Tom Sietsema Dining
Teekay teekay teekay.
In the dark about T
tipping and lighting Chatters seek advice, air peeves
oday’s special: Edited excerpts from questions and comments from recent online chats.
Awkward tipping situation: Tom, is it acceptable for wait staff to approach a table after the customers have paid a bill to
inform the customers that their 10 percent tip is not enough and that they need to fork over some cash to bump the tip up to 20 percent? That happened to us at a Bethesda restaurant this weekend. As a former waitress, I am a very generous tipper (usually more than 20 percent, and rarely less), but there was a major glitch with service that negatively affected our evening. It was so bad that my usually generous friends wanted to tip even less, but I convinced them otherwise. Tom Sietsema: I typically tip 20 percent of the pre-tax bill, unless the service is poor, in which case I tip 15 percent (or less, depending on what the glitches are). Under very few circumstances is it acceptable for a waiter to broach the subject of an inadequate gratuity with a party. Chatters, what say you? Have you ever stiffed a server, and, if so, why?
34 The WAShingTon PoST MAgAzine | June 6, 2010
When to stiff wait staff: I think it’s only fair to slight the wait staff if you have given them an opportunity to fix whatever the problem may be. I don’t think it’s ever right to be cheap if you haven’t even let them know that you are unhappy. For example, my husband and I recently waited for more than 15 minutes at a very nice restaurant before our waiter acknowledged our presence. However, we politely told him that we had been waiting, and he went out of his way the rest of the evening to make up for it. Needless to say, he received a great tip. Tom: Useful advice. Tips not mandatory: In my opinion, it is absolutely inappropriate for a member of the wait staff to come to your table and tell you that you have tipped inadequately. Tipping is a reward for good service, and as much as we treat it as mandatory because we don’t want to look cheap, it’s not mandatory! If your waiter/waitress does not provide good service, that should be reflected in the tip. If the restaurant itself or the chef or anyone other than the wait staff did something wrong or unsatisfactory, that should be taken up with the manager, and the wait staff should not be tipped less if he or she was not at fault. It is unacceptable for someone receiving a non-mandatory amount of money to assume that it is, in fact, mandatory. Tom: I agree. Undertipping?: Sometimes I blow the math and inadvertently undertip. A polite “Was the service satisfactory?” inquiry has more than once saved me from myself. Tom: Great solution to a potentially sticky situation.
Minibar: I was able to get reservations in a couple weeks to celebrate my anniversary with my Significant Other, and we’re very much excited for the experience. However, I’ve read in various outlets that there’s conversation between diners/chefs and diners/diners. Is this expected? I’m not antisocial, but on our anniversary I want to be focused entirely on my SO, the food and the chefs without having
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