gadling.com— From free soda refills, to the door crack in bathroom stalls, foreigners should probably be aware of these differences in the restaurant experience in America.
May 13, 2009View in Crawl 4
Other people don't put up with the crack in stalls? We as a country can put a man on the moon, but we can't end the s**tter peek-a-boo game? I guess we could use duct tape folded over or something.
It's a requirement because waiters and waitresses in most restaurants aren't paid minimum wage. They're allowed not to, because tips are considered part of their salary, so it's expected that they'll get them and so don't have to be paid minimum wage. Sure, in fancy-schmancy restaurants they get paid more, but not in the average diner or Applebees type place.
One more thing for iced tea...down south you have to specify sweet or unsweetened tea. Up north, generally iced tea is usually only served unsweetened and you add your own sugar.
I've found that countries where tipping is customary typically have much better and friendlier service than those that don't tip. I like getting good service when I go out to eat, so I think that tipping waiters and waitresses is well worth it.If we didn't tip, restaurants would just raise the food prices to compensate and the servers would be less motivated to give good service.
I work for a local place, not a chain. I've bitched about people who don't tip before and the owners are like 'eh, what can we do?' They only put people on the no-deliveries list for horrible stuff like trying to underpay and suchlike.
I don't think it's fair that their tips are taxed. Servers should get minimum wage (or greater) and that should be that. It sucks that they have to depend on the whims of others for a paycheck. On that note I always tip 20% or greater. Service has to be really, really bad on the servers end for me not to tip at all (i.e...I'll still tip if the food isn't great...as long as the server isn't a dick about it). My husband tips pretty much everyone. He gets pissed off because I don't always tip the people at Starbucks. He tips the drive thru people at taco bell even. (usually only a dollar but still) But he's also more likely to complain about stuff than I am (but he's not a douche about it) so I guess it evens out in the end.
Closed AccountMay 14, 2009
Other people don't put up with the crack in stalls? We as a country can put a man on the moon, but we can't end the s**tter peek-a-boo game? I guess we could use duct tape folded over or something.
amyvernonMay 14, 2009Submitter
It's a requirement because waiters and waitresses in most restaurants aren't paid minimum wage. They're allowed not to, because tips are considered part of their salary, so it's expected that they'll get them and so don't have to be paid minimum wage. Sure, in fancy-schmancy restaurants they get paid more, but not in the average diner or Applebees type place.
obesesnakeMay 14, 2009
One more thing for iced tea...down south you have to specify sweet or unsweetened tea. Up north, generally iced tea is usually only served unsweetened and you add your own sugar.
sundancekid503May 14, 2009
I've found that countries where tipping is customary typically have much better and friendlier service than those that don't tip. I like getting good service when I go out to eat, so I think that tipping waiters and waitresses is well worth it.If we didn't tip, restaurants would just raise the food prices to compensate and the servers would be less motivated to give good service.
diablohumanMay 14, 2009
I will get buried for this, but having been to the US and living in the UK, I can honestly say that British bacon is better.
divalsMay 14, 2009
I work for a local place, not a chain. I've bitched about people who don't tip before and the owners are like 'eh, what can we do?' They only put people on the no-deliveries list for horrible stuff like trying to underpay and suchlike.
jennyvanMay 20, 2009
I don't think it's fair that their tips are taxed. Servers should get minimum wage (or greater) and that should be that. It sucks that they have to depend on the whims of others for a paycheck. On that note I always tip 20% or greater. Service has to be really, really bad on the servers end for me not to tip at all (i.e...I'll still tip if the food isn't great...as long as the server isn't a dick about it). My husband tips pretty much everyone. He gets pissed off because I don't always tip the people at Starbucks. He tips the drive thru people at taco bell even. (usually only a dollar but still) But he's also more likely to complain about stuff than I am (but he's not a douche about it) so I guess it evens out in the end.