How To Treat Servers: A Guide For Dummies

[Puck]

The next time your out eating at a resturant, look at your server. Do you think they are really happy to be doing that job? The answer is no, they are not, but its what we do, and we do it for the money so please help them out. Its a tougher job than you think and you should pay them accordingly!
This is for everybody who goes to a restaurant and has ever footed the bill.
There are so many people out there flooding the restaurants w/o any knowledge of how to tip. Here is a short guide for the general public to follow. Feel free to print out and store in your wallet and/or purse.


1. If you are not a child and get something from the kids menu (which we DO NOT have to do), tip as if you received an adult meal and leave the server an extra $1 @ least!

2. If you have children, DO NOT let them, open and dump anything on the table (ie; salt, sugar, etc). IF YOU DO, you must leave an extra $5 for the server to clean up YOUR CHILD'S mess & to restock the now unusable wasted items. We are neither their babysitter nor their parent. The least you can do is pay us for the extra work. Also make sure you control your kids and don't let them scream or run around the restraunt. It's very distracting not to mention dangerous if they get ran over by a server with hot food in their hands.

3. If you feel the necessity to stay for longer than 15 minutes after you pay, its an extra $3 every 30 minutes. We make our money from the tables. If you are in one and we can't seat it, we don't make money.

4. Telling a server they are the best server they've ever had is not a tip. If we are good, let us know by leaving us more money. We cant pay our bills on compliments. Its not that we don't appreciate the praise, its just that if you say that and then leave 10% it's an insult.

5. Prayer cards and any other religious pamphlet is NOT a tip. It is insulting that you assume we are w/o religion and must save us. Again, like ..4, we cant pay bills w/prayer cards. We'd go to church on Sundays if it wasn't mandatory to work on Sundays because EVERYONE who goes to church follows it by eating out. Also don't try to preach to us while we are working. We don't go to your work and put you down so don't do it to us.

6. P.S. We know that you have just given money to God, but Sundays are not discounted tip day. 8%=NOT a good tip.

7. It is not 1960. Cost of living has gone up dramatically since then. 18% is the MINIMUM amount of what you should be tipping your servers. Just look at the tax line and multiple by 2-3, this gives you your minimum tip amount. Remember, our companies pay us minimum wage (minumum wage for servers is $2.13 in OK for servers.) And we are taxed on 10 percent of your meal automatically anyway. So if you dont leave a tip, we end up paying for your meal.

8. Say what you mean: plain means nothing on it. If you get a (ex.) burger plain and we bring it that way, dont treat us like idiots because it doesn't have ketchup & mustard. What you order is what we bring. We are not mind readers. If we were, we wouldn't be working in a restaurant.

9. Do not take your bad day (or past experience) out on us. It is not our fault. We don't take our bad customers out on you. Its only fair you do the same for us.

10. If the prices go up or the restaurant start charging for things that used to be free, do not take it out us. We do not make these decisions. We don't even want to enforce them because we know that it will end up hurting our already low tip in the end. Unfortunately our bosses have no problem taking the $ out of our tips if they see us give you something for free. They will never say anything to you because you're the customer, so its on us.

11. If you get a discount because of your food was prepared wrong or something, do not take it out of our tip. We didn't cook it. The cooks get paid hourly regardless if the food sucks. However, we only make what you give us. Also, if the manager gives you a discount because of this, you tip of the ORIGINAL total, not the discounted one. Also, if you use a coupon, you tip based on what the total was before the discount people.

12. Holidays for us don't exist. Example: If you are eating at our restraunt on a holiday like Thanksgiving and you wish us a happy Thanksgiving, do you honestly think we are having a good Thanksgiving. No, we are stuck at work because it is mandatory for us to be there serving you lazy people who don't want to cook instead of being at home with our families. So be a little more thoughtful when tipping because we are stuck there working and no we don't get paid overtime.

13. If you come into the restraunt 10 mins before closing or any time near closing hurry up and order your food and get out. Closed means closed, not social hour. It is so rude to sit there and take your sweet ass time. We can't leave until you leave because we have to do sidework and clean the table you are sitting at. We don't want to stand there waiting for you for an extra hour just because you don't want to go home. We recommend 24 hour establishments such as Dennys if you wish to sit into the wee hours of the night.

14. If you only come in for coffee or a dessert, to do paper work, or to have a meeting, don't sit there taking up our booths for hours. We are not Starbucks or a hotel restraunt. If you want to sit for hours, go there or else you better leave a good tip for us and camping fee included.

15. When we come up to the table to greet you and we ask how you are doing please let us know. We honestly want to know how you are doing. If you are in a bad mood we want to know that from the beginning. A confused stare or complete silence does not suffice as a reply to "How are you doing?". Also don't interrupt our greeting and say "I want coffee", "can we get some bread, or "what are the soups?"

16. Don't ever talk on your cell phone in a restraunt. This is probably the rudest thing to do. If you must be on your cell, at least keep your voice down in respect for other customers. If you are on your cell phone when we walk up to greet your table we will walk away until you get off your phone. Just show some respect and give us your attention for a couple of minutes.

17. Always remember to tip the take-out order servers! They work just as hard as a server, and hardly ever get tips for it! WE DESERVE TO BE TIPPED TOO!

SERVERS READING THIS: Please repost this elsewhere so the word can get out, since so many people are uneducated about tips and our lives depend on this - atleast for now......

signed,
all your fabulous servers out there, all the cooks who care if you get your food right because it's a pride thing, AND because they want to see their friends who serve make money, and all the managers who actually care if their servers make money or who where once servers themselves.

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This is sooooooooo true, I work at a fastfood resteraunt, and I know people who work at resteraunts and have heard their stories (which are very similar to mine usually). Remember this next time you're out.

[Brightstar82]

I always leave a tip when I eat in a restaurante its only proper to do so

[webtaz99]

I don't treat my servers differently from any other computers. It wouldn't be fair.

[IntrepidIsMe]

I hate it when people talk on their cell phones in restaurants. Ugh.

[Anti-crombie1]

I throw the sticks from my chinease food in the fire they put in the middle of the platter, and I tip in unrolled pennies, you know, the really nasty ones you find on the floor board of your car.

[magenta]

Does the restaurant pay you a wage?In australia we dont tip at all unless you are rich and very generous!The waiters/waitresses are paid a decent wage over here.
You must be paid a crap wage to have to rely on tips so much!

[magenta]

I just checked it out on the net,in australia a waitress/waiter gets paid on average $500 a week.But thats Australian money,not a bad amount,an average wage in australia.
The restaurant owners in america should be paying you a proper wage of at least $10 an hour!Thats slave labour,I wouldnt work for that amount!
A tip given to a waitress/waiter in oz is considered a bonus to them!The owner would in no way expect to get a 'cut' out of it!
I am glad Im an Aussie!

[Lord Borg]

^ Servers are payed less because of the tips. Generaly, there are enough tippers so the servers make up in tips what they loose in the wage. Blame the government on this one, not the resteruants. They set the standard for pay, (The government, not the restureants )

[Joey]

crap wrong fourm

[EDIT]
may as well post...

[Leo Wyatt]

I hate it when a rude person curses the server... Mad me so furious. And server did nothing wrong. But, the customer was drunk and ended getting kick out.

[nadia]

I'm glad we don't give tips here. I would be really confused about howmuch to give -_-

[Theresa]

Some of that rant can apply to any customer service job. I basically leave a 20% tip for passing service, and more if it's good service. If the server was an *beep*? Ha. I guess that'd be when I bother to fill out the comment cards,

[Puck]

[Starbuck]

A bunch of my friends are servers. Everyone here works at Panera, Maciano's, Giordano's, Red Robin, or Bakers Square, so I've gotten in the habbit of leaving a 20% tip. 25% if I sit in smoking.

[magenta]

I have to say that the young people they employ in australia to do 'serving'(waiter/waitressing)are not very polite and curtious.They have no enthusiasm for their job,they want to start working in a high paid easy job from the start.They have no idea what hard work is,and are very lazy!
The youth of australia dont know how good they have it compared to other countrys!