My casual dining restaurant has been known to feature a coupon or two in the mail, especially during these somewhat perilous economic times. Everyone likes a coupon, right? Buy one entree, get one free? Who wouldn’t love that? Your server, that’s who.At my restaurant, the average dinner entree is going to run you about $18. Which is not bad at all, because it includes a side item, and with some entrees you get two sides. So the average dinner check, with no frills (appetizer, dessert, bottle of wine) is about $45. This means that if you and your dinner companion received excellent service, the tip should be $8, more if you are that awesome breed known as the Phenomenal Tipper.
However. Lets say that you are one of the lucky RCs in possession of the coveted Buy One Get One Free coupon. You’re check will come to about $23. What is the acceptable tip on $23 worth of food? About $4. So you should leave a $4 tip, right? $5 if you’re feeling particularly magnanimous? WRONG!
Folks, let me break this down for you. You didn’t get $23 worth of food and beverages, you got $45 worth. You were only required to pay for $23. What this means is that you also received service on $45 worth of food. That’s right, I had to bring out two meals, two sets of side items, keep two beverages refilled, and deal with the needs, desires and quirks of two people. So, even though you received a free meal, I still had to serve it to you!
Here’s another scenario. Lets say you are friends with one of the managers. You come in with your boyfriend, and you order dinner, drinks, dessert, all that good stuff. When the bill comes, your friend the manager has comped (industry term for “made complimentary”) a substantial portion of your bill. Where you would have paid $60 you are now paying $25. Woo-hoo, right? Absolutely a woo-hoo situation. However. Does this mean you leave the waitress $4.50 and tell her to have a nice day? No! The manager didn’t serve you herself, the waitress was still required to wait on you, for $2.65 an hour! Should the waitress be penalized because you know somebody? The correct tip in that situation would be $11, although more is certainly acceptable.
Last situation I will debunk for you today. At my restaurant, we have a teamwork policy. That means that we are required to run each others salads, appetizers, entrees, drinks from the bar, desserts- you get the picture. So, lets say I’m your waitress. I take your order, I bring out drinks and bread. Another young lady brings your appetizer. I bring out your salads and refill your drinks and bread. A young man brings your entree. I check back on you to make sure that entree is everything you hoped it would be, and I bring out another round of drinks. I clear your dishes as you are finished with them, and I offer you dessert. You order two slices of cheesecake, which the other young lady brings out to you. I check back on you concerning the dessert, and bring you the check.
Here’s my question to you. On your $60 tab, do you leave me $5, because, lets face it, I didn’t do it alone, I had plenty of help, so why should you leave me an 18% tip all to myself? Heres why. Because you are tipping on the service you received, and it sounds like we treated you like royalty! All kinds of people attended to your every whim. So should I receive a phenomenal tip based on the phenomenal service my restaurant provided you with? Absolutely! You were my table! Rest assured I ran around and helped my fellow servers provide phenomenal service to their tables as well. Its called teamwork, folks.
The lesson here is simple. If you are lucky enough to receive a hefty discount on your bill, and three or four servers wait on you for the price of one, don’t screw your server out of the tip she so richly deserves. I’m just saying.
Totally agree and well said.
I feel that you should tip 100% what you are comp'd. If you are hooked up on $20 in drinks, you should tip $20. Its what you would have paid, minus a tip. Everyone makes out in this scenario, and it is just good manners.
We have the gift card thing to and the same thing. I guess if they did not have that gift card they would be eating at McDonalds.Ha