Ried Rants

You know I have done a lot of jobs in my life to get by and pay my bills. On more than one occasion I have worked for tips. It seems to be an alien concept to some folks. Only because at a job where the server gets $4.23 per hour (current rate in Tampa, FL) you get patrons coming in get food or alcohol and leave nothing or pittance for the service they receive.

I posted something up on FaceBook about it recently and got a weird comment about how that no one should be tipped as wages and thinks it is a rip off. Cha! And they posted two paragraphs about how tipping is expected yada, yada, yada.

TIPS stands for “to insure prompt service.” So yeah we have slackers, as in any job/career/profession that make it bad for others. But the thing is verbal tips fall short of paying the bills.

A verbal tip is when you’ve got a guest telling you how great you are and how they are going to take good care of you (alluding to a great tip). They say this or something similar throughout the time you are helping them. Then POW they leave you something ridiculous like 10% of the bill. It is my experience that the big mouths are the ones that are full of baloney.

I had a guy sit in VIP, eventually order a bottle of Opus One Cabernet and drip with compliments telling me what I great job I was doing and how he was “going to take care of me.” The girl who was sitting with him kept telling me how she would make sure he gave me a big tip.

When it came time to tip he left me $40 and asked if that was okay. Now you might be thinking to yourself that is a great tip. Well it would have been if that check were smaller. His check was $375. So I told him that forty dollars was about 10% of his bill. He retorted with “it is an expensive bottle of wine.” At this point I am thinking to myself…Yeah ya putz that is why I was happy you bought it.

Twenty percent of whatever I made in tips as a cocktail server went to the bartender. Because the bartender is working for the servers getting them drinks.

You might be thinking to yourself that bottle service takes no time. The thing is a good server will check often without being intrusive. Clean and clear the table of garbage, bring fresh glasses, etc., change napkins bring some light conversation and interaction and knowing how much contact to have.

Food waiting sucks because there is way too much side work and forget carrying the big trays for me. The only way it makes sense to food wait is at a high end spot where the average ticket is $100 per person.

In my experience I have found that most people will tip 20% of the bill. You have those that have no clue and leave nothing and the REALLY generous guests who leave you 30% or more. But at the end of the day it still comes out to 20-30 percent of your sales.

Bottom line: tip at least 15% to your server, event if the food sucks. Remember you are rewarding the service.

Twenty percent is better and easier to calculate. Basic math is a concept that most adults can grasp. All you have to do is figure out ten percent of the bill before tax and double it. Some folks just double the tax here in Florida since that works out to be 14%.

If you want to be treated well, tip well. You will get better service and more attention. Or if you want to be left alone you can get that too with a good tip and a smart server.

Waitstaff are people who are in school or need a flexible schedule and typically need a good source of money in a short period of time.  So understand that this is how they pay their bills and be nice.