Close enough. Gogogogogogogogogogo
Yeah you gotta be sneaky. Oh I forgot my coat or w/e. Then run back in and slip the waiter a $20.
Here you go. You get 2 more wishes. Choose wisely.
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As the restaurant customer, there are a couple things I do that could be perceived as annoyimg, lots of pop refills, some small tips due to small checks, always at least 15% (rounded up, $2 minimum). The servers who know me bring pitchers of Diet Coke.
Soda refills are the least of the issues with customers.
Perfect. Iāve never read that thread.
I loved all separate checks. I always made a big deal about how I wasnāt supposed to, but ok just for you nice people. You always wind up with more than 20%.
And the key is if some people are asking for separate checks itās because they know others in the group are cheapskates who always shortchange on tax and tip and round down. You donāt want that painful dynamic of everyone pooling money at the end and not even coming up with enough to pay the bill, much less tip. Do separate checks if they even hint at it.
The worst though is keeping track of like 4 mixed groups out of a table of 15 or w/e. At Red Lobster youād get like 4 moms with 9 kids - pointing out which oneās with who. Youāre just screwed no matter what you do in that spot. Just take your lumps and get them turned.
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My wife was a server at Friendlyās for a short time (canāt remember if it was high school or college - I didnāt know her back then). She said she was tipped well mainly because she was so shitty at the job that customers felt sorry for her. Like sheād spill stuff and get upset and then get pity tips.
I think itās by far the most popular thread I ever made on 2p2. And I was seriously wondering if anyone would even be interested before I posted.
And my brother once worked as a dishwasher and busboy (upgrade!) at a Chinese restaurant. He said the work was terrible, but the people were amazing. They liked him because he was the friendly, funny white kid. The big perk was after his shift, the cooks would make him massive plates of fried rice.
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My fave was a burger meal before our night shifts at the plant with a chemE friend. Bill was a whopping $16.30. We each throw down $10. We are on a per Diem so no need to expense.
Server brings back the $3.70. Friend takes a quarter and a dime and pushes and a quarter and dime over to me. I just pushed āmyā 35 cents back with the bills. JFC.
Another guy apparently had a $20 max. Rounded a multi person meal from ~180 to an even 200. This one was expense account and he was senior so it was all his. Way excellent service. I āforgotā my phone so when I went back for it I tossed $25 on the table and rolled my eyes at the server.
I worked at an outdoor restaurant in the Virgin Islands. I was always a sweaty mess, which I think helped tips as people felt sorry for me.
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Macaroni Grill used to give free pasta, red sauce and their amazing bread. A caesar salad was $.75 but usually the cooks gave it to you for free. Then the cheapskates started charging us for pasta and red sauce. My days were numbered at that point.
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Unless your managers are assholes you should usually be able to eat for free or cheap. I worked at a fine dining Italian place and my shift started with me eating a salad and gorgonzola and breadsticks every damn shift. Free. Fuck I love gorgonzola sauce.
Yeah, I would think cheap/free food is such a massive perk of working at a restaurant that it makes up for the hard, thankless work. One of my college roommates worked at Applebeeās for a short time (it was REALLY weird when he waited on us, especially since he didnāt do jack shit around the apartment) and said the best value for an employee was the kidās grilled cheese - grilled cheese sandwich and a heaping portion of fries - for 99 cents.
He was also one of those servers who a) regularly steered people away from certain entrees and b) served sizzling brownies and blondies with gusto.
Worked a few years at an Applebeeās. Not to toot my own horn here but was a really good cook and they forced me to be a trainer. I didnāt want the responsibility at 20 years old. Then, fired me for not showing up to a trainerās meeting on a weekend in summer when I wanted to go tubing instead. Spent the next few years at a thrift store driving truck picking up donations. Thrift store donation pickups was the best job of my life except the pay.
People bag on chain restaurants, but Iāve always been so impressed how you can always get consistent, solid food at these places and that people can learn to prepare the food quickly and generally pretty darn well. I mean, Iāve been cooking my entire adult life and I still overcook chicken breasts on the regular.
EDIT: The last time I ate at Applebeeās, which was a few years ago, they did totally fuck up my food, but to their credit, they gave me a free second entree and a bonus appetizer for my kid, even though I had already eaten most of my food (I didnāt want to be a dick, so I ate it, but was honest when they asked how it was).
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One thing I noticed when I managed and worked at non chain restaurants after the chain experiences is the training. Fridayās and Applebeeās have videos and tests and for example, you are supposed to have offered someone a drink within the first 2 minutes of them sitting down at those restaurants. There is no sense of urgency at non-chain restaurants (usually).
If youāll only go to fancy restaurants maybe. Morons can claim itās elitist to prefer local restaurants or street food over chain restaurants, but theyāre morons. I mean, if you absolutely refuse to go to a chain restaurant because itās too middle class for you or something, that is elitist, but just preferring to try something new and often better is not.
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What if you just donāt think the food is very good. Elitist or not? I need to know where I stand when the guillotines come.