No-tip restaurants fight to gain traction

Sal

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Sep 29, 2007
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To me if tips are paid then it makes sense to me that everyone involved in the meal from peeling the spuds to washing the dishes and putting them away deserves a portion of the tip. What's the consensus on restaurant meals that are buffet/smorgasbord style and the waitress generally just brings coffee/drinks?
we do 10 to 15% that's it
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Your absence will probably go unnoticed.

You are absolutely right, but for every person who thinks a certain way there are thousands of others who think the same. -:)

fair enough...I haven't spoken to any chefs...but to call a chef a cook as was done above is insulting which is where my comments began

What's the difference between a chef and a cook? I get a little edgy about pretentious titles. When I hear the term "pre owned vehicle facillitator" the hair on the back of my head stands up! -:)
 

Tecumsehsbones

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Mar 18, 2013
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What's the difference between a chef and a cook? I get a little edgy about pretentious titles. When I hear the term "pre owned vehicle facillitator" the hair on the back of my head stands up! -:)

Usually four years at a culinary academy and five or more years of experience. But no, there's no legally mandated standard.
 

Sal

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 29, 2007
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You are absolutely right, but for every person who thinks a certain way there are thousands of others who think the same. -:)



What's the difference between a chef and a cook? I get a little edgy about pretentious titles. When I hear the term "pre owned vehicle facillitator" the hair on the back of my head stands up! -:)
as it should, apples and oranges...that is dealing with car sales this is about the food industry

difference is level of training, it's like calling a doctor a medical assistant,

some restaurants do employee cooks too

Harvey's/MacDonald's etc would not employee a chef neither would some chains where the food is often times pre made
 

Praxius

Mass'Debater
Dec 18, 2007
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.... I'm curious how it will do.

It'll do just fine. There's no tips here in Australia (in Melbourne at least) and if you offer a tip or leave money on the table, people look at you funny. Took me a bit of getting used to. The only people I do tip here in Melbourne are pizza delivery guys because I can't be bothered waiting for them to find the change in their pockets. I just round it up to the nearest bill and add an extra $2 or something, so they usually get at least $5 from me.

But all the workers in restaurants here in Melbourne are paid pretty well (certainly not minimum wage) and the meals are a bit higher in price, but the system works. When I came back to Canada this past October to visit family and let them meet my son for the first time face to face, I had to switch back to my other way of thinking in regards to tips..... that and driving.

Also here's a question:

Do waiters/servers claim those tips in their income tax? Cooks and the people in the background get no tips and have everything set in their pay, which goes directly into their income tax. My ex used to work at Tim Hortons and beyond her pay, she'd come back home from an 8 hour shift with tip money ranging between $30-50 a day, which would be an average max of $600 extra every two weeks from a 6 day work week..... not including her regular pay.

At that time and technically speaking, she was making more money than I was where I was working in the sign industry as a graphic designer.... yet all that money wasn't claimed when tax time came around.
 
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BornRuff

Time Out
Nov 17, 2013
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so you differentiate from the chef and who...who else is in the kitchen making food? I was not aware... when the chef comes to your table, as far as I have understood it is he or she that has prepared my food, so explain to me as I don't know about others in the kitchen

The chef is just the person running everything. Depending on the restaurant, they will have a sous chef(or a few) and any number of line cooks doing the vast majority of the actual work.

It really depends on the restaurant how everything breaks down, but a restaurant of any decent size will have a lot of bodies behind the scenes making the food for you.

One person can't cook dozens of meals ready at all different times on their own.

could you please address the issue of up selling and why these people at the back who ever they are get half of the up sale...what have they done to deserve it...also when your servers are pressured to sell why should they have to give away their tip...from a psychological perspective it won't work

What are they selling? They have nothing to sell if there is nobody to make the food. People wont come to the restaurant if they hear they have bad food and they wont come back if the food they get is bad. They wont come back or tip well if the food doesn't arrive in a reasonable amount of time. This is all up to the kitchen. They are full partners in all of this.

it is common ... that is how the tips are split... if you do not tip, they still have to pay out on their bills to cover for the other staff who share so when you have people who are too cheap to tip the servers suffer

I wasn't questioning the practice, I was questioning the percentage.
 
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PoliticalNick

The Troll Bashing Troll
Mar 8, 2011
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If that were true servers wouldn't have a separate lower minimum wage. Give them the same minimum wage as everyone else then the tip will truly be what it should be - which is what you describe. Thats not the way it is right now.

I agree that they should get the same as everyone else. Then maybe everybody would calm down. I don't believe it should be mandatory to tip or that there should be a defined amount. When tipping started it was usually "keep the change". Now the servers want to dictate how much we should tip. That just isn't right.

I have given a $50 tip on a $100 tab and also given no tip on a $500 tab. Both decisions were based upon the dining experience not some cultural standard or restaurant owner mandating my behaviour.

They do in the U.S. Employers of waitrons are required to calculate a percentage of the waitron's total tickets for the day and report it as income to the taxman.

In Canada they are required to report 7% of their income.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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I agree that they should get the same as everyone else. Then maybe everybody would calm down. I don't believe it should be mandatory to tip or that there should be a defined amount. When tipping started it was usually "keep the change". Now the servers want to dictate how much we should tip. That just isn't right.

I have given a $50 tip on a $100 tab and also given no tip on a $500 tab. Both decisions were based upon the dining experience not some cultural standard or restaurant owner mandating my behaviour.



In Canada they are required to report 7% of their income.

I'm pretty much with you Nick, on this subject, the main criteria for tipping should be quality of service, the financial dilemma of the servers etc. has nothing to do with the patrons.
 

Nuggler

kind and gentle
Feb 27, 2006
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Backwater, Ontario.
20%..............unless the waitress talks loud or is rude..........If she's rude to the idiots who are talking loud behind us.........40% hee hee hee.


Seriously, they get sh*t wages. 20% is not too much. Tip sharing or not is restaurant policy and not my concern. So there.