I suppose many folks don’t like confrontation and are unwilling or just afraid to give constructive criticism.

 

That's some small font.

 

Yeah, dealing with restaurant management is quite intimidating However, I'm sure for some people that is in fact true.

The way I look at it is like this:

If I were a waiter and I had done a poor job on a particular night or at a particular table would I rather-

A) Get a small tip, sending the message that maybe I need to adjust my attitude, etc, or
B) Get called out at the table by the customers causing embarrassment in front of them and other customers, or
C) Have someone "tell on me" to my boss and have him/her watching me like a hawk for the next few days

Personally, I would rather get a small tip to serve as a slap in the face that I can correct myself and avoid an embarrassing moment in the restaurant or having my boss breathing down my neck.

 

Me too.

 

20% unless poor service

 

Hey blue you're here late tonight!

 

I just double the tax. (ends up being 18%) If the service sucks I give less but Im pretty lucky when it comes to waiters/waitresses. I like the kind that kneel down at your table or grab an empty seat at your table while taking your order, thats the kind of thing I would do if I were a waiter.

 

Once, a very long time ago and as an experiment, I gave the tip at the beginning of the service. It felt weird so I haven't done it since.

At Monterey's Mexican Restaurant in Columbia, the food is great and cheap. Something like $4.75 if I have water to drink. Add to that the decent waiter and I've giving a ~100% tip.

At Longhorn's in Columbia we found a great waitress. We always ask for her. She knows that we have to get back to work and brings our bill with the food. We go there once or twice a month and she gets the exception to the rule tip. Somewhere around 30 - 50% but not too excessive.

I have a favorite stop for breakfast. The waitresses all recognize me and ask me where I've been. Breakfast is inexpensive and good so they get ~ 25 to 30%

We once went to a local place that had great food. When we went back they had changed the menu and dropped a great item from the menu. We politely informed the waiter that this was unacceptable and that we might never come back because of it. He could have told the manager, which I was hoping for, but he didn't. He got 15% and we have never gone back.



Poor service? 15% max or I'm going to get up and leave and never go back. I usually consider poor service from a waitress or waiter a problem with the whole restaurant.

 

I disagree. If the service was oustanding and a large tip was justified, would you expect me to explain that to the manager and/or wait staff as well? I agree with what someone posted previously....I'm not there to do the Manager's job.

 

Bingo. It's not my job to explain to the staff what they should do, they should already know that. . sure I'll go and explain myself to them but I want a days pay for my services.

 

Well said!

Really bad service... $.02 my 2 cents worth. This assures them I didn't forget to leave a tip and also expresses my opinion of their work. In most businesses, no customer tells you how well you are doing. This is a very rare occurence.
Generally 20 to 30%

To Insure Prompt Service - TIPS.
Not my job to run the place or train their staff. However, when I have exceptional service, I will find the manager. They get plenty of complaints and very few compliments.

 

Depends on how cheap I am feeling.

I too typically double the tax to get approx 15%. If I'm trying to impress a lady friend or simply want to avoid a conversation on the subject, I'll do 20%. Poor service of course will get you less but I dont really pay attention to the % at that point. I think there was only 1 time I didn't tip, and that was at a comedy club where I was only able to order 1 drink as I was conveniently skipped over on the second round. I was quite upset.

When I order Pizza, I always do Carry-Out. They have a tip jar and I dont put anything in. That's why I drove down here, so I wouldnt have to waste extra money on delivery.

 

Excellent point. Seems like everybody and their brother has a tip jar sitting out these days.

 

My wife is a waitress, so I tip very well. Even more than she feels I should.

But I agree with "it's not my job to train them". It's not.

If that's what I wanted to do I'd have my kids serve me dinner.haha

 

I dont understand why we're suppose to have sympathy for people who work in jobs that are allowed to pay them below minimum wage. Since when is it my responsibility to ensure Your employees are compensated for making Your profit?