This may be a sore subject for some and I know this is my food blog but this is something that comes up almost every time I go out and eat. How much do I tip? Most people do the 20% thing. The problem I have is that not every time I go out and eat I don’t get service worthy of giving someone a 20% tip. Twice it has happened when a waitress come outside and mentioned the tip being smaller than they thought it should be.
Years ago at that great Brazilian spot Versailles’s I had wait service that was so terrible that I left a 10 cent tip. After me and my friend waited 20 minutes for our change that was all that was left. That waiter sucked ass. At IHOP over here as much as I love their food I have an equal amount of hate for the staff there. It’s a revolving door of never was actors with an attitude that screams “What do you mean you cant see how famous I’ll be someday?!”
Lots of people pull the Reservoir Dog speech out and talk about how little money the wait staff makes. Get a new job. Most of us at some point have had some terrible job but there’s nothing that will make a crappy job go by slower than treating customers like shit. Yes, there are shitty customers at every job that involves humans just as there are shitty co-workers at every job on the planet. But don’t treat me like crap because you had a bad day or the lady at table 4 has a screaming ass baby.
I don’t go by the 20% rule. I go by different things that occur during the meal. I ask myself certain questions. How often did the waiter come to the table? Did they forget we are here? How many times did they refill my cup? Are they trying to rush me through my meal? Things like that affect how I will tip. Am I a bad person because of this?
