The Front Row

This reminds me of a story. My wife and I used to go to this mexican place down the street once or twice a month during the week. We would usually get a couple of pitchers of margaritas at like $20 per (huge profit if you have not guessed). I once asked for some sour cream that did not come with my $15 fajitas and when I got the bill they charged me $2 for it. I asked the waiter and then the manager to take it off which they refused. I threaten to never come back and they still refused. I have never gone back into that place again and that was 15 years ago. The place is still there.

I've worked in the restaurant biz a good portion of my working lif/career. I don't do it anymore because it is a hard lifestyle for a family. I have always tipped well. I still even catch myself paying attention to everything going on in the restaurant. For example, is there a couple big parties that just got seated? Which could slow down the kitchen. How busy is the bar? Could slow down drinks. Is the restaurant short staffed? This happens a lot more than you would think. Especially when big wigs don't like the labor numbers you are running. So they tell you to cut back on a server or two or three. Then what happens? Customer service takes a dive. Instead of a server having a 3 or 4 table section they may now have a four or 5 table section. Impossible to handle especially if the server gets a table of 6-8 along with 3 other tables of 3 or 4. I also don't blame the sever if the food sucks. It isn't their fault the kitchen screwed up. Don't forget that a server makes 3.70/hr either. Another rule of thumb to keep in mind is if you are going to "camp" out at a table for 3 hours be sure to compnsate the server for the time you sat there and caused them to miss out on making money. Especially on a Friday or Saturday night. Nothing is worse than Having a table sit for 3 hours and tip you on the bill which may be 10-30 bucks while the server knows they could have turned that table 3 times and made 3 times as much money. So if you do do that, don't be surprised if your drinks aren't refilled after all of your plates are cleared and your check is presented. Just my rant about the service industry. I look at it in the way that I could be making someone's day better by leaving them a better tip than they expected.

I tip 15% if the service just sucks, a week ago we had a fantastic server and we tipped almost 50% and was glad to do it.

How much do I tip: About 30 degrees.

Why: Alcohol.

Seriously, 15-20%...because waitresses deserve to make a decent living too.

Edit: When I was a travelling consultant, I ALWAYS went to the bar/restaurant my fist night in a hotel. Got something cheap (drink/appetizer) and gave a $20 tip (likely about 300-400% tip). Word gets around and staff would knock over other customers to serve me the rest of my stay (when I'd still tip 30% or so).

I don't do the percentage thing... I do more of quality of service and how long we are at the restaurant.

Example, I've been at Chili's, Applebee's etc, walked in, ordered water and meal right off the bat, ate real quick and left a 5 dollar tip based on being there for 30 minutes and her being very nice and knowing I didn't have a lot of time.

Then I've also went to very nice restaurants, spent 2 hours there and left 5 bucks for shitty service and attitude, and I've left 100 dollar tips for the waitress who was very nice, knowledgeable about the menu, helpful etc etc...

So I've left 1% up to 100%...All up to the waiter/waitress