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It's all relative. I made more last year than my mother, who has a pretty awesome job at Wash U.

But I have a drinking habit to feed and it's expensive out here.

My tax bill come that dreaded day will be several grand, though. Eeep.


On a more objective and less dickish level: I know its a system unlike the rest of the world. But I dont know how one would change it. My job is very, very stressful, requires super late hours and years of experience. If it offered a straight 25 an hour vs a sleepy wine bar day shift, bartenders and servers would never take the punishing shifts or places. For it to work, owners would have to have some nightly system to pay per sales, like a mini comission, adjusted daily. Americas tipping system accomplishes this. Crappy or starter jobs (Applebees server etc) dont pay like a cushy lounge or high volume club.

The anti tipping discussion pops up every year or so here. Apologies.

I actually tip more at lower end restaurants, sub shops, etc. (assuming I get decent service) because those people work every bit as hard, if not harder, as other service jobs but make peanuts because the 15-20% thing is so ingrained in people. In my experience there isn't a huge correlation between the prices a place charges and the quality of service you receive. Nothing pisses me off more than going into a nicer place and getting the impression the server just assumes they can be terrible and still make their money based on the bill total. Second place would be bartenders whining that $1 a drink for beers or basic cocktails isn't enough.

I worked at a damn IHOP, wasn't a particularly good server, and I still did pretty well for myself. Not great, but I was living pretty comfortably (given I had roommates too at the time).

Tip culture is dumb, but I found that more often than not people are kind or at least decent and will tip what they should, and the people that were extra generous, over the long run, more than made up for the people who tip little to nothing.

How much to servers actually share their tips with kitchen staff? Say my wife and I go out for a nice meal and a bottle of wine and the bill comes to $100. If I'm tipping $25 on that meal, how much of that makes it to the chef and kitchen staff?

Gashouse wrote:How much to servers actually share their tips with kitchen staff? Say my wife and I go out for a nice meal and a bottle of wine and the bill comes to $100. If I'm tipping $25 on that meal, how much of that makes it to the chef and kitchen staff?

$0. I've worked in one restaurant that tipped out the kitchen, but it was voluntary and only on busy nights. It amounted to a little extra beer money. At my place now, the sous on up make a good salary, and the line cooks make $15+. Dishwashers are around $12.

If I'm serving, I tip out the bar, bussers and expo (who's technically kitchen staff I guess) about 25% of what I make. If I make $300, I walk with $230 or so. Behind the bar I only tip out the busser and expo and collect server tips. That's where you want to be.

yea bartending in a busy restaurant is where it's at....they prolly make the most money in the entire restaurant.

a smart waiter buys the kitchen beers and gives them weed.

lukethedrifter wrote:a smart waiter buys the kitchen beers and gives them weed.

everyone ive known who has worked in a restaurant (not fast food) knows how to party. i met my herb guy through a server neighbor. i dont mean that as a criticism but theres something about those jobs (at least from what ive picked up through friends). work for potentially ungrateful people (management and customers), work hard, get off work at an odd time, etc . anyways..

i feel like i struggle with tipping. i usually probably tip more 'cause i dont want the staff to "hate" me....unless its really bad service but i couldn't tell you the last time that happened...perhaps i have low standards.

i tip when i carry out though.. i always kinda wonder how much/if i should. for a while i didn't...then i noticed someone tipping at the thai place i go to a lot (and carry out 99% of the time from) and she tipped like 2 bucks. then i asked a co-worker the next day and she said she tips 1 or 2 bucks when she carries out. so now i've started that. though part of me is like "you are preparing it and handing it over, the bill itself pays for the cooking of it, is 1-2$ really necessary?" but i will still tip. i suppose i rationalize it that 1$ is for taking the order and making sure its ready when i arrive. plus im pretty loyal to the places i like (only a few) so the employees tend to know who i am, so i cant stop now!

theres one italian place here, il vicino, that incorporates the tip into the bill and it always throws me off. you walk in, place your order at the front desk, pay, they give you a number, you sit wherever and then it becomes a "traditional" sit down restaurant (although servers go to any table that needs help, no individual servers). every single time i feel like im "ripping" them off by not leaving a tip but they are adamant that its not necessary/already taken care of with the bill. but because of our "tip culture" it does feel odd.

One time I left a three cent tip at a sit down restaurant on a $15 bill. She deserved to get stiffed, but I still felt terrible about it for the next week or so. Otherwise I don't think I've ever tipped less than 15%. There are some BBQ places here that specifically say not to tip at all, and it's kind of refreshing.

cardsfansince82 wrote:One time I left a three cent tip at a sit down restaurant on a $15 bill. She deserved to get stiffed, but I still felt terrible about it for the next week or so. Otherwise I don't think I've ever tipped less than 15%. There are some BBQ places here that specifically say not to tip at all, and it's kind of refreshing.

I was left a dime once in a similar circumstance (not all my fault but some). It's better to get stiffed, frankly. I think I threw the dime away or gave it to somebody else. I didn't want it.