Tipping 101

I am a good tipper. I waited tables for years...and I will reward good service with a great tip. I also understand that sometimes what can be viewed as bad service...is not the server's fault. If I am at a restaurant or bar and I am not getting the service that I feel I should...I find a manager....and POW... great service. I may get a snot-shot in my food...but the service is good. HA!

I was at brunch with a big group of girls a few weeks back. Our food was great. I was drinking coffee...and cup was always hot and fresh. Refill after refill. When it came time to pay... the girls started saying... "Oh yea, don't give her more than 8% at the most." I piped up, "Um... why are you only tipping 8%?" A couple of the girls felt like she should have asked them if they wanted more drinks. I said, "Well she asked once...you all said NO... and she was at the table at least 3 times to fill my coffee...you could have asked her then." Then they kept giving more excuses which were LAME! I told them that I was embarrassed...and a few grunted at me. THESE ARE MY FRIENDS! Ewh! I was horrified. I grabbed the pile of cash and credit card receipts and added up what the tip was. I had paid with cash....and had left a 25% tip. With my tip the total tip was actually around 7%. I poured every OUNCE of money in my purse and left it on the table. I wished I had paid with a credit card so I could add more tip. I scanned the restaurant for a cash machine...none. YUCK! I snuck out of the restaurant.

Last week I went to dinner and drinks with Emily S. Our pizza came out on the wrong crust...we wanted thin... it came out regular. The waitress apologized and brought us a thin crust. She was a little slow with our drinks...but she was slammed. Em is an ex-waitress too. And we both scanned the restaurant and saw how busy she was...and she was the only one there. The waitress bought us a free round of drinks. Our total tab was $30...and we tipped her $12. It wasn't HER fault that the kitchen didn't make the pizza thin crust. And it wasn't HER fault that she was slammed.

Folks, when tipping or judging a server's service...consider a couple things. How many servers are on the floor? Is the place packed? Did he/she just get 4 tables all at once? AND...if the food gets messed up....more often than not...it is the kitchen's fault...not the server. Just something to think about.