Kitchen

[chrystaltree]

Life's short, I don't antagonize over tipping. 20% for good service, 15% for fair service. I cannot even remember when I last received really bad service.

[Mustang Shar]

On 9/21/2014 moonchilde said:

On 9/20/2014 lilypadfrog said: I went to a local Olive Garden today, first time in a long time. There was this thing called a tivosk on the table. The hostess told us that we could order our food from this. My daughter did order for us by pushing buttons. Someone brought our food, did check on us once during the meal and did remove our plate. We paid via this thing which sent the receipt to the email address connected to my daughter's card. Different people did separate things for us. So what would you do for a tip? My daughter went ahead and put in 20%. I don't like this set up, didn't even get my mint or a thank you for coming as we left.

I would consider that "service" the same as the service at Sizzler, and tip accordingly. They get $1 for bringing my food to the table. I add another $1 if they come back during the meal to ask if I need anything.

That is a very different scenerio! Good post....maybe your method of tipping would be correct, nothing like self service, yes? So taking the order and paying for the order all done by the customer..... Anyone else familiar with this new technology? I don't think I would be tipping the same as full service.

[debic]

I'm a pretty good tipper, good or bad. 20% always. I waited tables and I've had some pretty bad days and I hope they're just having one of those.

I don't hear about too many tip sharing places anymore. I used to hate those. A smart waitress will tip her busboy and hostesses also.

The automatic tip for large tables has been around for over 30 years. They are hard to wait on and take up a lot of time. And many always expect the other to leave the tip and many times the waitress ends up with nothing.

A million years ago, tips were free money and it was easier to make a living doing it. Some restaurants automatically take taxes out for the percentage of your tickets. While you still make money, it takes a big cut out of it. Except in fancy places most waitresses get paid very little, tips are considered part of their wage whether they make it or not. Luckily most do.

[jackthebear]

On 9/20/2014 lilypadfrog said: I went to a local Olive Garden today, first time in a long time. There was this thing called a tivosk on the table. The hostess told us that we could order our food from this. My daughter did order for us by pushing buttons. Someone brought our food, did check on us once during the meal and did remove our plate. We paid via this thing which sent the receipt to the email address connected to my daughter's card. Different people did separate things for us. So what would you do for a tip? My daughter went ahead and put in 20%. I don't like this set up, didn't even get my mint or a thank you for coming as we left.

I wonder how the waitstaff feel about this? Tips might be pooled anyway.

I can see how it is more efficient, but certainly takes away the personal contact. However one thing that I really, really hate is waiting for the check after we have finished all of our food. So this would eliminate that.

[debic]

On 9/22/2014 jackthebear said:

On 9/20/2014 lilypadfrog said: I went to a local Olive Garden today, first time in a long time. There was this thing called a tivosk on the table. The hostess told us that we could order our food from this. My daughter did order for us by pushing buttons. Someone brought our food, did check on us once during the meal and did remove our plate. We paid via this thing which sent the receipt to the email address connected to my daughter's card. Different people did separate things for us. So what would you do for a tip? My daughter went ahead and put in 20%. I don't like this set up, didn't even get my mint or a thank you for coming as we left.

I wonder how the waitstaff feel about this? Tips might be pooled anyway.

I can see how it is more efficient, but certainly takes away the personal contact. However one thing that I really, really hate is waiting for the check after we have finished all of our food. So this would eliminate that.

I obviously haven't been to one for a long time either. I don't like those much. There is a cool looking restaurant in Salt Lake City called the Mayan. Mexican food. Looks like you are in the jungle, I guess they even have diving shows there. The first time we went we were waited on and it was nice. The last time we went we went through a line of 'fake' food and ordered and paid at the till.

[terrier3]

In most European countries I have visited, the tip is automatically added to the bill. The servers are paid a living wage too.

Here servers get about $2.50 an hour, whether they are working at the Waldorf Astoria or your local Sizzler. Obviously tips will be higher at fine dining places, but the servers at Olive Garden need to make a livable wage too - hence the suggestion for the tip on the bill.

I doubt whether too many people decline to leave a tip at the Four Seasons...but I bet they do that all the time at chain places or small neighborhood restaurants!

[Financialgrl]

I think its a good idea to list the tip amounts on the bill. How many times have you been to the store and cashiers of all ages don't know how to make change if you hand them a bill and try to then give them change so you don't get a handful of change in return . Everyone has a cell phone these days with a calculator but there are many out there that have no idea how to figure percentages for the tip - sad but true.

And it's not like they added the tip to your bill - they figured out the percentages for you, what you choose to tip is up to you unless as others have said, there is a large group and the tip is automatically added.

[ChynnaBlue]

On 9/20/2014 Cats3000 said:

I've been to several restaurants that show "Suggested Tip" amounts at the bottom of the check. Doesn't bother me in the least. Doesn't influence me in the least. I ignore them and tip what I want to tip. However, if the tip is automatically added to the bill with no forewarning on the menu, I'll let it go and take my business elsewhere. I might also dispute the amount with my credit card issues on the basis of no information prior to receiving the restaurant's bill.

I really like the receipts that do that. I think some people don't know what's appropriate, especially people coming from other countries with completely different tipping practices. I pretty much always tip 20% unless service is exceptionally good or exceptionally bad.

That said, I think restaurants should pay employees more and we shouldn't have to tip at all. I would rather pay a few dollars more as a set price than pay in tips and I think it would be far more fair for the servers. Most places split tips anyway, so if you stiff a bad server, everyone feels it and if you reward a good server, that bad server gets a piece of it.

[Moonchilde]

More and more higher(er)-end restaurants are adding a mandatory surcharge to their bills of $2-5 to subsidize their employees' health insurance - i.e., previously the restaurant offered NO health insurance, or unaffordably expensive insurance, and with the surcharge they are able to offer their employees decent health insurance. I am in two minds about this. We all know how this should be taken care of, but the fact remains that it isn't. And if I can afford the high-end restaurant in the first place, I would not really resent the extra amount, knowing what it is for. Having said that, since so far it's mostly the trendy upscale places that are doing it, it's not something I have been faced with.

[terrier3]

On 9/22/2014 moonchilde said: More and more higher(er)-end restaurants are adding a mandatory surcharge to their bills of $2-5 to subsidize their employees' health insurance - i.e., previously the restaurant offered NO health insurance, or unaffordably expensive insurance, and with the surcharge they are able to offer their employees decent health insurance. I am in two minds about this. We all know how this should be taken care of, but the fact remains that it isn't. And if I can afford the high-end restaurant in the first place, I would not really resent the extra amount, knowing what it is for. Having said that, since so far it's mostly the trendy upscale places that are doing it, it's not something I have been faced with.

That surcharge is a PROTEST fee, designed to make the employees and the gvt. look bad.

It is also a silly move for the owners, taxwise.

If they INCLUDED the cost of HI into their meal charge (like they include gas, electricity, rent, food costs, etc.), they could then consider it as normal cost of doing business and deduct it from their bottom line taxes.

By tacking it on as a "fee", they pay FULL TAXES on that fee...with no deductions allowed.

It's silly, petty and will cost them money.

I really doubt high quality, top class restaurants will do this.

Just disgruntled protestors.