Posted on 08/26/2005 9:02:02 AM PDT by EveningStar
Waiter, there's a service charge on my soup.
Customers at a high-end Manhattan restaurant soon will notice an extra expense when they get their bill, and not only for their soup course.
Beginning Thursday, chef Thomas Keller will charge customers a 20 percent service fee at Per Se, his year-old outpost in the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, where the views of Central Park are nearly as breathtaking as the prices.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This may be a new thing at his restaurant but it's not a new thing. We've eaten at several restaurants where it says right on the bill that a 15% or 20% charge will be added.
Why does some dumb college broad deserve 20% of every bill?
You never worked in a restaurant have you?
At least the government will know what to tax the employees, eh?
ridiculous. as a bartender i'm truely offended. i've worked in restaurants and bars for the last 10 years, and i've seen that good service is properly rewarded the vast majority of the time. i'm one of the better servers most places that i've worked, i typically make 25-35% of my sales in tips, where others are lucky to make 10%. i don't see why my tips should be cut in order to make sure someone else gets the same amount.
Because in restaurants that cater to the international crowd, the tips run below six percent.
nope
We noticed that this was a widespread, but not universal, practice on Grand Cayman.
At one place, after we'd frequented the place enough and tipped the folks who served us well enough to where we'd gotten to know them a bit and they realized we weren't "Ugly Americans", we asked one of them about it.
Her reply: "We'd starve to death if it wasn't added on. You see, as a general rule, the Brits just don't tip."
I was a waitress once.
it's true here in nyc. believe it.
not necessarily. some of my best tips have come from english and german nationals.
An other thing: waiters and waitress get taxed on an assumed 8% tip (at least that what it was when I was a waitress). So, when they get stiffed by customers, they actually have to pay tax on a tip they never received. But, if they are tipped more than 8%, they get to keep the difference tax free. Are they getting taxed on the additional 12%? If so, that is stupid, stupid, stupid.
Then you're lucky. I've seen europeans eat a four hundred dollar meal and leave twenty bucks.
I was a waitress for a time in Madrid after college. Other than Americans, my favorites were the Germans! Big tippers just like us!
The waiters and waitresses get taxed whether we tip them or not. I got out of that job market immediately when they passed that law. To be taxed on expected earnings, and NOT receive them is insane. Some restaurants just include 18% gratuity for large parties with reservations.
Can't tell you how many times, good service landed me a big 0 tip in my pocket. Customers forget. Some cultures, in our multicultural society, also do not believe in tipping the waiter or waitress either.
Just make the server earn it. Order everything "special," complain about something, keep forgetting things that you want, keep asking for refills, drop your fork and ask for a new one. Then drop that one too. Sit there a long time after dinner, just chatting and not ordering anything
Never a good idea to annoy, abuse or otherwise mistreat people who are handling food you intend to eat.
Waitresses are supposed to report all of their tips, its against the law not to. If its on a credit card they have to report it but if its cash they usually only report 15% (most poeple are dumb nowadays and tip more than that).
Well said.
I am a big tipper. I have been known to tip in excess of the price of the meal for excellent service. But under no circumstances do I tip under 15%, even if the service is lousy.
But I refuse to frequent restaurants which include the tip in the price of the bill. The tip is OPTIONAL. That's why it's called a "tip." It's a little something extra to show appreciation for good service.
This makes perfect sense. I hope it catches on. The market will decide.
If this trend continues I predict the good service workers will gravitate to the non-service charge establishments leaving the slackers to work off the service charge.
Not me. I draw a line through the offending item, insert the adjusted amount, and make it clear on my credit card voucher that I am only signing for the adjusted amount. Then I get up and walk out. No fuss, no muss.
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