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- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Comments
Yep. A buddy and I used to have a standing trivia night on Tuesdays at a place where we would sit for about 3 hours sipping top shelf cocktails and knocking down wings and the bartender would routinely hand us a tab for 2 draft beers and a pimento cheese sandwich, on which we would place a $100 tip. That place also went out of business.
Excuse me if I was not clear there; I wasn't trying to make a correlation between those two things, but listing them as separate benefits of the tipping system.
The server's voluntary participation in the risk & reward wage + tip structure (voluntary in the sense that we all agreed to work for that particular compensation structure) keeps prices down by keeping labor costs lower and allowing the diner to opt out entirely by not tipping at all. If servers were paid flat wages, like the cooks, that labor costs jumps from $2.13/hr per on the clock staff to whatever the new rate is, say $15.00. That is a 27.5% increase in hourly costs per person to the restaurant, which has to be recovered in the only way possible - Sales Dollars. In that case, the consumer has no choice in paying more for their meals except to simply not eat out.
What many people do not realize is that service staff work hours before and after the restaurant closes, meaning no revenue offset to that cost line happens during that time. This time also dilutes the server's overall hourly rate for the shift since they are only paid whatever the mandated minimum is during those periods.
Managers typically try very hard to get servers off the clock as soon as possible after the lunch & dinner rushes, which is why you might get less attentive service later in the afternoons or nights if staff has been "cut" too soon or there is an unexpected "pop" after a local event such as a Wednesday night church meeting, school events, impromptu teacher happy hours, etc.
Overall, I believe the tipping "economy" is beneficial to restaurant owners, diners and servers. If it wasn't there might be fewer servers, and certainly fewer outstanding ones, because dealing with the public they way they do can be brutal and spirit-breaking. Without a real financial incentive it would be hard to get someone willing to learn how to do it, then do it well and keep at it long term. Also, notice how well you get treated in non-tipping countries where there is no real financial incentive to go the extra mile for someone else's business and few penalties for just being bad at your job. You are at the mercy of each person's sense of pride in their job, which varies greatly, just like it does here.
My $0.02; YMMV
All servers are expected to do side work. The best servers are also the quickest in getting their side work done and get out of there.Not all like the side work, but it has to be done. Nothing perturbs an opening manager more than coming in and find that last night's side work was not done.
Amen! spoken like a true veteran!l All you food service folks, current and veterans, will love this guy's stuff on Youtube:
Thanks for that. My daughter is a sommelier and just got promoted to GM of a new "hot spot" upscale restaurant here in Brevard County. Urban Prime "Brevards newest destination restaurant." It's 300 seats, with an upscale market, two inside bars and two outside bars. She said this guy is spot on and she is fully invested in all his characters. She was delighted to know I found him in a uga football thread!
A word of caution: you will spend hours (yes, hours) watching his Youtube shorts without even realizing how long it has been, once you get hooked. That guy is a gifted communicator and his restaurant experience really helps his videos capture the realities of the restaurant business from the inside.
Roger, that makes sense.