They don't have to be overly cheery or anything, but they have to be competent. Period.

Most people can tell when you're just having a bad day and the good ones tip accordingly.

Bauer cites restaurants with "famously crusty" staff where "Getting the evil eye was part of the reason for going there, but there was also a kind of playful attitude that made it fun."


As long as the food's not "famously crusty," I'll be alright.

After reading Waiter Rant, I'd have to say yes.

/people are insane

If the waitstaff is biatchy then a) I'm going to be worried about bodily fluids in my food, and b) I'm never going back.

And also c) I'm stiffing them on the tip, obviously.

Unpleasant? Depends.

Are we talking about attitude, or hygiene?

I am very nice, and usually have no problem, but if staff treats me like shiat, bad day or not I don't care, I will stand up and walk out of the establishment, I have done it before.

I almost always tip 25% + and if possible in cash (IRS is unkind to wait staff)... Almost.

On occasion I have left relatively small tips with notes written on the tab or the bank note - hoping they're wise up - for their own sake.

Is it OK for an xyz to fail at their job?

Pretty sure most wait staff could care less wither it's acceptable or not. Similar to how they could care less whether its acceptable to have disgusting facial piercings and conversations with their coworkers about their last drug score.

I'm sure this doesn't happen everywhere but I've worked as a waiter and have seen waiter/waitresses fark with a person's food instead of being straight out rude to a bad table. So if you're being an asshole to your waiter, but they aren't giving you attitude back I'd be worried about your meal or drink.

The answer is no. They're being paid to be pleasant.

special20: No, but the floor is.



DAAAAAAAAAAAA... whattaya think's IN the burgers?

And irregardless of what you claim, 15% is a standard tip in this country.

skinink: I'm sure this doesn't happen everywhere but I've worked as a waiter and have seen waiter/waitresses fark with a person's food instead of being straight out rude to a bad table. So if you're being an asshole to your waiter, but they aren't giving you attitude back I'd be worried about your meal or drink.

Indeed -- don't fark with the waitstaff until after there's no opportunity left to fark with your food. That's why you stay smiley & cheerful, then leave a $0.02 tip.

MrHappyRotter: And irregardless of what you claim, 15% is a standard tip in this country.

4/10

May have some bites, but the "irregardless" is way too obvious.

Rufus Lee King: LaughterOL. With some of the customers of mine, it is not only fit for unpleasantness, but also to hammer the food into their faces and forcibly discard them through the window glass.

Sorry, I was channeling meow said the dog.

Lol

The Irresponsible Captain: skinink: I'm sure this doesn't happen everywhere but I've worked as a waiter and have seen waiter/waitresses fark with a person's food instead of being straight out rude to a bad table. So if you're being an asshole to your waiter, but they aren't giving you attitude back I'd be worried about your meal or drink.

Quite. I'd rather they be unpleasant than do something unpleasant.

Sure but if they are unpleasant the chances they are doing something unpleasant is far greater than if they are truly pleasant. If you know what I mean.

Rufus Lee King: LaughterOL. With some of the customers of mine, it is not only fit for unpleasantness, but also to hammer the food into their faces and forcibly discard them through the window glass.

Much like bourbon, defenestration is always appropriate.

Look, I go into a restaurant like Outback to enjoy a meal with some friends, maybe banter with the hot lesbian waitress a little, and charm her into giving me free liquor. I don't go to restaurants to have some twatwaffle read me the Riot Act when I ask for no ice in my beverage or for a coontmuffin to sneer at me when I hand her a coupon his chain e-mailed to me for a free appetizer.

The lesbian waitress? Yeah, I tipped her seven bucks on a $30 bill. The twatwaffle and the coontmuffin? I left her and him, respectively, less than twenty cents and nothing, but he had it coming for far more than sneering at me--I do not sit around with an empty glass while you're within earshot talking about the hot gay couple at table nine and how you want a threesome with them.

/Is gay, but thinks threesomes are overrated
//Can't stand overly fruity gay men

When I waited tables (thankfully not for very long), I had a some customers complain that I was too friendly. I mean, Jesus, I wasn't engaging them in ten minute long conversations, just doing the normal check on them every so often.

So, you know, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't when it comes to the customer service industry.

SNOOTY WAIT STAFF THREAD!!!

We haven't had one of these for a while. Should be fun

/off to make popcorn

The last time I can recall not tipping it was a combo of a rude waiter, a screwed up order that the waiter told me to "deal with", and on vacation so there was no chance I'd go back. On the tip line of the CC slip I just wrote, "You're an asshole."

I wonder if his manager ever saw that?

maram500: The twatwaffle and the coontmuffin? I left her and him, respectively, less than twenty cents and nothing, but he had it coming for far more than sneering at me

So, you validated their suspicions (coupons/no ice = shiatty tipper) and perpetuated the cycle by proving their stereotyping to be correct. Cool. Let me know how that works out for society.

Heist: MrHappyRotter: And irregardless of what you claim, 15% is a standard tip in this country.

4/10

May have some bites, but the "irregardless" is way too obvious.

Imagine that. Another Farker with a broken sarcasmometer. All too common these days.

fusillade762: SNOOTY WAIT STAFF THREAD!!!

Freudian_slipknot: maram500: The twatwaffle and the coontmuffin? I left her and him, respectively, less than twenty cents and nothing, but he had it coming for far more than sneering at me

So, you validated their suspicions (coupons/no ice = shiatty tipper) and perpetuated the cycle by proving their stereotyping to be correct. Cool. Let me know how that works out for society.

It seems like the wait staff are the only ones really losing out in this case.

Self fulfilling prophecy a lot of times...give bad service to a perceived bad tipper and get little/stiffed. Whine about stereotype rinse and repeat.

Wait staff are some profiling people.

Freudian_slipknot: maram500: The twatwaffle and the coontmuffin? I left her and him, respectively, less than twenty cents and nothing, but he had it coming for far more than sneering at me

So, you validated their suspicions (coupons/no ice = shiatty tipper) and perpetuated the cycle by proving their stereotyping to be correct. Cool. Let me know how that works out for society.

Waiters are paid--and in some cases paid well--to smile no matter the customer. Whether the customer asks for salad dressing on the side, or for no guacamole on the tacos, or even if the customer asks to speak to a manager, the wait staff is supposed to smile, do as their asked, and hope that the customer leaves a decent tip. If my waiter cops an attitude, there's no way in hell I'm tipping anything even decent. My coupon or the fact that I asked for no ice is irrelevant; what is relevant is the wait staff's shiatty attitude towards me.

thismomentinblackhistory: I am not afraid to treat shiatty customers like shiat, but then again, I'm a bartender.

Nor am I afraid to treat a shiatty waitperson (My, aren't I PC?) like an asshole.

/rarely encounter a truly rude person.

kiss my grits

davidphogan: It seems like the wait staff are the only ones really losing out in this case.

Nah, they clearly put exactly $0 worth of effort into the table, so no loss.

maram500: My coupon or the fact that I asked for no ice is irrelevant; what is relevant is the wait staff's shiatty attitude towards me.

You got the service you paid for it sounds like. What's the problem?

Freudian_slipknot:maram500: My coupon or the fact that I asked for no ice is irrelevant; what is relevant is the wait staff's shiatty attitude towards me.

You got the service you paid for it sounds like. What's the problem?

The problem is your grasp of cause and effect. If a waiter/waitress deliberately has a negative attitude and gives me crap service, he/she will get to bear the effect of a bad tip. In my anecdote, the cause is a waiter's terrible service, the effect is a bad tip. Get it?

/I have told you, we are all victims of causality
//I drank too much wine, I must take a piss.

The article is talking about "service that's perfunctory or dismissive." I'd prefer that service to some grinning, over-enthusiastic retard with 400 pieces of flair.

maram500: In my anecdote, the cause is a waiter's terrible service, the effect is a bad tip. Get it?

And in reality, the server simply saw you as a bad risk and rather than bothering to kiss your ass, went about other business.

And was proven correct in his risk assessment.

Wow.

Less than 50 comments in and we already have repeat sightings of Brokeass Dickus. Go to Yelp to flesh out this species of deadbeat who insists on dining up one notch -- or more -- higher than he or she (often she) can truly afford all the while intending to stiff staff for imagined slights and otherwise extract additional "value" from what they perceive to be impossibly costly dining fare.

Never waited tables in my life, but I can cook more than a little. Are some joints rip-offs? Absolutely. Some staff poorly trained? No doubt. But if you go in looking for fight and an excuse to hoard coins, I guarantee you'll find it.

Dickus, do us all a favor and stay home, eat your Ramen, and learn some money-making skillz.

There's a kosher delicatessen a couple of streets over from Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and they do the whole asshole New Yorker schtick. If you see it as commentary on tourists in general New Yorkers in particular, which is what it's meant to be, it's more than a little amusing and if you keep cracking up they're not usually able to keep a straight face for very long either.  Order pastrami and Swiss but substitute challah bread for the rye just to hear the gagging noises they make.

Freudian_slipknot: maram500: In my anecdote, the cause is a waiter's terrible service, the effect is a bad tip. Get it?

And in reality, the server simply saw you as a bad risk and rather than bothering to kiss your ass, went about other business.

And was proven correct in his risk assessment.

Ooh, look, I used a coupon I got e-mailed. I'm a cheapskate asshat, aren't I? Maybe he could have thought again when my bill reached fifty bucks, plus another twenty in liquor.

OH hell, yes, I get my surly waitstaff fix at the 77 year old Tastee Diner in Bethesda, MD late at night. The waitstaff are surly, and it's all part of the charm. The food is greasy spoon quality food, but at those prices it's very, very worth it. A burger is $2.35 for cryin' out loud... and they even serve gravy fires!

Plus you have a fairly good chance of running in to local politicians there. One of our governors (including the current one), senators, reps, etc....

MrHappyRotter: Heist: MrHappyRotter: And irregardless of what you claim, 15% is a standard tip in this country.

4/10

May have some bites, but the "irregardless" is way too obvious.

Imagine that. Another Farker with a broken sarcasmometer. All too common these days.

In that case, you're just an asshole with shiatty grammar. Congratulations?

maram500: Freudian_slipknot: maram500: In my anecdote, the cause is a waiter's terrible service, the effect is a bad tip. Get it?

And in reality, the server simply saw you as a bad risk and rather than bothering to kiss your ass, went about other business.

And was proven correct in his risk assessment.

Ooh, look, I used a coupon I got e-mailed. I'm a cheapskate asshat, aren't I? Maybe he could have thought again when my bill reached fifty bucks, plus another twenty in liquor.

Am I wrong, or does the coupon discount reduce the owner return more than the waitperson? (MY GOD! PC twice in one thread!). When I use a coupon, I usually tip more generously, so, Waitperson (on a roll here), kiss my rosy red.

maram500: Ooh, look, I used a coupon I got e-mailed. I'm a cheapskate asshat, aren't I? Maybe he could have thought again when my bill reached fifty bucks, plus another twenty in liquor.

People who use coupons are overwhelmingly more likely to be cheap about their tip, regardless of how much they spend.

That means a server with limited time is doing the smart thing by spending as little time and effort as possible on those tables and focusing on the ones who are more likely to be profitable.

It's just basic sense, and it's what our current system rewards. Don't be surprised/angry that servers are out to try to maximize the value of their own time. They'd be stupid not to.