"Servers make up income with tips" ... HA!

[Robin Garr]

A good friend in another city sent me this rant about her daughter, who recently started working as a server at a Cracker Barrel and has been disillusioned by the tips.

I think this kind of thing is all too true, particularly for servers who work at this and similar "casual" chains, and it really pokes a hole in the theories that servers don't need minimum wage because they make it up with tips. Comments welcome, especially if you've been there and done that.

<i>She said she worked 12 tables last night and got $22 in tips. She said that was for $300 total bill for all the tables. She said she talked to the manager and he told her she's a great waitress, but the kind of people who frequent CB are elderly for the most part and just don't tip. Makes me really mad. If you have enough money to go out to eat, you should factor in the tip when you're looking at menu prices. If you can't afford the tip, stay the hell home or go someplace like McDonalds.</i>

My grandmother worked as a waitress a lot when my dad was young... she impressed on him pretty early the importance of tipping right, and thankfully that's something he's passed on to me. I've never been in the situation myself, as I just don't have the temperament needed to deal with customers in that manner. I've had plenty of friends though in college who griped fairly often about older audiences in casual places not tipping as they should.

I really do wish we could shift the standard in this country - pay waiters and waitresses more of what they are worth, factor it in to the food prices. From a purely idealistic POV, a tip should be a gift, a thank you, for a job well done... wait satff income should not be beholden to the whims of the tempramental, and often cheap, dining public.

The only solution my friends ever found were leaving those jobs for positions in estabilshments with a younger and slightly more affluent clientele.

My son delivers pizzas twice a week in Oxford, Ohio, a college town. One would expect poor tipping, but that is not the case. He makes an average of $60 to $80 in tips on a four hour delivery shift and is paid $8.50 an hour by the pizza place.

I can attest to the pizza delivery thing. I worked for Papa John years ago (at the store in Prospect when the only other pizza was Pony Express) and when I delivered to apartment buildings and other "low rent" places, I generally got good tips. I once delivered to a house at Nitta Yuma (mansions) I got a 25 cent tip. It almost always went that way.

[Robin Garr]

I once delivered to a house at Nitta Yuma (mansions) I got a 25 cent tip. It almost always went that way.

I'll bet 4 cents that I know exactly who that was.

I think you're all right on, but I really don't see the country up and changing it's tipping habits...I suppose the skeptical (the project bootstrap crowd) could say that servers who aren't making enough can only blame themselves for not being savvy enough to go to the right restaurants...whatever...

But! Let's not bash the elderly...while there are number who tip rather poorly, it has been my experience that the opposite extreme is also often the case and some of the kindest most polite regulars I have are almost 3 times my age...honestly I find myself more concerned with younger people who have money and never worked in the service industry...those tend to be the nastiest customers ever.

Maybe it's time that the United States adopt the European system of "Service Compris". I always enjoy this whenever I travel in Europe. I still am able to provide an additional tip if the service is outstanding but I don't feel obligated to tip for mediocre service. The only problem with it is that a really poor server still gets a reasonable tip.

Of course I don't believe there's anyway that it could be implemented in the United States across the board. Some restaurants I know automatically add a tip for large parties, but to just raise prices across the board and try to get the American public to understand "Service Compris" would certainly raise a lot of eyebrows!

I've never worked in a restaurant but this certainly sounds like a way that servers would get decent pay for their hard work and not have to depend on the whims and fancies of their customers.

I mean I suppose some nicer places already do this...isn't that how it works at 610?

[Robin Garr]

I mean I suppose some nicer places already do this...isn't that how it works at 610?

Uh ... no? Are you thinking of larger parties, maybe? A number of places do put on a flat tip - often 18 percent - for parties of six or more, but service compris for all dinners? Not in my experience at 610.

Actually, we were in a group of seven at Primo last night - outstanding meal - and because of the size of our party, they built a 18 percent tip onto the bill. In this case, the only issue was that we felt 18 wasn't sufficient for the quality of service we had, and tacked on a little more to bump it up to a more appropriate level.

I mean I suppose some nicer places already do this...isn't that how it works at 610?

Actually at 610 all the tips go to the house and the servers are paid an hourly wage based on senority.

Ah- ok...it's a pool, though i DO think that initially there was a flat fee added across the board and you could choose to tip a bit on top of that...

Waitaminit . . .a tip pool is different from "it goes to the house."

I thought it was illegal for the "house" to get involved with tips. In addition pooling the tips and disbursing based on seniority hardly seems fair since if a new server does an outstanding job and receives a large tip for it, he/she isn't rewarded for it. On the other hand if a long-term employee has an off night they still receive a higher compensation. Neither these situations is fair to the employees involved.

This is a sensitive subject. I have two college aged daughters who worked as servers in high school and both still work as servers on breaks from college. Both have worked at Frisch's and my oldest daughter currently works for Red Lobster.

Whatever folks say about Frisch's, I will say this about them. They've been good to my daughters and have treated them well.

I'm amazed at the stories both girls have told me about both the environments. I'm really amazed how badly so many people tip. Often, even at Red Lobster, my daughter will come home with tips lower than 15% of her sales. Other times it's higher, but I find it incredible that she'd EVER come home with lower than 15%.

I've never tipped under 15% but now I'm going higher with my tips unless the service isn't very good and then I just go with the 15----I can't bring myself to not tip or be super cheap about it.

Here's what I do know. Often a good server overcomes an even mediocre or average food experience. Likewise a poor server can make an outstanding kitchen look bad. I am, however, impressed by how hard these folks work. They spend hours on their feet, attempt to keep water glasses filled, and get whatever folks need. They take abuse from some crude or cruel patrons and must maintain a smile.

It's personal when you're own children get shorted. If people want to know why it's important to give tips, just have your children work as servers and you'll learn quickly.

Restaurants are highly regulated and if tips do not meet the minimum, the restaurant has to make it up on their checks. As for tips, service standards have fellen dramatically in the last 10 years. The 20 something crowd has the feeling they deserve 20% for showing up. I believe that those that give good service get good tips and those that give great service get great tips.
For those servers that do a good job, but are not getting the tips to reflect it, it may be time to move on to somewhere else. Most of what is listed in this string are chains offering very average food and providing decent service overall. If I went to work there I would expect 15% on average. Places where the food is great, you seldom if ever hear of complaints even from servers offering average service. Have those aspiring servers look to Seviche, Le Relais, Equus, Corbett's, Westport General Store, Primo, Mellilo's or any of the other fine establishments that frenquent this blog for opportunities to make real tips. It is easy to point to certain demographics which has merit, but the more afluent restaurants draw a more afluent crowd and better tips.
Now if you can find the place where industry people frequent those tips go up dramatically.