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Wait staff, tipping, and Minimum Wage

Should Tipping be figured into a wait staff wage?


  • Total voters
    46
Object all that you want, but it is more than just a way to get good service, it is a way to get great service.

I use this to my benefit, and it is very common for me to get treatment well above and beyond what would be considered "good".

Completely agree.
 
Yes, it is fine. Waiting on tables is not intended to be a career path. It's a means to assist in supporting oneself before a career or supplementing income during that career.

Waitstaff in high end restaurants make great money....easily over $60K a year.

How much does a waitress make in a high-end restaurant?

You will bring in great tips working at one of these establishments. A normal, busy, 8-hour weekend shift will make you about $160 to $240 per night.

How Much Does a Waitress Make?
 
I agree with everything Maggie said in this thread, plus my wife used to be a waitress and she made good money even though she was paid $2 an hour plus tips.

In my personal experience with going out to eat in Europe, it seems the service is typically better in the United States because of this tipping system. And I watch the TV shows Bar Rescue and Restaurant Impossible and in there they explain how important the wait staff service is to a restaurant. So if the wait staff pay is directly tied to their quality of service that is a good thing. Similar to the manager of the restaurant getting a quarterly or annual bonus based on how well the restaurant does gives he or she a big stake in how well everything runs.
 
The true reaction to your efforts. There are more subtle ways to mistreat the guest pushing. I just wonder.

The true reaction?

I go to a restaurant that is on a wait.. a server who knows me lets me know there is an empty section, and that he will pick up a table outside of his section to take care of me. Meanwhile everyone else is stuck hanging out in the lobby for another 30 minutes waiting to get a table.

I watch as tables around me have empty drinks while I never do, I get free appetizers or desserts offered to me on occasion. I get informed when there is only one "special" left and it gets held for me. I get a little extra pour in drinks from the bar, I get the server asking the cooks to "hook up" that dish.

The waiter lets me know happy hour has ended.. and asks if I or any of my guests wish to order drinks for later so that we can still get two for ones or doubles well after happy hour has "officially" ended

I go to the bar and there are people lined three deep at the bar waiting on drinks.. the bartender sees me and immediately acknowledges me and asks me what I would like.. meanwhile everyone who has been at the bar waiting cranes their head and gives me a dirty look. I order a scotch.. watch him pour, while I am watching do the standard 1.25 oz "5 count" in my head.. then 6, 7.. ect.

The list goes on and on..
 
The true reaction?

I go to a restaurant that is on a wait.. a server who knows me lets me know there is an empty section, and that he will pick up a table outside of his section to take care of me. Meanwhile everyone else is stuck hanging out in the lobby for another 30 minutes waiting to get a table.

I watch as tables around me have empty drinks while I never do, I get free appetizers or desserts offered to me on occasion. I get informed when there is only one "special" left and it gets held for me. I get a little extra pour in drinks from the bar, I get the server asking the cooks to "hook up" that dish.

The waiter lets me know happy hour has ended.. and asks if I or any of my guests wish to order drinks for later so that we can still get two for ones or doubles well after happy hour has "officially ended"

I go to the bar and there are people lined three deep at the bar waiting on drinks.. the bartender sees me and immediately acknowledges me and asks me what I would like.. meanwhile everyone who has been at the bar waiting cranes their head and gives me a dirty look. I order a scotch.. watch him pour, while I am watching do the standard 1.25 oz "5 count" in my head.. then 6, 7.. ect.

The list goes on and on..

Find it hard to believe, having done the job.
 
Waitstaff in high end restaurants make great money....easily over $60K a year.

Not necessarily the same thing, but okay. I think we're talking more about your corner diner or Applebee's, but you are correct that people at the upper end can make a reasonable living doing this.
 
Find it hard to believe, having done the job.

I have been on both sides of the fence as well. Both waiting in casual and fine dining, and bartending. I treated my good tippers like gold, and they came back and requested me when I was a waiter and they did get preferential treatmenr. Now that i am out of the business it is I who get treated like gold, and I do request certain waiters at places , and I do get very obvious preferential treatment.

When I go to somewhere new I tip above and beyond as well.. When I go there again I am remembered.

Scoff all that you wish - but the effect of tipping well is very real
 
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I would support their having the same minimum wage as everyone else. But, tell you right now, I would still tip 15-20% on my check.

Restaurant owners who think anyone can waitress are the ones that go out of business. Waiting tables takes training, talent and skill. That we've gotten into this situation where they make $3/hour or whatever and depend on tips just means that they haven't been valued, in my opinion.

Restaurant Owners take note: Your waitstaff is the face of your restaurant. It doesn't just take a warm body to successfully wait tables. It's hard work. It requires excellent time management skills. And it takes someone who has real motivation to put the customer first.

I second Maggie's comments on this one. I'd also add, can you imagine if all people in "service" positions were subject to tipping as part of their "wage package"? Many people who work in retail or government, as examples, would go hungry and homeless based on the level of "service" many provide. In some stores and government offices, it's almost a criminal offense to even ask some clerk for assistance.

I seldom run into any restaurant wait staffer who's outright rude, disrespectful, or unhelpful and almost always get great assistance and service. Restauarant wait staff are terrific - but I have to say lots of restaurant customers, far more often, are far from terrific. What part of paying for a meal outside your home makes you feel you can treat those who serve you as sub-humans?
 
I have been on both sides of the fence as well. Both waiting in casual and fine dining, and bartending. I treated my good tippers like gold, and they came back and requested me when I was a waiter and they did get preferential treatmenr. Now that i am out of the business it is I who get treated like gold, and I do request certain waiters at places , and I do get very obvious preferential treatment.

When I go to somewhere new I tip above and beyond as well.. When I go there again I am remembered.

Scoff all that you wish - but the effect of tipping well is very real

I treated everyone like gold. It was my job. And everyone thought I treated them special, because, again, it was my job. I remembered everyone who came often, because it was, again, my job.
 
I second Maggie's comments on this one. I'd also add, can you imagine if all people in "service" positions were subject to tipping as part of their "wage package"? Many people who work in retail or government, as examples, would go hungry and homeless based on the level of "service" many provide. In some stores and government offices, it's almost a criminal offense to even ask some clerk for assistance.

I seldom run into any restaurant wait staffer who's outright rude, disrespectful, or unhelpful and almost always get great assistance and service. Restauarant wait staff are terrific - but I have to say lots of restaurant customers, far more often, are far from terrific. What part of paying for a meal outside your home makes you feel you can treat those who serve you as sub-humans?

I would love to see the Department of Motor Vehicles, post office, Veterans Administration, and others start a system that ties the quality of service to their pay immediately. Or somehow give them ownership in how everything runs. Oh to think about better service at places like that makes me smile.
 
Waitstaff in high end restaurants make great money....easily over $60K a year.



How Much Does a Waitress Make?

Even in low end "turn and burn" casual restaurants I would strive to make $20 an hour in tips. Bartending at some places I was able to pull $1000 a week (hours sucked!!!). Fine dining was hit and miss. There would be some nights where I would make a $500 tip, then there were others where I would not break $100 for a weeknight. On weekends if I were to average it, it would have been about $150 - $175 a night. This was over a decade ago however.
 
I would love to see the Department of Motor Vehicles, post office, Veterans Administration, and others start a system that ties the quality of service to their pay immediately. Or somehow give them ownership in how everything runs. Oh to think about better service at places like that makes me smile.

You're allowed to be a dreamer and fantasize this time of year!
 
The true reaction?

I go to a restaurant that is on a wait.. a server who knows me lets me know there is an empty section, and that he will pick up a table outside of his section to take care of me. Meanwhile everyone else is stuck hanging out in the lobby for another 30 minutes waiting to get a table.

I watch as tables around me have empty drinks while I never do, I get free appetizers or desserts offered to me on occasion. I get informed when there is only one "special" left and it gets held for me. I get a little extra pour in drinks from the bar, I get the server asking the cooks to "hook up" that dish.

The waiter lets me know happy hour has ended.. and asks if I or any of my guests wish to order drinks for later so that we can still get two for ones or doubles well after happy hour has "officially" ended

I go to the bar and there are people lined three deep at the bar waiting on drinks.. the bartender sees me and immediately acknowledges me and asks me what I would like.. meanwhile everyone who has been at the bar waiting cranes their head and gives me a dirty look. I order a scotch.. watch him pour, while I am watching do the standard 1.25 oz "5 count" in my head.. then 6, 7.. ect.

The list goes on and on..

Good service is great and all, but I think the bartender needs counseling by management if he is giving away the alcohol in the form of extra pours. That can add up quick. And restaurants and bars fail pretty frequently because they are not making money, and giving products away contributes to that. The show, Bar Rescue, talks about that all the time.
 
I treated everyone like gold. It was my job. And everyone thought I treated them special, because, again, it was my job. I remembered everyone who came often, because it was, again, my job.

Great. If this is so you are an exception. Did you by "default" bend the rules, or go several extra miles above and beyond for everyone?? The truth of the matter is that bad attitudes, and views that their job is a temporary job or a throw away job (waiting positions are a dime a dozen, they can just go up the road) are very common.
 
Good service is great and all, but I think the bartender needs counseling by management if he is giving away the alcohol in the form of extra pours. That can add up quick. And restaurants and bars fail pretty frequently because they are not making money, and giving products away contributes to that. The show, Bar Rescue, talks about that all the time.

Many places around here actually give bartenders a credit or a weekly allowance of "hospitality" drinks that they can offer. And being on both sides of the fence, I can tell you that a good bartender has ways to make sure that liquor costs stay in line (unfortunately sometimes it means that some other people may get short pours to offset this).
 
Great. If this is so you are an exception. Did you by "default" bend the rules, or go several extra miles above and beyond for everyone?? The truth of the matter is that bad attitudes, and views that their job is a temporary job or a throw away job (waiting positions are a dime a dozen, they can just go up the road) are very common.

What I did, I did for everyone. And it is the attitude and not the pay that is the real issue. I wrote a story once called dime a dozen. It was about nursing assistants, but the it would work for any profession so seen. ;)
 
What I did, I did for everyone. And it is the attitude and not the pay that is the real issue. I wrote a story once called dime a dozen. It was about nursing assistants, but the it would work for any profession so seen. ;)

Let me know when everyone else shares that same attitude.
 
Many places around here actually give bartenders a credit or a weekly allowance of "hospitality" drinks that they can offer. And being on both sides of the fence, I can tell you that a good bartender has ways to make sure that liquor costs stay in line (unfortunately sometimes it means that some other people may get short pours to offset this).

Well if the amount of hospitality drinks is known and the liquor costs are being actively tracked that is ok then in my opinion. Except for the short pours part, people notice that too.
 
Well if the amount of hospitality drinks is known and the liquor costs are being actively tracked that is ok then in my opinion. Except for the short pours part, people notice that too.

Depends on where the liquor is going, in restaurants, it is often service bar that gets those shorts where it is out of sight, if a drink comes back, then add a splash. In dedicated bars it may be that such and such group that is already trashed gets a round of Washington Apples with a tad more cranberry juice, and a bit more of the relatively inexpensive apple schnapps versus a smaller pour of the expensive Crown Royal.
 
Most the people I know do. :shrug:

Are most of the people that you know 18-20 years old viewing their job as a means to get drinking money for the night so that after work they can go out and get trashed and come back the next morning to work hung over so that they can do it all over again??

And yes I know this is not everyone .. but it is all to common, even those who are there trying to put food on the table for their family and kids often loathe their job - and as such often have little motivation or desire to take pride in it, and have little to no loyalty to their workplace, but are instead motivated by comparably selfish reasons.
 
I tip 20% base and up to 25% for excellent service. If the wait staff was getting paid salary I see no point in tipping as my tip is already included in the higher price of food.

As "cool story bro" anecdote, I had a discussion about tipping a few months ago with a colleague who was on a two week visit from London. We went to lunch together every day while he was in the states and he never got over the speed and attentiveness of American waiters compared to London. I explained to him the idea of the American merit pay system for wait staff and he couldn't quite wrap his head around it. He looked at it as the wait staff working for almost no money until I pointed out to him that the average tip was 10% and each of the 5 tables had a turnover at meal times of 30 minutes, and the average bill for two people was $50 dollars and left him to do the math.

When he realized that the wait staff was pulling $50/hour during lunch shift in tips alone he quickly realized why the wait staff in America is so much more customer focused than in London. London waiters get paid better hourly wages but don't even touch the take home pay of a good waiter in the US.
 
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Are most of the people that you know 18-20 years old viewing their job as a means to get drinking money for the night so that after work they can go out and get trashed and come back the next morning to work hung over so that they can do it all over again??

And yes I know this is not everyone .. but it is all to common, even those who are there trying to put food on the table for their family and kids often loathe their job - and as such often have little motivation or desire to take pride in it, and have little to no loyalty to their workplace, but are instead motivated by comparably selfish reasons.

All of that can be true and still do a good job while at work. And those who don't really aren't that motivated by tips or commission or anything else. It's always about who you are.
 
If we changed it, we'd be more adopting the pay system in other countries where tips are basically non-existant (except from American tourists). A lot of countries are like that. They don't see a reason that waits should have to have a portion of their pay decided individually at the customer level. I don't know how it ends up working out. My guess would be that if we switched to this kind of a pay system, waits would get a huge boost for a short while, while everyone got used to the idea of not tipping, then they'd end up at somewhere around the same rate.


Just a guess, though.

I will tell you what will happen... service will suck. Service sucks in most of Europe, Australia and New Zealand. There is no competition among servers. Servers don't know anything about the menu, the wines and wait times after ordering can be horrendous.
 
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