I went to an Old Country Buffet, once.
ONCE
Posted on 10/06/2012 4:50:36 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
George Dalmon, a former rugby player, and his friend Andy Miles were banned from all-you-can-eat restaurant, Gobi, In Brighton, after the manager branded them "a couple of pigs".
The men would each eat five bowls of stir-fry during their regular meals at the Mongolian barbecue, which invites guests to create their own dishes from the buffet.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I'm a VERY generous tipper. 20-25% MINIMUM. It breaks my heart when I get really crummy service, because then I "only" leave 10-15%. I never stiff for this reason.
In my worldview, all-you-can-eat means, literally, all one person can stuff into his maw. Remember, for every human hog that threatens to break the bank you probably have three or four others that can’t come anywhere near eating enough to make up what they’ve paid, and that includes kids, who are interested only in the desserts.
There was this "Best of" show about Las Vegas, and they listed the Sunday "Sterling Buffet Brunch" at Bally's as the best buffet in Vegas. Though ridiculously expensive, it was also the best meal I've ever had. IIRC, it was $52 at the time, but well worth it. It included pretty darned good restaurant champagne, a really mind boggling selection of appetizers (including caviar & sushi - blech, stone crab claws, lobster stuffed roma tomatos and really HUGE shrimp) and wild entrees - I had never had Beef Wellington before, and it's now my favorite! They would only bring small amounts out to the buffet at any time, so nothing had a chance to get cold or stale, there was this constant stream of runners to the buffet. And the deserts were simply works of art. Holy cow!
Mark
It’s not my job to pay the server, the restaurant should pay employees.
Yeah, like I said, I wish more people understood the whole tipping thing..
I was at a Golden Corral one time, where there was an oriental gal working. And when I say working, this gal was WORKING. I was very impressed.
When I left, I stopped her (and if I recall correctly) gave her $10 (for 2 people) and told her that I saw how hard she was working and what a great job she did. I then stopped and told the manager about the great job she was doing.
I worked in restaurants when I was younger. Nearly all the time, all managers hear is "this was wrong" or "that was bad". There is a time and place for that. But I also feel that managers need to hear when one of their staff is exceptional. I'll tell the manager so that the manager can then tell the waiter or waitress.
Who knows, that one comment can be what that person needs to hear on a very bad night. That one comment can also be a seed, that planted in the right soil, can develop that persons attitude towards hard work and excellence.
A buddy took me to Cascade Mountain in Wisconsin and taught me to ski. On the way home we stopped at a Shakey's in Madison. That became a habit for us.
So, one time about 4-5 of us went to Cascade to ski, and on the way home we all stopped at Shakey's.
Well, there was a laundromat right next door. Actually there was an open doorway directly from Shakeys into the laundromat. So, my friends and I are waiting for our food, and my buddy comes up with the idea for drier rides. (Now I was about 27 at this time and he was about 30, so this wasn't us as kids). Well, we put the money in to one of the big industrial sized ones, and at least 3 of us took a spin. (One at a time of course)
There was a father there with his daughter, she was pobably 6-7, she had an incredulous look on her face. Her dad thought it was funny.
That Shakey's will always stick out in my mind.
I've only been to Vegas once. Would like to try it again, but next time I need to go with a group of people. I was there for about 24 hours by myself, and was very turned off by it.
I decided I should try it again, but do it with AT LEAST one other person. But figure Vegas is really the place for 4 or more people.
If I ever make it back there I'll look up the Sterling.
PS-Just did a Google search of it. Looks good-definitely thanks.
By the way-Now $85
PS-Just did a Google search of it. Looks good-definitely thanks.
By the way-Now $85
I did a search on it too after my post... It looks like it's changed radically since I was there, but looking back on it, I just realized that it had to be at least 8 years ago, probably even longer.
Mark
Thats me exactly.
My thought in my mind if I have pretty bad service is "PLEASE, give me good service. I really do WANT to give you a good tip" .
I was at an Olive Garden in Dubuque, Ia. Had a fairly new waitress. She was just TRYING her hardest. Problem was, the steak dish I had, the meat was almost raw inside. So, I had her take it back. I never send food back. It came back and I can't remember if it was still raw or if it came back well done, but either way, it was OBVIOUSLY bad.
The girl got the manager, and the manager got me another meal and picked up the check for the 2 of us. You could see the waitress was just destroyed. I thought she was about to cry.
When we were leaving, I stopped by the manager and asked her if they did tip sharing. She said"no", and I made sure to let the manager know that the tip I left was for the waitress and the waitress alone. I also told the manager what a great job the girl did, and that she (the manager) needed to tell her. I wanted that girl to know that I KNEW how hard she tried and her tip was based on her work, not the cooks problem.
We went to an Old Country Buffet. Once.
ONCE
Those folks just don't give a poop. Tipping really does make a person go the extra mile.
And I disagree on "tipping jars" at Starbucks and other "just give me my order" places for this reason. They haven't really done anything special except hand me my food. I WOULD tip if I had something special or intricate or difficult that I ordered.
Exactly. Why should I tip someone, simply for doing their job.
I worked at a hotdog joint and never expected or thought of a "tip". I also worked at sit down restaurants where tips were part of the pay.
We used to travel from Connecticut to Syracuse in the 70’s to see the grandparents. Always stopped at the HoJo’s after crossing The Newburgh Bridge. Great memories, don’t recall getting ill. Thanks for your comment ! :)
I tip everywhere that service matters, not just restaurants. If I go where I’m not known and the service REALLY matters, I also tip in advance.
Tipping is optional but so is exceptional service. If you never tip, whoever helps you will only do the bare minimum that they can get away. No hourly employee in any service industry cares about keeping you as a customer unless you tip well. They simply see you as another cheap client to get rid of as soon as possible.
If you’re fine with that attitude in all the service you receive, feel free not to tip. As for me, I prefer to be a ‘regular’. In some places, employees fight over who will get to service me.
Mark
No business is immune to losing a little on individual transactions, but those losses are generally offset by the vast majority of profitable ones.
"All you can eat" is a draw, and will bring in lots of folks who really can't eat as much as they think. There will be a few who can consume relatively large amounts of food, but they will often bring other customers in who cannot.
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