[Guillermo]

That's how they do it in Europe. "Service charges" are included in the price, or sometimes there will be a "cover fee" just to sit down in a restaurant.

I guess American restaraunt owners figure that they'd get better waiters if there was an incentive to hustle.

[vbmoneyspender]

you ever been to a restaurant in Europe? Good luck trying to get the same type of service over there that you get here. The difference in the service is due to the tipping. If a waiter knows that he or she is going to get paid more if he or she provides better service, that improves the service for everybody, including the people who tip poorly. In Europe, there is no tipping and, hence, no incentive to work harder when you are dealing with patrons. As a result, the waiters get pissed if you try to get them to do any kind of extra thing. I had this happen to me at a restaurant in Berlin where the waitress got snotty when I asked for a couple of extras (like a couple of beers beyond the initial one that I was served with). I still tipped her well when the meal was over. When she saw the tip, she apparently began to suffer pangs of conscience because she ended up serving us an extra round on the house.

[Pablo64]

"I guess American restaraunt owners figure that they'd get better waiters if there was an incentive to hustle."

That does work if you go at it with the right attitude. Years ago, before I was married, I waited tables at a resort hotel that automatically included a 15 percent gratuity on everything; all food and beverage items. Guests checking in were made aware of this and told that they did not need to tip since it was "built in". If a guest left a tip we were required to inform (remind) them that the tip was already added to their bill.

The trouble with this system, from the servers point of view, was that the hotel set up a point system for breaking down that 15 percent. The hotel got a piece off the top (even though you, not "the hotel", waited on the customer), then the food and beverage manager (from all 3 restaurants on site), then your manager, and then you got a portion of that 15 percent. If I recall correctly, it worked out to you getting about 7 to 7.5 percent. Some might say that at least it helped even out for those who don't tip, but it didn't really offer incentive to "bust it" for the customer.

What worked for me and some others, was that the customer could still decide to leave you some cash anyway. If you made sure that they understood that the gratuity had already been added to the bill and they still wanted to leave you something, then that "side money" was all yours (no splitting required, but it never hurt to tip out to the busboys and dishdogs...they'll cover your back if you treat the well). Once I found this out, I made it my goal to provide more service than the customer expected. I worked in a burger and sandwich shop at the resort, so it wasn't like the other two high-end dining rooms, but I would do things just like the waiters who wore the tux's and my customers felt special. When you clear the paper plates and then discretely brush the crumbs into a linen napkin so the customer has a clean table to enjoy their after-dinner coffee and conversation, or other services like that, you can affect your income for the better. It's all about attitude. Nothing wrong with serving others.