Keep in mind that in a fine dining restaurant, most likely the tips will be split among the busboys, sommeliers, etc. (Anyone working in the front of house). Since @ the fine dining restaurants, it's not just the waiter doing all the work as you would see in a normal restaurant. No joke, when i ate at Daniel i was waited on by at least 8 different people. There was the "main" waiter who explained the menu, took our order, and checked on us. Then there was another person to bring the bread, another person to refill water, someone to bring out the food (for each person), so they get placed at the table at the same time, another one to refold the napkin when you got up to go to the bathroom, etc. All those guys get a percentage of the tip you leave. Also what's bad is that people you wouldn't expect to get a tip get a cut like the manager. There are actually a bunch of lawsuits in NYC because of this. Google "Joe Bastianich lawsuit" to see what i'm talking about.
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How do tips work in really fancy restaurants?
- Thread starter StephenCampbell
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For the 10,000 dollar bottle of wine you do not tip the waiter. You tip the wine steward.
Just pointing it out for people that have never been to that country. It could have been taken the wrong way.
Where in Germany are you at? I was in Heidelberg for 2 years, Hanau for 3 and Weiden for 2. We miss it and will be moving back in the near future.
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Well caught!
Just pointing it out for people that have never been to that country. It could have been taken the wrong way.
Where in Germany are you at? I was in Heidelberg for 2 years, Hanau for 3 and Weiden for 2. We miss it and will be moving back in the near future.
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Well caught!
I work in Stuttgart and but my home (Wife and Daughter) is in Ansbach..
I used to drive 6 all the time. How do you like Stuttgart? I heard the traffic is miserable there.I do miss the food there as well.
I do miss the food there as well.
I do not drive it everyday I have a small place here in Stuttgart.
Stuttgart traffic is atrocious I try not to driver here much...
I'm I vegetarian so miss all the good stuff :0)
In the US, at least in my state, servers aren't exempt from minimum wage, they just have a different wage from other workers. Where I live they make $2.13 an hour.
However, if at the end of the week, a server's wages+tips do not bring their earnings up to the regular minimum wage ($7.50 / hr) then by law their employer must make up the difference. Since this is calculated on a weekly basis it's very unusual. My wife said that in her 20 years of waiting tables she's seen that happen maybe twice. Usually it involves long stretches of inclement weather because if a server's tips are that bad, they're in the wrong line of work.
I took the woman I'm banging behind my wife's back to a very fancy NYC restaurant last week. She ordered a very expensive glass of wine and the waiter kept refilling it. Well, I did not ask him to refill it and I told him so. He told me that it was free refills, I said it doesn't matter, you should ask the costumer first! I gave him a very low tip because waiters should ask before doing something like that. Also, I asked for more dipping sauce for my chicken fingers and before he brought it, he took someone else's order first. No, sorry! I asked for something first! My fancy dinner was getting cold while you were stopping to chit/chat with someone else! Cha-ching! More money off of the tip.
I tip 15-20% always unless they have an attitude that isn't just from a bad day.
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Also, I used to wait tables. One of my friends left where I was working to go work at a very fancy restaurant here in the Houston area. They limited them to working 4 days a week, they were only open at night and closed on Mondays. This is the type where he would wear tuxedo jackets and white gloves, stand against the wall until acknowledged that they needed something etc. He would walk out with anywhere from $1500-2,000... A NIGHT!
That's how the world works. If there is a service that is needed and people are willing to pay for it then you're going to make money. Show me a high school drop out that makes $7 an hour and I'll show you 1,000 college graduates that are unemployed.
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Also, I used to wait tables. One of my friends left where I was working to go work at a very fancy restaurant here in the Houston area. They limited them to working 4 days a week, they were only open at night and closed on Mondays. This is the type where he would wear tuxedo jackets and white gloves, stand against the wall until acknowledged that they needed something etc. He would walk out with anywhere from $1500-2,000... A NIGHT!
That's how the world works. If there is a service that is needed and people are willing to pay for it then you're going to make money. Show me a high school drop out that makes $7 an hour and I'll show you 1,000 college graduates that are unemployed.
$50 for a whole meal for one person is not a fancy or expensive restaurant. Of course, that doesn't mean it's not a good restaurant, with good food and good service.
If you are in a restaurant that has $10,000 bottles of wine - tipping should not be a problem!
In the US, the bulk of a server's income comes from tips. I think it's a very tough job. Dealing with the public always is! Consequently I always tip 20% (assuming good service).
I'm not trying to impress anybody, just to be decent to a hard working person.
If you are in a restaurant that has $10,000 bottles of wine - tipping should not be a problem!
In the US, the bulk of a server's income comes from tips. I think it's a very tough job. Dealing with the public always is! Consequently I always tip 20% (assuming good service).
I'm not trying to impress anybody, just to be decent to a hard working person.
Well, I was thinking an average of $50 per "entree." That doesn't include anything else you might get, appetizers, drinks, tax, etc. I'd assume it would often come out to close to $100 per person ($400 or $500 for a whole family) at a place like this.
And yes, between the US and many other countries... in the US the waiter's income depends on the tips. If you don't tip it's like theft. In many other places, tipping is optional. I mean, technically it's optional in the US, but it's not morally optional.
And yes, between the US and many other countries... in the US the waiter's income depends on the tips. If you don't tip it's like theft. In many other places, tipping is optional. I mean, technically it's optional in the US, but it's not morally optional.
Nice! A good Springs1 reference.
I'm surprised we haven't seen her apocalyptic tipping rant on this one yet.At fancy restaurants, or any sort of classy place, waiters should not have to be asked to refill a wine glass. It's bad service if you are sat there with an empty glass.
Nice! A good Springs1 reference.
I'm soooo glad someone got it!
If it's alcohol and not free refills, they better ask me before refilling it.
In the case of water or free refill soda, keep it topped up and I'm happy.
I think Kilamite meant that if you have bought a whole bottle of wine, then your class should never be empty. I agree that if it costs, then the customer must be asked if s/he wants more.
This is what I meant.
Of course, I'd be fuming if they refilled my glass and expected me to pay for a refill I didn't agree to. But if you bought a bottle of wine, then good service is the waiter making sure your glass is never empty.
Not that I'm bothered about that, but if you're paying so much for a meal, then you can only expect service like that.
Oh, so you're THAT lady, huh?
(the one that was freaking out a couple of months ago about free soda refills)
Oh, so you're THAT lady, huh?
That thread was awsome.
That's kind of an ignorant thing to say... it's not like you're being waited on by some gross bitch smelling like cigarette smoke at Denny's. Fine dining is not as easy as you think.. you need to have extensive knowledge of the food menu, drinks, wine, etc, and you need to be very good with customers. Additionally, your tip is being split between the server, food runners, bus boys, sommelier, etc.
strider42 hit the nail on the head with his post at the beginning of this thread.
don't forget that the waiter only has a limited number of tables, and that they aren't necessarily turning over every hour... if someone buys a $$$$ bottle of wine, they'll probably be there for a while.
Nothing wrong with that because in your country that is the customs, but I would hope that if you come to the US you would tip accordingly...
i'm a waiter. not a super fine dining restaurant, but one where 2 people with an app, 2 entrees, 2 drinks, and a dessert would be like $70-90.
federal minimum for wait staff is 2.63 an hour. after the taxes from my reported tips, my pay checks (biweekly) average between $10 and $30 for 70+ hours worked.
from mint.com, my income from the last 6 months.
i took out the dollar amounts obviously, but you can see the orange is tips, green is my pay check, and the other little slices represent interest, my cash back rewards, etc. but you can see how tips make up over 80% of my income.
so please tip your waiters and waitresses
we rely on this to pay our bills, feed ourselves, and keep roofs over our heads.unless they are the same person
*sigh*
Serving in a high-end restaurant is an extremely stressful and demanding job, and you make a lot of money as a result. Because people demand such outstanding service at high-end restaurants, if you're paying that much money for an entree, you damn well had better be willing to shell out the extra money for a 15-20% tip if the service is good.
Waiters and waitresses are exempt from minimum wage. At the four-star restaurant where I worked, I received a paycheck for one dollar every two weeks (from my "hourly wage") and lived off of my tips. Bartenders, busboys, and cooks DO make an hourly wage (often quite generous). In addition, all servers were expected to give a portion of our tips (generally around 33%) to the busboys, food carriers, bartenders, and cooks. That is why we make so much. For people to not tip a server when your service was good is disgusting, because then they practically kill themselves waiting on you and make absolutely no money from it -- it is basically like stealing service from the waiter / waitress. All of you non-tippers should be ashamed and if you are regulars anywhere, I pity those who get your tables. They're carrying your food, filling your water glasses, and cleaning up after you for absolutely no money.
In addition, at nice restaurants you are expected to memorize vast and constantly changing menus, and even huger wine lists. Although serving requires no formal education, it is a very demanding job and stupid people are often weeded out very quickly. Shame on you all! I work in restaurants during the summer between semesters in college, and it actually makes me WISH for the school year -- the school year is often less stressful!
Serving in a high-end restaurant is an extremely stressful and demanding job, and you make a lot of money as a result. Because people demand such outstanding service at high-end restaurants, if you're paying that much money for an entree, you damn well had better be willing to shell out the extra money for a 15-20% tip if the service is good.
Waiters and waitresses are exempt from minimum wage. At the four-star restaurant where I worked, I received a paycheck for one dollar every two weeks (from my "hourly wage") and lived off of my tips. Bartenders, busboys, and cooks DO make an hourly wage (often quite generous). In addition, all servers were expected to give a portion of our tips (generally around 33%) to the busboys, food carriers, bartenders, and cooks. That is why we make so much. For people to not tip a server when your service was good is disgusting, because then they practically kill themselves waiting on you and make absolutely no money from it -- it is basically like stealing service from the waiter / waitress. All of you non-tippers should be ashamed and if you are regulars anywhere, I pity those who get your tables. They're carrying your food, filling your water glasses, and cleaning up after you for absolutely no money.
In addition, at nice restaurants you are expected to memorize vast and constantly changing menus, and even huger wine lists. Although serving requires no formal education, it is a very demanding job and stupid people are often weeded out very quickly. Shame on you all! I work in restaurants during the summer between semesters in college, and it actually makes me WISH for the school year -- the school year is often less stressful!