I have been wanting to do this for a while, so finally I am. I wanted to share my view on the tip out system for when you're out eating or drinking or both. So many confused people out there who have no clue about how people make money in the restaurant...or so it seems. Servers make money on TIPS! Not on hourly pay, which is minimum wage for the most places, for those confused folks out there! I have been in the restaurant business for about 7 years now, so I consider myself a good enough source of information when it comes to tip out stuff. I will start off by saying 1) IF you cannot afford it, DO NOT GO OUT! Don't give me and excuse saying "Times are tough I can't afford to leave a tip". EXCUSE ME?! Times are tough???? Why do you think I work in the restaurant? Don't go out and order a a double patron margarita plus 15$ meal, and then tell me you're broke! You shouldn't be eating out and especially not drinking out if you cannot afford it! 2) Don't tell your server you will leave her a big tip. Big in your mind, could be not so big in your servers. How do you know what your server considers is a good tip. My "favorite" is when they say they will leave me a great tip because I was so good and end up leaving like 9.8%. This is a joke, sir/ma'am its 2013! A good tip is at least 20%, and you want to impress me, you may leave me something more like 30%, now thats a good tip. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I only consider 20% and up as a good tip, I think 15% is okay too. The only thing I'm saying here is Don't tell your server you will leave her a nice tip no matter what the situation is. If you would like to leave a nice tip, just do it! 3) I know many may still think that 10% is a good tip, but I just want to wake those up and say NO! 10% is more like a punch in the face! I promise your waitress is thinking what she did wrong when you leave a 10%. Back the percentage, at least do 15%. A proper tip now days is 18-20% if you're experience was good. 4) Thank you's DONT PAY MY BILLS!!! Do not shower your waitress with thank you's and leave no tip because you were so nice to her/him. How would you have liked working for someone and instead of a paycheck you would get just thank you every couple of week? Again, don't get me wrong, we like when people are nice to us and appreciate us and say things like "thank you", but not when you're leaving 1$ on a 34$ tab. Next time, do yourself a favor and stay home if you can't afford to go out. (back to rule #1)
Now, if you're experience was HORRIBLE consider the following: Was it your servers fault? Was it because you waiting 20 minutes for her/him to ask you what you would like to drink? Was it because the food took forever to come out? Was your drink bad? Was your server rude to you? Was your food too hot/cold? Was your steak not cooked to the temperature you ordered? Did you have a hair in your plate? Was there a bug in your drink? These things happen everywhere. Not just at 2 star restaurant or 3, 4 and 5 restaurants have those issues as well. We're only human, we all make mistakes.
Restaurant is one big house with many family members inside. Many different people need to do the right thing to satisfy your wish. Every time servers and other restaurant workers just want to do that. We want to make your experience a pleasant one! We never want to mess up on your meal or your drink.
For the exception of two things from the list of questions, you should consider leaving your server a normal tip. The only time when it is not forgivable is if your server is rude to you or she took 10-20 minutes to approach you from when you sat down. Be patient if you chose to sit in the bar. Bar service is a little bit slower, so if you want to have a fast dinner sit in the regular restaurant side and make sure to let your server know RIGHT AWAY, not when you have 10 minutes left.
On behave of myself and many other industry individuals.
Tipping is SEXY!
As Always,
Stay Classy My Friends <3
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