there are definitely some foods which get better as leftovers. I remember my girlfriend and I went to Applebees one time and she didn't finish her burger because it was kinda mediocre. The following day we reheated it and it tasted a million times better since all of the flavors had melded together a bit.

Yes.

Because they are paying your bills. Without them, you wouldn't have a job. You may not like it, but that's the fact.

And, why do you vacuum at night? Dust flies. It's not the fact people don't want to hear the vacuum--they don't want crap in their food.

Ok hon, I give you the benefit of the doubt. It's the dickheads who order one fucking beer and stay for 2 hours chatting with their friends who order water (and expect free refills) that bug me.

Additional Spam:
And I kinda knew about this too, so I didn't really mean the jackass comment directed at you Paco. Sorry <3

I always tip 20-30%. I figure if I can't afford to leave a decent tip, then I can't afford to eat there.