I got paid minimum wage $3.16 (or whatever it was) at the time (1984). The waitresses got paid much less, because well... they're waitresses and they got tips.
So I guess I'm the only waiter around these parts, eh? All I have to add is that tipshare handles the various people you see helping your waiter/bartender/to-go/valet/haircutting people out. Like blakekoen said, you tip 15% of your total bill or whatever, but your waiter has to tip 4-6% of his/her total sales to the people helping them out. So, if you think your waiter didn't do enough work to earn a "good" tip because some other guy brought out your food and a third cleared off your dishes, etc. - you should know that your waiter is paying those people to do that for you. And he doesn't have to. Anyway, I'm off to work now. Time to go serve a bunch of assholes who don't know the first thing about tipping etiquette...
But the Girl Scouts still ask, don't they? If a bartender refuses to serve me because I didn't give him a dollar for opening a bottle of beer, his manager will definitely hear about it. Have I told ya'll how much I love Rachel at Triple Crown?
I've waited tables and my wife is a server at Taste of Texas. Tipshare is optional? If the people who get tipshare are pissed off about their tips, a lot of times, that's on the waiter, not the customer. I saw it too much when I waited and my wife sees it every day. Waiters b****ing about their tips, but my wife would consistently make a lot more than they would. It probably has nothing to do with the type of service she gives to her tables by making sure they don't have to ask for refills, getting them the things they need like extra butter, steak sauce, etc. as fast as she can. I'm not arguing that there aren't bad tippers out there because I know first hand they are. But there's no way you should argue that because a waiter has to tip out at the end of the night, that they should receive a certain % of tip regardless of the service.
Depends eventually I stopped asking the "I'll do on the way out"ers again. But yes they ask you the first time. Actually a funny thing happened the other day. I wanted some GS cookies and I was walking into the store with my fiance' anyway the girls asked every other person but us if they wanted to buy some cookies. I was pissed.
The carry-out kid is making eight bucks an hour, and not working for tips. The waiter/waitress is making 2.15, and working four times as hard as the carry-out kid. Don't tip the carry-out guy. Don't tip the coffee makers (who make ten bucks an hour).
One of the funnier things I've seen is a waiter (who was not that great of a waiter) get canned because he loudly cursed out a guy who left him $1.50 tip on a 60 dollar bill. I worked at a restaraunt and never understood why severs always got so huffy about being left a bad tip. Sure, people who leave poor tips are generally jerks, but bad tips are part of the job. It happens every day, and you know it will happen every day -- do these people just need something to b**** about (I say yes), or what?
This is true. The people doing the carry out always are making more guarunteed money per hour than the waiters.
Well, my wife's had tables where they had her run her ass off and she got everything to them in time, despite them asking for something everytime she came back with the last thing they asked. She was nothing but pleasant about it and still was only tipped 5%. She knows not to say anything to them personally, but I could see how someone would snap.
Some places automatically subtract the tipshare nowadays, but most just have the waiters tip buspeople, hostesses, expos, and dishwashers out of pocket. The better a waiter tips out to these people, the harder they work to help the waiter out (as I'm sure you already know). But yeah, if I feel that some of those people aren't helping me out, I don't have to give them any tips at the end of the night. It's discretionary just like the tip a customer gives the waiter. Problem is, next time they won't help out at all. To clarify, I wasn't arguing that a waiter should at least be given enough to pay the others off regardless of service. I was just saying that you should tip based on your overall service experience, not just what you think of your waiter's performance. Sorry if I came off as a bitter serviceperson. I was just joking with that last line - I actually like my job. But now it's really time to get out of here...I'm about to miss the bus.
And I'm a good tipper. If our server is crap and some of his/her co-workers are covering for him/her, I'll tip the co-workers as well. That happened as recently as last weekend. It's not an easy job, it really isn't. But the kid who takes my chicken wings off the counter and brings them to the register and swipes my card -- they don't get a tip. And they shouldn't. They're getting paid to run that register, not to wait tables. And the servers/bartenders/taxi drivers who b**** and moan about tips usually haven't been in the biz for long, and probably won't be for long after they moan about your tip. The best ones, and the ones who make the most money, are the ones that keep a brave face.
If he just hands you a towel, and you don't use the stuff that he paid for, you're under no obligation to give him anything. That said, it's just a buck, dude. A lot of these guys are retired and have to spend all night in a bathroom. One of my dearest friends (RIP) had that gig, and it wasn't easy. I learned as much from him in two years of knowing him than just about anyone else I've had the pleasure to have known.
That's great. That still doesn't deserve a 33-50% tip. Waiters are there early or staying late rolling silverware, stocking, cleaning up, etc, but we don't tip them 33%-50% without question. If they expect a $1 tip from me every time (which I do even though I'm arguing against it right now), they could at least do it without acting like there's anything else they'd rather be doing. If their demeanor at work is any sort of indication, most bartenders are on the verge of suicide.
A cig and the fries I couldn't finish. I keed. I keed. I just act like I'm on the phone so they won't touch my car.
