May 22, 2007

  • Bad Service, Bad Food, and Tipping??

    New Orleans, LA


    Ok, usually I write post about places I love to eat and feature pictures of the magnificent looking food that I’ve been eating, right? I’m going to do you a favor. Never eat at “Sweet, Fire, and Ice”!! EVER.. Terrible service, Food presentation and taste is not appealing, the Menus aren’t even wiped clean so it smells like old dirty socks.


    Crabmeat and Shrimp Pasta

    I went here because of hunger and the wanting of a “sit-down” meal, it was late and with no other places open we chose SFI. I’ve been here on a couple other occasions and it’s been getting worse everytime. Too salty, sour, undercooked, greasy..


    Stuffed Catfish 

    As you can see from the first plate’s constuction, it was just plopped on there and garnished with the classic french “lemon wedge”. When I saw it, it killed my hunger.. And the other plate? The fish was fine. The vegetables? They were cut and tossed on there. Yeah, they forgot that they were indeed, Chefs! Cooking is required!

    Subpar Service

    The waitress took the order.. I didn’t have utensils when my appetizer came out. My date lended me one of her forks.  And I ordered an Ice Tea.. also yet to be seen. (But my date did get her Amaretto Sour from the bar) So by the time the main course arrived, I’ve already eaten my app and salad, all while using a “borrowed” fork and still no sign of Utensils or the Iced Tea.

    Tipping 101

    So bottom line.. I tipped 8%.. is that too much? or too little?? How do we determine this?

    We know that great service and great food gets 20% or more. And good service and good food is 15-20%.. So what about other combinations? Bad service + Good food? Good service + Bad food? Bad both? Let’s find out..


    “Chef Eats’ Bad Tipping Chart”

    Good Service + Bad Food = (12-15%)
    This means you recieved bad food and the server tried to do everything in their power to remedy it. Ultimately they should not have to pay for the Chef’s mistake. Depending on the level service, tip according to 10-15% range. (Optional Action: If the waiter is not able to convey how much you disliked the food, ask to talk to Executive Chef or Maître d’.. they will want to know!)

    Bad Service + Good Food = (8% or less)
    The food was good, but damn the waiter! Not only did they not take care of you.. they ruined your dining experience. You should tip 8% or less to the waiter and ask to go to the kitchen and tip the chef who prepared your meal 15%! (If you give a small tip, make sure they know that you were unhappy with their service.. and if you feel it’s necessary, tell the Maître d’!)

    Bad Service + Bad Food = Bad Tip
    Oh yes.. the hell on Earth experience. The wait was long to begin with, now you must wait again for the waiter.. and then the food, yes you have to wait on that too! And when it all finally arrives, you think to yourself, “What the hell is this in my mouth? and why has my glass been empty for 15 minutes?!?!” We all know this experience… It’s a rare experience, but it happens.

    Now how do you react? Do you walk out with no tip? Do you complain and make a scene? Do you just bite your tongue and give a tip anyways?

    I want to know what you think..


    Overall Rating:  (out of 7 )

    Future Entries:
    Stella – New Orleans, LA
    Home Cookin’.. Grilling!

    My new Blogring:
    Xagat-Rated

    Feel free to join! =)

    *Edit* May 23 - 1:45am
    If you think my review was harsh.. Check out my buddy’s entry: Azriha (thanks for the props!)

    I really do enjoy your comments, But please read the whole thing before you pass judgement on me. I’m a chef and was once a waiter. I understand how front and back of the house works! I tipped 8%.. so would 2 more percent have made a difference? I put the 12-15% for the “Good Service + Bad Food” to give a little room for your own judgement. I would probably still give 15% for that.

    Thanks for stopping by!

Comments (216)

  • i totally agree! i HATE HATE HATE that place!! it took them 1 and a half hours to SEAT us! When they did, we were placed next to this huge obnoxious crowad of people and served the saltiest, boring food! copeland’s lets me down all the time. bleh! great post!!

  • oh no!  sorry you had the trifecta of the bad (bad food/service/experience) in restaurants… i hate it when that happens!  btw, that first picture made me a little bit queasy… it looked kind of nasty!

    if it’s good service + bad food, i write a note on my receipt or fill out a comment card or tell the waitress/waiter what i didn’t like.  if it’s bad service + bad food, i tell the manager.  and then, like you, i tell people i know NOT to go there.  did you know that people who’ve had a good restaurant experience typically report it to their friends 10% of the time but people who’ve had a bad restaurant experience report it to their friends 70%+ of the time? 

  • This post is depressing to me.  The plateing alone makes me want to stab my eyeballs out. 

  • i tend to leave a small tip even if the service is bad. i’ve never had such a terrible experience that i left nothing on the table. but i think 8% sends the message that the waiter did a poor job – unless s/he’s misguided and just thinks you’re cheap – which is, sigh, just sad and totally not the point. i would leave and not go back to the restaurant. unless the food was really good… and then i would make sure i would never get that same waiter. making a scene would probably not be worth it (esp if you want to return to the restaurant and ensure your food contains nothing foreign in it…). and if the waiter is just outright rude, the manager should definitely know.

  • Two cents is the widely-embraced standard for bad service.  If you leave nothing the server may assume that you forgot (which happens) or you’re one of those people who “don’t believe in tipping” at all.  But two cents says, “Hey, I didn’t forget.  This is what your service was worth.”  As a former and soon-to-be-again server, I would be much more disappointed to receive two cents than nothing at all.  It’s a clear message that my service sucked.

  • totally love your site. great post. you told that the service was bad without slamming the restaurant or using vulgariuty- i think that takes class. i think that 8% was ok. if the service and the food is bad, i dont tip at all. if the service is good but the food is bad-then its not the waitresses fault-its the cook’s fault, i would tip 12%. just my opinion. have a fabulous day!

  • I’m in the two cents crowd if the experience is horrible.  And for the same reasons, I want them to know I didn’t just forget to tip.

  • i never knew about the widely recognized 2 cent rule…  the only time i don’t tip is when the waiter is obviously rude/racist/completely uncaring.  i’ll write a note on the receipt and speak to the manager.  they need to KNOW why i was unhappy, so they can improve their services.  otherwise, nonchalant service still receives the min 15% - he/she could just be having a bad day.   

  • BAD FOOD + BAD SERVICE = 0 TIP and a note to the management why I’ll never return.

  • I too believe in the 2 cents tipping.  Tip, isn’t that for graditude?  I am grateful for the food and service.  If neither was there, then what do they expect?  Once, I left them a tip written on a napkin of few things they could have done for their patrons. : )  I think that was the biggest tip I gave the facility.

  • Bad Service + Bad Food= the penny.

    I’ve only had to give a single penny once. I think it’s because people that are REAL waitresses and waiters know another REAL waitress/waiter when they see one. And they up their service just a tad because they know that if it’s good, the waitress/waiter eating at their table will empathise and tip well–no matter how bad the food was.

    The time I left the penny, the waiter came and took our drink order, then we didn’t see him again the whole night. Well, that’s not true. We saw him across the dining room sitting in a booth with a pretty girl. The maitre d ended up serving us, but because of his other duties (the restaurant was pleasantly busy), we only rarely saw him. None of our food was cooked properly– once we got it. We waited 45 (no kidding) minutes for it then it came and it was the wrong order, so we sent it back and it took another half an hour. Mine was undercooked. My friend’s was overcooked. And we had empty glasses more than we had glasses with anything in them. The silverware was dirty. The booth had crumbs in the stitching. There was some sticky spot under the salt cellars. We thanked the maitre d when we left, with a five dollar bill (about 8%) but left a penny on the table for the waiter that’d been flirting.

  • I think that first of all you’ve got to take into consideration it’s new orleans. Even though it’s been two years there are way too many things that haven’t changed in new orleans and proper help is very hard to find there. As for tipping I wouldn’t base the tip on the food because you’re not actually tipping the chef. I usually only base tips on how the waiter/waitress is because they’re the one who’s getting the tip. I don’t know. I do have to say though that most cajun/creole places don’t really follow a “pretty presentation” sort of thing. This is probably because most southerners are used to bbqs and crawfish boils. We eat outside sitting in the grass with a watermelon tray filled with bbqed meat and potatoes. Maybe it’s a cultural thing. I don’t know. I always leave a tip because I know what it’s like to work for tips so I guess it’s more or less a sympathy thing.

  • hahaha the two cent tip is hilarious. I gotta remember to try that one day if I ever get the chance.

    And you’re right, the first plate looks HIDEOUS. I’m tempted to believe that you took a few bites out of it and sloshed it around before you took that picture.

  • love the tipping chart. i’m always confused most of the time as to how much to tip. i usually tip on average 15% but if it’s bad about 10%… maybe too much? enjoyed reading the entry though.

  • that is the worst plating i have ever seen.  pathetic.

    servers earn their money by providing quick and polite service.  if he/she isn’t providing that service, i let the manager know he/she has a crappy server and i leave the restaurant and never go back. 

  • i tip based on service not food =D

  • if service is bad, we will not tip……but, I will not let the waitress or waiter get away with not having our table set right, and as for our beverage……oh heck no….by darn if I’m paying good money for good food, I expect good service…..I’ll pay good tips……if I have bad service, i usally drop off our business card and explain on the back why they didn’t get a tip from us….it’s only fair….

  • I tip on service not food…but I have a hard time giving too little, even with bad service.  I will go down to 10% if the service is bad…but that’s the smallest. 

  • it really depends…if you walk into a mom and pop restraunt i would leave a small tip and complain to the owner about the service or food…in the case it was a more upscale restraunt i would leave a penny for tip and leave a nice lil note to go along with it so the person who was actually serving me could get a piece of my mind…of course that’s when i’m leaving, i would not put my meal in jeopardy of being contaminated by bodily fluids…whichever end they happen to come out of…

  • I agree with those who said they tip two cents for bad service. Gratuities are to show appreciation for a job well done. If it’s not well done, why reward them for it?

  • hadn’t heard the 2 cent rule until now.  i know of a few places it would have come in handy over time.  but, anyway…8% is probably more than generous.

  • As a former bartender and waitress,I tip based on the service. The server can’t help the faults of the chef. Only once have I left no tip at all. That girl should find another profession.

  • The crabmeat and shrimp pasta looks absolutely disgusting; possibly like it could’ve been someone’s previously eaten food.  I “love” the way it’s just slopped on the plate.  YUCK!  Did you ever get your iced tea?  I think 8% is more than I would’ve left considering you had to borrow utensils and didn’t get your tea.  Even if you got your tea when the main course arrived, that’s too late.  I probably would’ve left 5%. 

  • its much more insulting to receive the 2 cents than it is to receive nothing at all. trust me on that one, i have had it happen before… although oddly enough they filled out a comment card and said my service was great but the food wasnt cooked properly and it took way too long. it sucks that the waiter / waitress’ tip is often dependant upon the quality and speed of the food when in reality they have absolutely nothing to do with it. thats why i only tip off of service.

  • ALWAYS TIP AT LEAST 15%! It doesn’t matter what the food was like, the server is the one that gets the tip. And they can’t help if the kitchen doesn’t give them the food to serve you in a timely fashion. If the service was really bad (the server didn’t keep coming to the table to check on you) then I suppose 10% would be alright. But no less! Servers don’t get paid very much salary, so the tips are pretty much their only income. I always tip at least 20%. And leaving a tip of a penny or two is a terrible idea. It would be better to leave nothing, if you’re going to be that stingy.

  • I agree with the bad service tip. I think I went to that place a few years back when I was visiting down there. I mean I feel like the waiter/waitress should get a tip (since they basicaly get paid nothing) but if their giving you pretty crappy service than they certainly don’t deserve a full 15-20%. I’d say 8-10%, and that’s being nice in certain situations….You should also try talking with the manager about his business because CLEARLY he sucks at life.

  • as a waiter, i want to be held accountable for my service, not the quality of our cooks.

    that being said, if i don’t do my damnedest to remedy the situation if you have bad food, then my service isn’t all that great, now, is it? but if we’ve replaced your meal, recooked your meal, comped you something that was a mistake, etc. in a timely fashion, then i see no reason why my tip should be lowered. if anything, it should be higher, since i’ve not only done my job, but done what should’ve been the cook’s job as well.

    in the midwest, where i live, tipping a single penny in accompaniment to your percentage is considered a signifier that service was extra-good, esp. if it is an elderly person who leaves the penny. two pennies alone is a bad signifier.

    my best tip last shift was from a british lady on layover who left 25%, which i thought was odd, considering i’d heard that tips are usually lower in european countries.

  • ok well i am a waitress and have been for 5 years + . I always always always offer to fix the kitchen screw ups. i never want anything less then 20%. i mean i will go back to the kitchen and make it myself for my tips. so i think if the server does try to remedy the problem then he/she should not be help accountable for crappy food.

  • the food doesnt look that bad

  • So I work in a restaurant and I can tell you that servers live off of tips. They don’t have a high set wage at all, and when it comes to their check, pretty much all of their set salary gets taken out for taxes and ect….so you might want to rethink your tipping amount!

    But I understand not tipping very well if the service is bad! Hopefully if enough people tip badly enough the “bad” server would get the hint!

  • I once tried the 8% – tipping but it did not work.  The service was horrible so I figured they didn’t deserve so much gratuity.  The waitress called my friends and I back saying this was not enough tip.  Mind you, there were only three of us.  So the 15% manditory shouldn’t have come into play. =_=.  I’m never going back to that sushi place again.

  • I was a waitress, and I eat at restraunt on a regular basis. I have very high standards for service especially since I put those high standards on myself. You should always tip for great service, even when the food is bad. In this case though, food and service was bad, so do what I do leave a $1. That’s a signal that it was bad. Most people feel that they need to tip because service staff rely on tips, blah,blah. You’re not raising their family, they chose to work there. It should be every service staffs responsibility to make sure that the customer has the best expierence. I do not reward people for terrible service.It actually makes me angry when people tip on the basis of people make a living on tips. A tip is a form of graditude. When I was a waitress, it felt good when customers came up to me and told me they really had a good time and left a nice tip.

    Don’t tip because you have to, tip because you want to.

  • i would say tip on service and decide not to come back if the food was lousy.

  • And sometimes I leave a note on the reciept to the waitress about what went wrong and how it could have gone better. And on the flip side, if it was excellent service I leave a nice note saying thank you and how much I enjoyed it.

  • I had two bad dining experiences this weekend. Almost enough to make me give up on it all forever and ever. Misery loves company, and thanks for posting this. (Obviously, the idea of tipping is a very important issue as noted by the numerous comments here.)

  • Amen to that miluifaer,as a waitress I’m probably overly sympathetic but we are putting the same gas in our cars as the customers are.The only reason I wouldn’t leave a nice tip would be a really bad attitude on the server’s part.Sometimes there are in fact situations that are out of the server’s control,not limited to the food. 10% should be the absolute minimum.If people have a real problem with me I’d appreciate a note or message,given in a helping spirit. 

  • I can’t remember of a time that I haven’t left a tip. I think the one time that our dinner party unanimously didn’t like the service and the food and they wanted to get up and leave. I just couldn’t not leave anything so I left a dollar. They all yelled at me and I said, hey jerks, we ate half of it, and we’re a lot of people. $1 is barely a tip, it’s a sign to them that we were unhappy, they’ll get the hint.

  • I went to dickie brennans in Nawlins before.  One of the best Filets I’ve ever had.

  • great – i like the tipping chart

  • Ive waitressed before, and know how it goes. People get mad at waitresses when the food isnt good.. blame the cook. ;) So I am in agreeance, if the food is bad dont take it out on the waitress.
    Now having said that, I make sure to tip well. But if the service sucks, I dont tip at all. Waitresses KNOW they work for tips.. not that hard to be attentive and nice. I like the two cents rule. Ill start using that.

  • If I have bad service and bad food and the place is dirty or disordlerly I leave a penny.  I also make sure I have the name of the server and the manager and then the owner gets a phone call, letter or email.  I also will alert the Health Department if necessary.

    I disagree with Milufaer. Because servers get paid so little and depend on tips they damned well should work their butts off for it.  The service you received was terrible.  A server also can look at a plate and tell the kitchen “I’m not taking that out to my customer, fix it.”  If the server feels that the food isn’t up to par they can voice their opinion to the customer and ask if the customer wants to speak with the manager. 

  • I usually tip 20% average b/c i used to be a waitress and yeah it was tough living off of 2.83/hr. So if the service was great and food sucked, the server can’t really do anything about it. But if the service sucked, giving 8% is too much b/c then the server doesn’t really know that it’s due to the poor service that they’ve given (they think you’re just being cheap). Just giving a dollar tip can give the message. And if the service sucked so bad that it pisses you off, yeah, I’d walk out.

  • Ive never been there but i have had the bad service+ bad food deal, honestly if it was an all around bad experience, i would even consider leaving less than 8% & even taking it up with the owner and/or head chef.. ya go to a place like that to get good food and good service & if u end up getting less than, well.. sucks to be them, they need to do they’re job better.

  • Sorry, but FiftyFirstDates (see user above), but you need to stop eating McDonald’s!  Food looks like crap!!!!

  • I leave a tip with bad food and bad service… written on the receipt (“TIP: everything was horrible. Next time do a better job and you might recieve a tip of monetary form.”) HAHA.

  • we had TERRIBLE service one night i mean never go back service… i only left like 10% she might have been having a bad night… but heres the comment I want to make… I personaly would never tip based on food quality. if you were tipping the cheff, then yes… food quality but the servers (who make at the most $2.00 an hour, literaly… all their pay, is tips.) if the food is bad, but the service is good… tip high… if the service is bad, then tip moderatly…if the service is TERRIBLE… well do as God leads you…

  • i totally agree…

  • I mean FiftyWorstDates…eeek

  • I don’t tip by specific percentages, I tip by service and food quality.  If a server blows me away with excellent service, the food doesn’t matter, and I tip very well.  If I have excellent food and horrid service, if I even tip, it’s very little.  My tip doesn’t go to the chef, so why offer a bad server a tip if the job was poorly done.  Depending on the situation, I may call a manager out to the table.  I had a waiter once who got smart with me when I pointed out I didn’t get what I ordered.  “You didn’t get what you ordered, or you didn’t get what you wanted?”  I asked for the manager, and the meal was free.  Most other times I prefer to send an e-mail directly to the company.  That way you know something will be done to correct the problem.

  • I agree with not letting the waiter/waitress suffer because the food was bad. I will never forget the time that a couple complained that thier ribeyes were too nervey/hard to chew and therefore i was not getting a tip. I was like HUH??? I didint have anything to do with that! THEN they went to complain to the manager that they did not enjoy their meal(even though they ATE everything and took a trip to the salad bar) and they were not going to pay for it. What happened? The freaking manager took thier meal out of MY paycheck!!!!! How insane was that??? When i asked him Why? he said that they said i took too long to refill thier tea. His name was Mr Hong and to this day i hate that little s.o.b. One time a guest staying in the hotel came by the kitchen and asked for two packets of ketchup. So i gave them to him. As he left mr hong passed by and saw him with those packets. He came up to me and said”did he pay for those ketchups? I said No,but hes staying here at the hotel. OMG you would have thought i had given him 10 bottles of ketchup or something. He lectured me about giving away ketchup and that i should have charged him five cents each. *smacks head* sorry for rambling……its just been so long since ive thought about this and ive tried to repress the memory.he was such a horrible man.

  • As a former waitress, I wouldn’t think the food should weigh into what you leave the server. We would share tips with the busboy, but not the chef. Tips should be based on service and effort, but it’s always nice to glance around and see if there’s an obvious reason for bad service, like one waiter working a room of 20 tables, etc.

  • how awful!!

  • I agree, server is not in control of the food and it’s timeliness, but they should inform you that it should only take a few minutes longer or apologize that it’s taking so long to let the customer know that it’s not their fault, so in that case a decreased tip really isn’t fair.  But in regards to the comment above, I think that if their service is crappy and sub par you should be able to leave whatever percent you want, even two pennies.  Since I’m a server, and I have recieved the 2 pennies, not because I was bad, but because the customers were truely just mean, I was just wondering what kind of service (ie qualities) deserves 20% plus tip?

  • I was reading Yelp for reviews on a certain restaurant and one person was pissed off so much, he ripped a dollar in half and put it in the checkbook and handed it to his waiter on his way out haha.

  • I agree with Miluifaer. As a server, there’s nothing you can do about poor food quality or presentation. Most people don’t realize that servers are not paid minimum wage, they live off of their tips. For the most part, *most* servers realize what bad service will get them and do their best to provide excellent service. On that note, IT IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE TO NOT LEAVE A TIP. I agree that 8% on your trip may have been a little much, but let’s not forget that many servers have to pay a certain percentage of your check as tip share to the hostesses, bartenders, bussers, etc. That is money out of their pocket, which sucks even more if you’re just upset about the food and not the service. You are right to let the manager know what’s going on, though. If you leave a bad tip and let the manager know how terrible the service was, a lot more will be accomplished in reprimanding that employee and improving their service, rather than the server going home that night thinking you’re just too cheap to leave a tip and never receiving and criticism or advice on how to improve.

  • i live in los angeles.  that happens ALL THE TIME.

  • OMGoodness! The first plate looked like a regurgitated mess topped with two feces droppings. Ugh!

  • I absolutely will walk out without a tip.  And, even better, if they stop and ask me if there was a problem, I will be more than happy to tell them about it.  I tip generously for good service, good food, etc. but I do not feel obligated to reward someone for just going through the motions. 

  • . I like the tipping range chart too, next time I dine out I’ll keep that in mind. Most of the time if the service is decent and they apologize for bad food, then I’ll tip them.

  • Leaving a penny or two isn’t the point to be stingy…its to get the message across that their service was worth nothing more. That they sucked. I’m a very tight tipper. I start at 15% and work my way down. Each time they do something unnecissary like forgetting everything i ask for, or even the little things like refilling my beverage, I knock a percent or two off…depending on how bad it irked me. I have been a waitress and I know that you need to work for your tip. No excuses. The customers don’t care if you have a bad day, they want good service. Be fast (as possible) and friendly, personable and persistant…you should have no trouble.

  • love your site! I’m with the 2 cent tipping crowd, so I think 8 percent is more then enough!

  • so i saw your site on the featured blogs, and i just have a comment to make. i’m a server and agree that if you get terrible, terrible service you should not reward your server with a 20% tip. I don’t expect that from tables that I don’t do my best on.

    But the food taste and presentation is not your servers fault. If the food looks like shit we have two choices- send it to you or make you wait another 20 minutes for more food. Don’t take food taste out on your server, because if you do the food won’t be the only thing that’s bad next time you visit.

  • If the food is bad, always complain to the management. The price of the food should be compensated to the patron or another dish should be offered. Traditionally, the tip is for the server. Though, I dislike it when servers get up in arms over tips. If they don’t serve well, don’t tip at all. There should be no such thing as partial pay for partial service. Either you were served or you were not. I wouldn’t pay a contractor for partial work done to my home. I don’t get tipping anyway. Just charge me for the whole cost of the meal, service and all, and be done with it. I should not need to tip for what is expected (bringing my food and filling my glass.) Tips ought to be reserved for exceptional service only.

  • i think 8% was perfect. obviously, you understood that the food was not the waitress’ fault, however, her subpar service deserved a pretty low tip. btw, the first plate really does look like a bowl of puke.

  • I haven’t heard too many great reviews about this plate.  3 hour long waits is not appealing to me nor is the presentation of the food! blech!!  It looks like jail food.

  • tip is supposed to be a reward for a job well done. if you go to asia, nobody ever expects to be tipped. it’s sad how everyone in the united states now expects tip even when they do a crappy job.

    i tip based on the service that i receive, but i feel bad when i tip too little.

  • geez….I sound like an illiterate fool. haha

  • ok…I don’t really wanna hear about this bad food or bad taste or even bad healthy stuff in New Orleans, they should have some tasy good delicious yummy food in New Orleans over there but in this situation though there shouldn’t put any bad socks and ugly socks or even rotten, dirty ones in New Orleans City if anyone had to put any bad things like dirty rags or dirty clothes in their own food that they had to eat at a restaurant or at the buffet they are totally crazy and nuts and even out of their own minds, so I wouldn’t do that stuff if  I were them too also ! Please don’t put any nasty and gross things on your own food because people would not like that and would be the nasty person in the whole wide world! That ain’t so cool or fun or nicest thing to do either!

  • haha that first picture is so disgusting!

  • I guess for me, I’m one of the nicer ones, so if it’s bad service and bad food then I’ll probably give them the 8% if I’m in a good mood. If I’m in a bad mood, and it was definitely a bad experience then I do the one penny deal. So far, I’ve only left a one cent tip once, and that was a VERY bad experience, the food was inedible, and the service was just rude. Oh what a joy!

  • Your tipping chart should be put on a portable card.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been out on a date and seen my date tip WAAAAY less than necessary.. either out of ignorance, or because they said the food wasn’t that good.  We need to spread the word that the service and the food are two separate entities!

    (And yes, that plate looked disgusting.)

  • Ugh slap it on and go. Soooo sloppy! Chefs fault. (Could be a less than graceful waitress as well)But please please please don’t blame the waitress for poor food. Let the chef know by writing comments on the receipt then ask the waitress to pass it on. The chefs need to know but to punish the waitress isn’t fair. In my opinion it shouldn’t be done. Tips should be based on waitress SERVICE and not chefs. That’s what food prices are for. I waitress to pay for my education and whenever I get punished for someone else’s mistakes it comes out of my tuition money. You never know where the tips are going. Be careful.

  • RYC yes trying it first heps to make up your mind.

  • i think the waiter/ress should be tipped according to the whole experience…not even fifteen percent if the food was terrible. not that it’s the wait staff’s fault the food sucks, but if they get crappy tips then they should leave and get a better job where the food is better. I’m a waitress and I would leave my place if the food looked gross because people are not going to tip to that. and the place probably shouldn’t be open.

  • If it’s crappy sevice I leave a penny……to get my point across. Like HELLO……get off your damn cell phone and wait on your customers!! (and yes this did happen to me and my husband once……i mean come on……talking on your cell phone while your working as a waitress??….AND she was walking around while doing this!)
    If it’s good/great service but crappy food….I leave a tip……hey the waitress didn’t cook the food…..so not her fault! BUT when this happens I do ask to talk to the manager. Why should I pay for crappy tasting food?! It’s certainly not what I ordered.
    If it’s crappy all around then no tip/complain to manager/etc…….AND I make a point to NEVER go back to the place!

  • Alwaya always ALWAYS leave ten percent on bad service.  If it took a long time to seat you, chances are, they’re extremely busy.  Unless you can tell they’re deliberately doing a bad job or just don’t care.  If  they’re running their asses off, taking care of tables and doing their best, who gives a damn if you didn’t get your stupid iced tea?  She probably had to grab 10 cokes, 5 diets, and a sprite.  People who eat at restaurants are inconsiderate of their servers.  Yes, we should try our best and do what we can to make sure you have a pleasant experience, but most of the time, people are just looking for an excuse not to tip.

     Bad food is not an excuse not to tip.  We did not create the recipes, and we did not cook the food.  You’re not tipping the cooks, you’re tipping the servers. 

    Tip ten percent on bad service.  Here in North Dakota, we make three dollars an hour, and more than half of that gets taxed.  I never leave less than five dollars, even if we have to wait ten minutes to be greeted.

    10% is for the fifty’s.  Tip twenty.

  • My opinion is that if the meal is prepared shitty, don’t pay the bill but tip the waitress. Tip her the normal amt that you would have given a saliva-induced platter. It’s not the waitresses’ fault the cook is a lazy, asshole who skipped his way through culinary school. .

  • i’d say there are definately better places to eat in New Orleans. but eating places there definately range in the extremes. on the one hand, you have down home seafood places, where presentation is not exactly up on the level of priorities.
    and then you have the really, really nice places, where serving, presentation, and everything is of the utmost importance, and it’s what you’d expect.
    with places in between, it’s always a toss up. you pretty much have to go expecting you could get anything and everything right or wrong.
    so, if you want a nice sit down place, be prepared to shell out cash if you want a supreme dining experience.
    and don’t expect a whole lot out of the down home places. just act like you’re over by ya mama’s, and you’ll be fine. ;)

  • *LOL* sounds like a classic dining adventure — unfortunately, a bad one

  • Bad service + Bad food = me leaving a very bad tip… But one calculated to let you know I didn’t just forget, but intentionally left you the pennies and pocket-lint because you suck :-p

  • Thanks for the tipping hint. I’ll definately be using that formula when I’m out tonight. Korean BBQ. Yum.

  • i tip on service… servers can’t help the fact that the food in their place of work sucks. if the food sucks, try speaking to the manager.

  • As a former server I agree with your commenter who said, “leave two cents.”  An 8-10% tip is more often interpreted as “cheap ass customer” than, “oops I screwed up”

    Having said that, it’s rare for me to tip less than 15% unless the server totally sucks and I never tip based on the quality of the food.  The server didn’t cook it and it doesn’t hurt the cook if you leave a small tip.  But even if the food is exquisite I will short the tip if the service was bad.  Everyone has an off night, and god knows that most of us would be in huge trouble if our income depended on showing up every day and never making a mistake, so I’m forgiving of a few errors.  But I think you can tell when it’s a matter of a good server having a bad night or you just got a bad server.

     

  • Wowo ……very true……

  • I would have left 8% if the service was absolutely horrible.   If the server was really busy, or the bartender was really slow, I would leave 15% – it’s not the server’s fault if the owner understaffs the place.   But no matter what, the server gets taxed as if she was earning 8% of my meal and while I think it’s not really fair that *I* should be paying part of the server’s wages (after all, the restaurant gets paid no matter what) I also don’t think it’s fair that the server gets taxed whether they are tipped or not.

  • I very much disagree with altering your tip amount to reflect the food!!! If the service is good that is all that counts, your server busted their ass going everything for you, and if the chef messes up your food you punish the server? That is not right. Also, I don’t know how it is in all states but in MA servers only make 2.66 an hour! It is unfair that the companies we work for don’t pay us more themselves, but if you plan on eating out you should also plan to pay for the service, since even if the cooks mess up your food we cake in an hour or two early to fold your napkins, run out dishes, set your table, and we did a lot of work trying to keep you happy! It is a really shitty job, but we can try to make if fun and do our best. It helps if you contribute to a living wage. Thanks! =)

  • Bad service & bad food, I still tip them 12-15% but I will never go back again. 

  • yeah the server/bussers/bartender is the one getting the tip, so it should not matter how the food was.  if the food was bad and the server tried his or her best to accomodate me, i’d still give them 20% if not more, because they went above and beyond their server duties.  if the service is great and the food sucks, i’d still give 20%.  if you wanna punish the cooks for crappy food, giving a shitty tip isn’t gonna do anything to them.  tell a manager and get the meal comped off, but don’t punish the server.

    oh and regardless of what you tip them, the servers usually automatically get taxed for at least 10% of your bill out of their paychecks.

  • look, if the waiter is rude or doesn’t do his/her job, they are NOT getting my money. even if the food is the best i’ve ever had. if i were you, i wouldn’t have tipped at all.

  • if you get bad service and pay with credit card, write in the “Tip Area”: Received poor service. No tip.

    The manager will see this when he reviews the receipts at night.

  • nice blog, great pics! that restaurant is garbage! One time at applebee’s the service sucked so bad, gave me the wrong plate, no refils, ignored me etc. I gave them a two cent tip. What’s worst than getting no tip? getting a 2 cent tip. Now that lady nows how i feel about her service.

    Reading other people’s comment, people actually do the 2 cent tip too? damn, and I though I was original… I guess for next time i’ll leave with 13 cents a tip for bad service.

  • I think I have only once walked out with leaving no tip-and that was when the waitress was rude. Normally I tip based on service, which is usually 20% at minimum. I will leave 15% if I feel they have done just the bare minimum to get by. Will leave less if they don’t even do that. But thankfully, that’s uncommon. Great post.

  • I went to J.Paul’s once in Baltimore’s inner harbor with my whole family. The service was horrible and the food tasted like it had been microwaved. Then they had the gonads to try to add an automatic 20% tip on the bill since we had a large party. When I went to a manager to tell him to take the 20% off so we could tip a more appropriate amount, he started arguing with me!!! So if you visit Baltimore, skip J.Paul’s. McCormick and Schmicks is a much better choice. Way better food and way better service.

  • if the service is bad.. i give like 1 dollar. i dont care you gotta earn your tip!

  • The state of Washington does not have servers wages–everybody makes the state minimum wage which is around $7.50-$8.00 at this point.  If the service sucks there is no way I’m going to give a tip.  If I were in another state where they have that ridiculous servers wage I would tip enough so the person doesn’t starve and can pay the bills-but that’s it!

  • bad food and bad service?

    i like to leave change then.

  • As a former server, I would say that your tip is part of my salary. If I did a bad job, dont tip me, but if I do a fantastic job, but the food sucks, blame that on the cook, dont jack my tip. But since both were bad, I think was the right thing to do. Still give me something, but yea… that bad…coulda left 5% or less… it was the decent thing to do…. it gives a wake up call

  • I feel bad if I tip less than 10%.  Once and only once have I gone under that.  The service was horrible and the food would have been good in theory had they not closed the kitchen without warning leaving us with half a meal.

  • TOO MUCH TIP!!! tip of any percentage is only meant as a reward to those who go above and beyond. average recieves no tip. bad recieves even less – you never coming again.

  • i worked as a waitress so i’ve been there and know that bad food isn’t at the fault of the server.  i worked at an ihop (making $2.13 an hour!) and made almost 300 bucks a night in tips busting my arse.  yes, at IHOP!!  some patrons didn’t get my full attention due to my running around, but i always did my best and my tips proved it.  regardless of how hard ya try, some folks you just can’t please.  as much as i loved my job, i grew to hate people.  i tip way over 20% if the service is good…i don’t leave 2 pennies for bad service.  that’s just awful.  voice your concerns to your server.  i give 10-15%.  serving people for 8 hours a day is trying (and TIRING) and some people are just over-demanding.  i had a table of college kids..(all night of bringing them plates full of lemons FOR FREE, filling their glasses every 5 minutes, cleaning up their napkin spitballs and their toothpick towers…i wasn’t rude but pleasant and kind.  they left me 12 cents in the shape of a happy face on the table and waited outside the window for me to see it.  i once had a girl throw her menu at me!  it’s a tough world out there and servers put up with a bunch of crap from the low wages to the downright rude customers.  if the service is that bad where it warrants leaving 2 pennies, tell the server…maybe he/she just had to have her dog put down, maybe she lost a loved one, maybe he’s going through a divorce…  it’s easier said than done to check your personal problems at the door, but be a little sympathetic and bring a smile to your servers face by saying “THANK YOU”.  if ever someone complained about me, i comped their meal and asked them to return for a guaranteed better experience.  for those on the other side who have never been a food server, try it and then come back to comment.  =) 

  • good service good food = 18%-20%
    good service bad food = 15%
    bad service good food = 5%
    bad service bad food = 5%
    i used to be a waitress and no matter how my day was like, i tried my best.  it pisses me off when people think 15% is automatic.  simple, good service = good tip.  bad food just means i will never go there again.

  • Yuck, that food looks disgusting! I try to always leave a tip unless it’s the last combination, in which case, I just walk out and leave no tip.

  • u shoulda put a penny into a cup of water and turn it upside down! =] theres their TIP!

  • please help yourself to http://www.stainedapron.com

    and have a look around for a good laugh, I work in the food industry, as a waitress (and although I agree that you should NEVER have to wait for either a drink or a fork for more than three minutes for the drink, and fork should be present when seated or when greeted).  The waitress is not responsible for the food unless she refuses to help solve your problem.  If you have a complaint she should jump on the chance to wow you, and if she does that should regain her tip.  The cooks don’t care in most cases if the food is wrong, they don’t work on tips, the food can go out wrong ten times and they are still making 10$ an hour, while waitresses make 2.65ish.  Please base on service, 10-20% always.  I leave notes when there is poor service, or if it is horrible I’ll speak with a manager, calmly.  I also do the same when the service is exceptional, and I’ll leave an exceptional tip, and I’ve left 200% before.  (but, again, I don’t expect someone not in the industry to leave that).  I guess I’m biased, but I would have spoken with a manager and left a 10% tip.

  • I’ll try and make a mental note of that if I ever return to New Orleans. ;)

  • honestly? you’re better then me. BAD SERVICE and BAD FOOD leads to NO TIP.

    i remember one time i think this lady didn’t like asians, she literally threw our food onto the table, and everything fell off the plates. my burger patty and my friends fries were all on the table.

    we didn’t touch anything and called over the manager, who made our waitress come out and apologize.

    and the food tasted like shit.

    the place has closed down since….and with good reason…

    there’s another place where i had an altercation with a waiter and i think i broke his hand…i don’t remember…i’ll write about it on my personal site…

  • i usually do not comment on the blogs of ppl that i do not know, but i saw the subject heading on the main xanga page, and i’m really opinionated about this stuff, so i had to comment.. i’m a server (waitress), so i’m writing for servers. i’m just going to explain to you from a restaurant worker’s perspective. 

    you wrote that you’ve been to the restaurant a couple times before, and it keeps getting worse.  if you didn’t like it the first time, why do you keep going back, and expect that service and food might just get better??  don’t go to the restaurant if you don’t like the food or service, because you obviously won’t tip the 15%!  also, don’t go on xanga and badmouth a restaurant that you REPEATEDLY make the CHOICE to go back to if you had a bad experience THE FIRST TIME. it doesn’t make things any better for that restaurant.  u might want to tell the restaurant, if you want something to be done about it.

    secondly, the IRS EXPECTS that servers will get tipped 15%,  so before they DEDUCT TAXES from OUR paycheck, they add in the TIPS.  also, at most restaurants–especially chain restaurants–the tip does not all go to the server, he or she has to tip out a percentage of either her sales or tips to the bussers and other ppl that helped with the food.  The IRS also knows this.  so if you don’t leave a tip, it affects the server and others

    a 15% tip is MINIMUM.  if you got bad service, please let the manager know specifically what was wrong, but still leave the 15% tip.  give the server the benefit of the doubt–maybe he or she was having a bad night.  not leaving a tip only makes it worse. if you let a manager know, the manager will talk to the server, and that will be much more effective that stiffing him or her on her TIP, which is his or her main source of INCOME.  at least he or she will know specifically what they did wrong and can fix it.  if there was something wrong with the food, it is almost always NOT the server’s fault.  again, let the manager know, making the distinction between food and service.

    bottom line: don’t return to a restaurant if your main objective is to complain, AND you’re not going to tip AT LEAST 15%.

  • bad tipping should = $1 or less. i’ve given a waiter $1.50 once for service so tremendously horrible, and gross food. not that i’d like to think about it… but i wouldnt be surprised if food was contaminated in some way. yuck.

  • Bad Service+Bad Food=A written “tip” in the space reserved for a monetary tip on the credit card receipt.

  • I’m a server myself, and when I see a 8% tip, I’m not being stupid for thinking the customer is being cheap, because people really are super stingy out there. I have had customers praise my services and give me less than 5% tip. If the food is bad or it took too long to come out, i don’t think you should take it out on the server. Sometimes we do all of our duties as a server only to be left standing around because we are waiting on the kitchen staff either because they are slow that day or they messed up and it slowed them down. Like the previous comment, its true that we live off our tips. I have a crappy wage. My monthly wages dont even cover my rent for one month. I use my tips to pay all my bills including rent, and my wages pay for groceries. So when I have a crappy tip, its not that i dont get to buy my designer shoes that week…its that i’ll probably be eating top ramen for dinner! =P Anyways, I think 15% should always be the minimum, because servers sometimes have their bad days, and if something about the restaurant is really that horrible, talking to the manager will be the best way to get the message across. Tipping badly will only upset the workers and leave them not knowing specifically what needs to be fixed.

  • ewww…bad food doens’t mean bad service tho…bad service means no tip when i’m there….

  • I always tip at least 15-20% even if the food was bad.  Hubby and I have only had 1 experience where the waitress clearly did a bad job.  In those cases, I would leave 10% and let someone know that I/we were displeased with the service.

  • P.S.  both those dishes look pretty bad.  The first one looks greasy.  I think I gained a pound just from looking at the picture.  The second one just looks gross.  I might try the soup but only if my guess of corn chowder is correct.

  • I always leave a tip, usually a generous one. However, I’ve heard that if you truely wish to insult your waiter/waitress on account of bad service, you should stick a few dollars into a full glass of water (or pop…Perhaps a sticky liquid would be best) and tip it upside down on the table. This requires them to lift and spill the glass in order to receive their tip. This way, you don’t look cheap, they know you didn’t forget, and they get the message. I’ve never tried this and likely never will, but it’s a thought. I also take into account the workload of the server. It isn’t their fault if 6 people didn’t show up for their shift and they are in charge of two or three large sections for the whole night. If they seemed flustered prior to coming to see me or are obviously new, give them a break. When in doubt, do unto others!

  • so. question. totally off-topic. im looking for casual dining, but with a seafood etouffee. hopefully crawfish. do you know anywhere in New Orleans around Bourbon/Canal/Decatur that has that. i was thinking Bubba Gump Shrimp.

  • I am a hostess in a restaurant and I disagree with your tipping. It doesn’t matter how bad the food was, if the service was a little below decent, 15% should be the least you tip. I tip 15% for bad service as well, because I know that waiters earn way below min. wage on the hour. I myself could never tip below 15%, but I guess it’s different from person to person. But 8% is just downright ridiculous. If service was complete crap, I wouldn’t leave anything.

    If it was bad food, then you should have sent it back or gotten a refund, something similar. If all the food options were unappetizing, then you shouldn’t have eaten there at all. You mentioned that it was late and your only option – you should have saved yourself a bad meal and helped out a waiter by not coming in so late.

    Lilly

  • You absolutely do NOT tip if the waiter/waitress does a bad job.

    However, before you jump to the conclusion that they did a “bad” job….you have to consider a few things….

    -First of all, how busy was the resturaunt when you arrived?
    -Was it close to closing time? Waiters are human too and when theyve worked hard all day….you can’t expect them to be up to par when you come in 5 minutes before close.
    -Did you notice other customers being extremely needy and gripey toward your server? If so, they may be so caught up trying to please the pissy customers that he/she is neglecting you by accident.
    -Are you in your servers actual section? If you see him/her talking to other tables on the opposite side of the resturaunt….chances are there was a screw up on the hostesses part…and your server is taking a table out of their section…so please bear with them.

    Now, if you can’t pinpoint any of these possible reasons….your server just sucks.  And yes, tips are their main source of income (I know because I do this for a living myself) However, I NEVER tip a server who just does a horrible job.  Because if they needed the money that badly….they would pay more attention, and because hopefully the lack of tip will teach them that they need to step it up,  as opposed to tipping when they did a horrific job so they think they can just get away with it.

  • I’ve had quite a series of poor food lately….. what to do?!?!

  • actually its poor food and poor service …. my post on SEA in williamsburg

  • Have you ever seen Rachael Ray’s $40 a day? She is the worst tipper I have ever heard of.

  • Wouldn’t make a scene – it rarely gets anywhere but High Blood Pressure Land. But leave a tip for shitty service all round? HELL NO! A tip is meant to be an extension of gratitude for a job well done. It should not be expected – and I don’t think the “but they get bugger all wage on the proviso they will make it up in tips” plea can stand up. If your waitor/waitress wants more than minimum wage they can A) Give good service by DOING THEIR JOB, or, B)Get another job. 

  • stuffed catfish looks better than the first one.

    there are tippings in aus (melb) but dont think its as common as it is in the US

  • The worst service I’d ever had was at a Denny’s.  If you wait more than an hour for breakfast then you know it’s time to leave.  We didn’t even bother to pay for the drinks, we just left.

  • Bad food should have absolutely nothing to do with the server. Period. They can’t help that your food isn’t the best, because they aren’t the cooks, and they are working for tips, not the cooks. Most servers don’t even get a pay check, and it isn’t their fault that the cooks did something wrong, or didn’t satisfy your taste buds. Especially if the food came out correct and you just don’t like it. That is completely unfair to the server.
    I’m not sure if you have ever worked in the front of a restaurant before, but it sounds like you haven’t. You should take into consideration how busy the server is and how much they seem to try to help out. You sounded like you did have a bad server, but was it busy? Did you ever remind the server of the missing drink? You really need to be observant when it comes to sit down restaurants. Servers are imperfect people too, they aren’t super heroes you know. I completely agree if it wasn’t busy at all and your server was messing around with the cooks and flirting, instead of doing their job, or something along those lines. But when one is double, or even triple sat, they can’t always remember every single little thing.
    It also sounded like you had a bad attitude when you walked in because it was the only place open. Don’t take that out on the people that work there, they’re just trying to get by and do their jobs.
    Anyways, disregard food when it comes to tipping. Often if you aren’t satisfied with your food, politely ask for a manager and they will most likely take it off your tab or give you something like that.

  • I would never except a plate that looked like that…and as a waitress of 20+ years AND a chef…I would never serve a plate in that condition.Everything that leaves that kitchen is my responsibility as a server. kudos for tipping on service merit (including presentation)

  • The Crab dish looks like some one took a shit on a plate with vomit as the underlay.. i dont see how they can even serve this! horrid… what the spaniards would call Ell horrible!

  • HELL NO…bad food, bad service = NO TIP…they’re lucky i dont just walk out…especially the bad service part…

  • I tip only when the service is good.  The chefs don’t get the tips anyway, so I make sure I’m satisfied with the waiter.  If the waiter sucked, then the tip sucks (if I give one at all).  Good post.  Quite interesting.

  • I’m a server, and if they tried to fix what the kitchen did wrong it should be more than 20% not less.  They are spending extra time to keep you happy.  You have no idea what they might have gone through to get something even half-assed from the kitchen.  (I’ve sent food back before it even hit the table.)

  • Good Service + Bad Food = (12-15%) The server should NOT have to pay for the Chef’s mistake…but why drop the tip because of that? Chances are, if the server took something back to the kitchen, they already caught hell for it from the Chef (even if it was the Chef’s fault).

    Bad Service + Good Food = (8% or less) I cannot stress this enough – please Please PLEASE take into account how busy the restaurant is, and how many other tables you see your server at. Note I said restaurant and not dining room. You may have a server who is taking care of tables in more than one dining room. If the service is bad, you can see your server has several tables besides your own, please don’t punish the server for management not ensuring they have been properly staffed. Of course, if you can see the server is just goofing around, or the restaurant isn’t very busy and the server is nowhere to be found, then by all means leave a lesser tip.

    Bad Service + Bad Food = Bad Tip Again, take into account how many tables your server has. There are nights where the maitre’d or hostess will give overload their servers with tables…there are nights there just is not enough staff for the dining room.

    Now, I’m not trying to excuse bad service. Lord knows there is enough of that. But before you leave a bad tip, take into account that sometimes there are factors beyond the server’s control that affect the service.

  • i agree with miluifaer. especially in regards to your opinion for ‘good service + bad food.’ in your example you cite a server who does everything in their power to fix the problem. and yet, you still reduce your tip?!? i don’t understand … your server went above and beyond and yet they are the ones to suffer? if you feel the need to pay less, ask to talk to a manager. they might be able to get you something else, a coupon for next time, or even take something off the bill. DON’T punish the server, who is probably only making a few dollars an hour without tip.

    Also, I do just want to say that you should never leave no tip. As a former server, I am especially aware of bad service. But, I also understand that the server is not the only person your tip pays. It also pays the people who bus the tables, the people who bring your food, the bartenders, and at the restuarant I most recently worked at, the hosts as well. So, depending on the system, you are either depriving these other people of their income in addition to your server, or are actually taking money away from your server because they still have to pay the other people for your having worked there (from my experience this ranges between 2-4%). In other words your server is only getting 60-80% of the amount you leave for them.

    Also, on a side note, whereas, like you, I had always heard 15% was acceptable for good service, this amount, much like everything else, is going up. Now, over 20% is considered for great service and 15% is usually a little low for good service. More like 15-20%. And, while we’re on the subject of tips … keep in mind when tipping that the longer you sit in a busy restuarant, the more people you are keeping from sitting in your seat, and the less food your server is selling AND, therefore, the less tip they are receiving. Sometimes, its not all about the percentage …

    That’s all. Thanks for a great post. And for letting me rant a bit ;)

  • i believe in karma. i usually just give 15. which is double the tax. servers live off of tips. but man that food looks pretty crappy. i would prolly just walk off, dont even eat the food.. no bill. no eating. no tip… there’s always jack in the box.

  • i hate ANY copeland establishment (aside from popeye’s, which he no longer owns anyway).  his wife used to be one of my clients.  i hated her guts.  i hate, hate, HATE his restaurants with a passion.

  • I always tip based on the service. I work as a cook/server in a restaurant and it is casual so we arent supposed to bring people their food (which I know means less tip). BUT we often do serve people like when they dont know they have to get their own silverware and we basically always bring their food because they are sitting so they dont have to get up. The problem is that my boss is very money oriented so she tends to put too little on a person’s plate or makes things super expensive. She also doesnt care about presentation much so sometimes it does not look that nice. It seems like the customers always take it out on us, the cook/severs who work really hard to make the food good and be nice (and I always put big and nice portions on peoples’ plates), because then they leave no tip due to the way my boss presents the food when she is there. It doesnt matter to my boss if we get tip because she doesnt take any, whats one extra dollar to her? Sometimes people even get mad at me for the food being expensive, like I actually have some kind of influence- believe me I’ve tried. I hate that!! It seems like people tip more at a coffee shop than at my work even though at a coffee shop you often just hand a person a drip coffee!

  • wrote an entry inspired by you duuuuude. =)

  • to the comment about it being new orleans, you are completely wrong!  we have some amazing restaurants here, before and after the storm.  a lot of things have changed, but we still have the best food in the south!  sweet fire and ice might be bad, but cheesecake bistro is amazing, both are copelands restaurants.  i also believe in the two cent tip, but only if the service is really horrible.  and never, never be afraid to tell the manager about your experience. 

  • if the services REALLY REALLY bad i’ll tip less than 15%, but i’ll walk away feeling guilty regardless!!!!

    im vacationing in waikiki right now, any good restaurant recommendation? i want good cheap local food! so far all the so called hawaii food places were too touristy and the food sucked! we did find this hole in the wall chinese place and that was the best so far! kinda sad.

  • If the food AND service are bad, I sometimes don’t tip at all. I don’t feel guilty about it at all because most HK restaurants have a 10% service charge anyway. I’m not sure about your end though..

  • I was once a server and this is what I would say to the bad food + good service- Tip what you would if he food is good, but tell the manager or whoever that the food was bad. I agree with giving the server a bad tip for bad service. However, I usually note that bad service CAN include the time it takes for food to come out cause some servers are ticket holders…can’t say it never happened to me. If the server was rude, I wouldn’t tip and I would tell the manager why.

    #1 Rule about tipping- realize that other people are being served by your server. Look around and see if they are busy. Take from their tip if they are standing around or sitting with another table or even cannot be found. Don’t take off tip just because they forgot something once or were unable to fill your glass the moment that you wanted.

  • cooooooooooooool

  • I learned something new today about tipping. Thanks. XD

    But omg. That’s really gross. >: I’ll keep in mind not to go there. Maybe one of the people there will read this entry and fix up their mistakes. ;]

  • as a server i will tell you if i had your experience i would walk out. no tip.

    this being because 1. you didn’t get what you asked for and your server made no attempt to apologize and/or remedy the situation. 2. as a server you know when food presentation is poor, and when the person isn’t happy with what they have. just because they aren’t the cook doesn’t mean they are blameless, restaurant work is all about the TEAM effort (as cheesey as it sounds) but it really is, and any good server that deserves a tip would know that.

  • i’m a waitress, and i like when my customers comment on the food. it helps the business. i always tell the cook if the customer said it was amazing, or if it was too salty or watever else it may be. i also make sure to go back to the table five mins after i just served them their meals to ask how everything is…so they have a chance to tell me if they’re unsatisfied. if they are really unsatisfied, i’m supposed to let them order something else. i try to make my customers happy.

    and also…sometimes if you don’t get a drink exactly when you want it…all that stuff. you have to take into consideration that sometimes we’re really busy. i love when people say, “when you get the chance.” i don’t take advantage of that and completely forget wat they ask for, i just like to noe that my customer understands i’m busy.

    however, a sit down, nice restaurant is different from a diner, which is where i work. diners are a lot more fast paced and everything is done on my own. so if i ever make a customer wait, it’s because i’m too busy doing a million things. and also on occasions, when i forget one of things i’m asked to do while i’m trying to accomplish all the things other customers have asked. hey, it happens sometimes.

    oh yeah, and also…a lot of customers think it’s okay to tell me that they’re ready to order after i ask them if they need another minute…but then take 5-10 minutes deciding wat they want, then telling me. i can’t just walk away because i’m in the middle of taking an order for that table. but i mean come on…within those 5-10 minutes i could have gotten another table’s order, put in that order, and gotten them their drinks and have bread on the table and maybe even their soups or salads. customers do slow us down a lot.

    that’s just my input on things.

    i do recognize bad service tho. seems like u did have not so great service tho.

  • I understand the whole bad service thing, but my bf is a waiter and he lives on tips, so we always try to tip big.

  • Even for bad service, I’d leave 15% … It would probably take a plate full of boiling soup falling into my lap for me to leave less.  I always remember Claudia Shear’s play “Blown Sideways Through Life.”  Would leaving a crappy tip help improve the server’s performance with his/her next customer?  Doubt it.  And who knows if there’s a story behind the poor service?  I give ‘em the benefit of the doubt.  Spread good food karma!

  • the sad part is i’m really use to getting crappy service. i love asian food of all kind and usually those restaurants have the worse service but i give just the average tip everytime cuz i take into account if it’s busy i cut them slack versus if they straight out don’t acknowledge you. to me it’s not a big deal if i get bad service as long as the food is still really good to keep me coming back. besides my friend gave a dollar tip once due to bad service and the owner didn’t understand why we did that. it didn’t register to them it was bad service, he actually came up to us and asked why did we tip him a dollar and when we tried to explain he didn’t understand. so sometimes bad tipping doesn’t even make a difference.

    the worse service i ever had was at a thai place when it was obvious my bf and i weren’t finish w/ our food but instead enojoying conversation, the waiter came up to us puts his hand on our plates basically already lifted it 2inches off the table and asked us if we were done. we were so shocked we just said fine and left w/ a decent tip b/c the manager was absolutely charming to us even tho he had no idea his waiter was so rude.

  • I believe in tipping. Of course~if the service is outstanding…they will get a much bigger tip!!!  If the service & or food are bad…I just never go back…~.

    And~neither do my friends.

  • she shrimp in the pasta loooks yummy. the dish overall..=/ sad face. catfish looks good though!

  • hey just read your post, thought i’d share my views. i am now working in a restaurant and never thought much about tipping before. now that i do, i know that people should always tip at least 15%. bad food, dirty menus, etc. are not the server’s fault. (the menu’s may be under the responsibility of the hostess and the food is obviously the fault of the owner for the menu, supplying the ingredients, etc., and the cooks for preparing the food). however, the drink should have been brought back quicker and she should have noticed the utensil problem. but telling her about this while you were there would have been more effective than ripping her off. Servers’ income comes primarily through tips. I think it is more dignified to understand that she probably needs the money more than you do and despite your experience 15% really isn’t that much to give and it reflects well on you. Personally I think 15% should be the standard but for any exceptional service, why not brighten someone’s day and not be cheap for once and tip something extraordinary? I think it shows maturity and class if you can not let little things get to you so much and to not be a cheap little bitch about it by leaving a 2 cents tip. Odds are you’re probably better off than that server in that less-than-great restaurant, and why continue the negative cycle? why not break it with
    positivity? in my opinion, doing something really nice for someone will “kill them with kindness” and encourage them to do the opposite of what they were doing. but if you rip them off because you think they gave crappy service, most likely that server will continue to give bad service because he/she is bitter and the cycle never ends. Why not be that one special person who can make something good come out of something bad?

    ALSO-make sure you LET THE SERVER KNOW your issues while you are there. most likely that server has a million tables and if you bring the issue to their attention they will go above and beyond to try to fix it. if you get nothing from this post, at least take this home:

    NEVER EVER LET THE FOOD BE REFLECTED IN THE SERVER’S TIP. THE TWO HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. THE COOKS OR THE OWNER WILL NOT BE RECEIVING ANY PART OF THAT TIP. THE SERVER IS JUST AN INDIVIDUAL LIKE YOU OR ME THAT NEEDS TO MAKE MONEY. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE FOOD YOU NEED TO TELL THE SERVER SO THEY CAN HAVE IT RE-MADE OR SO YOU CAN SPEAK TO THE MANAGER. THE service IS THE ONLY THING THAT SHOULD BE REFLECTED IN THE
    TIP.

    *Always remember, when you are planning on going out to eat, expect to pay at least 15% with the tip. That should be included in the price of going out to eat. If you are too cheap to pay that, you should stay home. SERVERS DON’T GET PAYCHECKS!!!!

    *Good tips, 20% or over, show great class. i have a friend that sometimes pays up to 50%! Imagine how that made that particular server’s day. Now, would you rather be classy and mature and make someone’s day or be thought of as cheap, low-class, and unthoughtful?

    (i know this was long but i really needed to say it!)

  • I tip completely on service. If the service is good 25% at least. My meals with the GF usually don’t go above $30 so leaving $40 is common practice for me. Same goes for the rare meals that brake $40, leaving $60 is no big deal. It is true that in Modesto there are few truly expensive restaurants and even there I’ll tip at or above 20% if deserved. On the other hand if the waiter does something to piss me off or generally ignore me I’ll tip a laughably little amount due to my sarcastic nature. Think exact change but right next to it in a separate pile 2 cents sitting lonely.

  • Interesting article! So, since I’m a server, I could never not leave someone a tip except for this one rare instance; I have only not tipped once because the servers were making rude remarks about us behind our backs, but didn’t realize we could see them and their actions.  But in most cases, you can leave them 10% since 15% is standard now.  I could only do that if the service was down right terrible. But anyways, as for the 15%, people don’t understand that we don’t walk out with every penny they give us; we tip out percentages of our sales to others.

    Now, obviously your server STUNK! But I also watch what they’re doing, like if they have a large party elsewhere that they are trying to take care of as well. Then, I won’t be as harsh as I would be if they were seen just standing there.

    The food has nothing to do with the waiter, which so many people DON’T understand, but they can do something about it if they can read that the customer dislikes it. You should offer to have the same plate going fresh, another plate, or a comp.

    I noticed that servers tend to critique other servers more harshly than regular customers. It’s a flaw, but we know what should be done and what shouldn’t. Utensils and drinks SHOULD come out as soon as possible. If you’re too busy, get someone else to swing on by and drop them off. It’s not that hard.

    And as for what you do in regards to things other than tipping, I think that making a scene only embarasses the customer themselves. You don’t get anything out of it other than making others thing you’re a cheap, overdramatic person. Managers might think you are just trying to get a free meal out of it, unless you do it after only one bite and leave almost the whole plate there. If I absolutely despise the food, I might call for a manager, speak to them nicely about what is wrong, and hope for the best. It can only get better after horrible food and service, right?

    ~Jean

  • Both of those plates look pretty disgusting. That first dish looks like its been sitting out in the all day, kind of glazed over, yuk, i would have lost my appetite too..

    I didn’t really think of tipping for the food, I’m not sure if that is typical of a New Yorker if I am just still part bumpkin and don’t know. I tip on the service and I generally double the tax unless the service is poor, then it varies, and when there is reason, I leave a high tip.

    Thanks for ruining my breakfast!

  • I think probably I usually leave at least 7% if it’s poor (unless I’m sure I won’t be back).  If they recognize you and you’re back, you never know what happens to your food.

  • If I were a waitress, I would have no idea if I was getting 8% or 10% unless it was actually written on the bill that way.

  • I’m a veggie, and I dont eat fish, but the look of those vegetables alone makes me feel sick!

    A plate of regurgitated mush comes to mind when looking at the top picture!

    x

  • bite my tongue and give a tip anyways. 

  • I don’t think it is harsh at all.  I’ve been on the serving side, and you just have to suck it up and get shit done!  I have no patience for bad service, if you can’t do it then I guess you need a new job.  Good review :)

  • This whole business of tipping leaves us Europeans slightly confused. In Europe, tipping is a much less precisely defined practice. We tend to “round-up” to the next convenient amount. What this means in practice is that if the bill comes to 61 dollars then I would leave 70 dollars. It the bill comes to 64 dollars then I would still leave 70 dollars. If the bill comes to 67 then I would leave 75. We don’t really understand the implication of leaving a tip which works out at 7% rather than 9%.

    Unfortunately, I think this often leads to the “self-fulfilling prophesy”. Servers assess us as British, and decide in advance that we are not going to leave a good tip, so we don’t deserve good service. And if we don’t get good service we don’t leave a good tip.

    And if I am in any way dissatisfied, whether it is with the food or the service, I don’t go there again.  

  • i love your website…the reviews and everything. i`m a food lover for one thing. but anyway, i always leave 15% no matter what. my waitressing exprenience sort of made me that way.

  • and oh, in the Philippines where i grew up, tipping is not practiced.

  • no, do NOT always tip 15%. if the waiter sucks, just don’t. they know what kind of service they’re giving out, and you don’t need to compensate them for being bad at their job….it just doesn’t make sense. you’re not stingy, lol, the atmosphere SUCKED. it would’ve been different if just the food sucked and the wait staff had been very helpful. instead, you got food that seriously makes me nauseous to look at (I couldn’t have eaten that) and crappy wait staff to boot!

    and I HAVE worked in the food industry for YEARS, picking up tables and hostessing. don’t always tip 15%. you work crappily, you get crappily paid. it’s pretty much a fact of life and of the economy, and restaurants aren’t excluded from that.

    it goes both ways, though. when everything IS excellent, I usually tip 25%.

  • If the food is bad I usually just make a polite comment to the server but if the service is horrible I let them know through tips. :)

  • As a waitress, I ALWAYS repeat what the customer orders back to them, so we BOTH know I put it in right to be cooked. As for drinks, if I see someone even remotely half empty, I swing by another cup full of whatever they had- IF I am currently very busy, I ask another waitress to swing the drink by. No hassle. As for me, since the customer and i BOTH know i read their order back to them, and if their order comes out wrong, we both know it’s NOT my fault. I will however, talk to my manager if the customers are unhappy, and will try to get them a discount. I think it’s SHITTY for people to take away a server’s tip because they “didn’t like the food”- especially without even mentioning there was a problem with it. At least let the server know why you’re about to make them have to remember your face so they give you shitty service next time :)

  • I’ve never left a tip in any restaurant. In the UK it’s not expected. Is it an American thing, or is it common to other contries too?

  • Ugh, how unfortunate! The pasta dish looks disgusting and the catfish looks only marginally better >.<

  • I think it’s pretty arrogent to be that way.

  • i’ve had a lot of bad service experiences lately. its amazing! it doesnt take too much to be nice, courteous, and presentable! anyway I was hoping you might take a look at this cash grab site. its easy to resiger and you can make some serious money off of it just by completing trial offers and doing referrals. please check it out! > http://www.thecashgrab.com/?ref=1044

  • i’ve never been there but i know now never to go there; thanks for the tip :)

  • I was a waitress for about three years before I met my husband.  I usually would only tip if the service was good.  My dad’s rule of thumb was if his ice tea was always half full during the dinner then he would tip.  I was surprised to see how it actually would remain that way at a decent restaurant.  My husband hates tipping even if the service is excellent so I usually pony up the tip.

  • I always base my tipping on the service first. Many of my friends have been on the serving side, so they’re more biased toward always giving  the standard 15% – 20% because they don’t get hourly wages. I disagree. I understand that servers are people too and sometimes they have crappy days, but if you are a server you are in a HOSPITALITY career (notwithstanding dumb, arrogant patrons). If a nurse (also a hospitality profession) at a hospital was to treat a patient badly, that nurse would be reprimanded, suspended and/or fired.

    Tipping is pretty important in a big group where the server automatically gets 18 – 20% gratuity. Those were some of the times when I got the WORST service, because the server figures if they’re already getting money they don’t have to do much work. There have been times that I didn’t leave a tip at all. If you can’t even treat me as another human being should treat another (I’m not asking for special treatment, just courtesy), regardless of how your day is going or whatever, you’re not doing your job and I won’t pay for it. It’s that simple.I do reward good service, though. I’ve put in extra for 30% tips (on larger group bills) to servers who have gone above and beyond what I even would have expected.

  • As a waitress I only request one thing: if you verbally tell your server you’ve had a good experience, show it in the tip!!!

    good comments + 10% tip is not a good thing.

  • i think you tipped too much. why should the customer have to remember that the waiters make their living off tips if they are unwilling to work for it? and by work for it, i don’t mean pander to the customer but at least have utensils for everyone at the table! it’s called a service industry, and if they do not provide service then they do not get the tip.

    my story: my friends and i went to a small bar to celebrate my birthday one year. we were the only ones in there, but there was a game on tv which was clearly more important than paying attention to a party of 10. i asked for an ashtray and had to wait 10 minutes before asking again, and then finally got it. when we placed our orders for shots of remy xo, he took the menu from us and asked, “you know that they are $20 a shot, right?” uhm, yes we can read and who the hell asked for a price check anyway? i normally tip 20-25% no matter what but i was so insulted that we left a penny tip. i don’t care if anyone says that it’s unfair to him but really… we were the only customers and he couldn’t even give us his attention.

    no one is asking for red carpet treatment, but if you are in the service industry, then please do your job.

  • I’m a fan of your work. HAHAHA.

  • As a waitress, I would like throw my two cents in here.

    The food taste and appearance should have absolutely *no* part in your tipping, whatsoever, because the waitress has no part in the taste or appearance of your food.

    The utensil thing, if you don’t tell your waitress you don’t have silverware, chances are - she won’t notice, because we assume that it’s already been provided for you, because it usually is.

    But as a waitress, if you received bad service [no matter how good or bad the food was] you are not obligated to leave a good tip. I, actually, leave rather insulting tips when I receive bad service. I work hard for my money, and so should my waitress.

  • I just recently had a bad dining experience.  The food was bad, the waitress was bad (she didn’t get anyone’s order right – and there were seven of us!) in fact, she was on the “do not hire” list.  I don’t think any of us left a tip.

  • ewww…

    are you sure the restaurant didn’t have a typo on the menu…”CRAPMEAT”  instead of “CRABMEAT” and “CRAPFISH” instead of “CATFISH” ???? ahahaa…j/k

    seriously, i’d be PISSED at such awful food/service!!! i wouldn’t tip at all nor would i ever go back there to eat again!

     

  • Eew.  Eew. Eew. What kind of food is that.. I agree- i looked at the pic and uh… it looks like what my dog vomits up after she eats her poo.

    Tipping? I don’t like the concept. I used to be a waitress… even then i still didn’t like the tipping concept. I mean- we get paid for a reason- there shouldn’t be a rule to tip and you’re looked down upon if you don’t. In many countries around the world, tipping is rude.

    -nagi

  • As a server of 4 years I would agree with the 2 cent rule.  I don’t know that it has ever happened to me, but I would get the point.  Even a short note explaining (especially if the server is a complete dork) so there is no confusion about the tip.  Honestly, servers want to know about problems with the food and/or the service.  Let the server know about food problems (because it’s almost never their fault), and the management know about server problems (because it is most likely their fault).  I somewhat disagree with the above comment suggesting an accross the board minimum of 10%.  Sorry, serving takes a good attitude, and if you have a bad day you’ve gotta hide that from your guests.  If you don’t you should expect a 2 cent tip, or equivalent.

  • great great site. I can tell you love food. I haven’t been to New Orleans since 2003 (before Katrina) and the best food I can remember is Cafe Du Monde (I read your view, very good review) and Dominick’s (quite good). Anyways, I tip 15-20%. I’m generous, but maybe that’s why I’m poor right now…

  • I always tip more then the customary amount for a tip. Unless the service is unusually bad. What do you do when you have had great service yet once you are done eating and drinking(alcohol) your server neglects to bring your bill even after you requested it a couple times. This happened to some friends and me a few weeks ago. One of my friends wanted to walk out without paying. I refused. Then he refused to leave a tip. I left a tip for our group.

  • As a former waitress, I am typically a great tipper.  However, a few weeks ago I went to a restaurant with my husband and grandparents.  The server took my granparents drink orders…and didn’t bother to get mine or my husbands.  Talk about rude!  She was gone the  majority of the night. My grandmother got a USED butter packet with her dinner.  Eww.  The waitress let all of our drinks become empty during the course of the evening. I tipped like $3.  Definitely the worst tip, percentage wise, that I’ve ever given. I agree with the above people that say if the food is bad it’s not the server’s fault.  But if the service is bad, you shouldn’t feel obligated to tip at all.

  • Tipping should never be based on food quality. If there is a problem with your food, your server should be able to either have it fixed or make up for it will certain things like free dessert, a free round of drinks or a small percent off your bill. While timing is not at all within a servers hands, other things (presentation, temperature) are easily spotted and can be fixed before the food is even brought out to the table.

    I think people need to realize that servers are almost always paid below min. wage (i make 2.50 an hour) and tips are the only way they make money. If you do bad at your job as a receptionist, you dont get $50 taken off your paycheck, do you?

    Also, rudeness doesn’t usually make a person realize they are doing a bad job. Withing seconds everyone in the restraunt will know how much of an asshole you are, and your next visit might be interesting. A known bad tipper/jerk customer will NEVER get friendly service.

  • In almost all cases the tip goes to the waitress/waiter so bad service = no tip or a very small one. I am cruel I even at one time put the tip on the table in quarters and each time the service degraded so did the tip. The waitress caught on quickly and still got a decent tip in the end. I love the idea of tipping the chef I never thiought about that.

  • i feel the same about having to analyze my dining experience depending on the type of restaurant i go to… i love that you have a system on how to tip. looking forward to reading more of your stuff

  • wow, at least you tipped. if it was bad service and bad food.. i don’t leavea tip. why should i? everything sucked, therefore.. nothing for them.

  • Ehhh, I don’t know… if the chef is bad it doesn’t mean the waitress is bad.  She’s the person counting to live on the tip not the chef (in most cases).  I always have it all rest on the waitress/waiter.  Nice post though.  =)

  • sorry to hear about your experience.  don’t go back ever!  interesting tipping chart.

  • Interesting… I used to be a waitress in my teens and they make money from tips only so I tip 15% regardless of bad service but I tip double of that if it’s great service.

  • I’ve never heard of the 2 cent tip, but I LIKE IT!

    I just had the worst service of my life a couple weeks ago, and looking back, it was actually really hilarious. There was a wait for seats, a wait for her to take the order, then she screwed up the order (missed a couple dishes), but took her sweet time verifying everything that we HAD ordered, when she also told us that it was last call…she then took more time to get the bill, so much so that me and my date walked out to the main area to wait for her, and she walked PAST us to drop off the bill at our table. When I gave her money for the bill, she stopped to take an order, and came back with the wrong change (short about $40). It was a nightmare. She TOTALLY deserved 2 cents.

    We did speak to the manager, since I love the food there…but I’d make sure never to get that waitress again!

    My impression of restaurants in NOLA was that it WAS nothing special – no real attention to plating, although service was, at times, better than most. That first dish up there looks like someone’s leftovers though…it shouldn’t have been served.

  • I just had the ultimate in Bad food + bad service two nights in a row at two different resturants.
    First experience, We left no tip, and no doubt as to why.
    Second experience, we left 15%, as the manager really did try to please us (an hour and 45 minutes into the meal), and even sent in a replacement waiter and new food.

    I won’t be eating out again anytime soon. I cook better at home.
    I have been a waitress, I know how to treat the guests even when your busy. If you can’t, you don’t deserve more than 10%. If you treat the guests badly, or ignore them to go play in the bar, then you don’t deserve a tip at all.

    Remember TIPS means To Insure Proper Service. Why tip if you don’t recieve it?

    I do like the idea of tipping the chef though, I will consider that the next time I have great food and poor service.

  • Hi, just came across your blog today!  I just had this conversation last time we went out to eat.  Our waitress was HORRIBLE, rude, slow and kept interupting our conversations with inane comments and rude observations about other diners!  She even brought me a drink I didn’t order from the bar and charged me for it, even after I told her I didn’t order it!  At one point my husband was taking the last sip of his beer and she came up behind him and screamed “CHUG IT”, in his ear.

    We have a rule of thumb for tipping.  Everyone gets 20% to start and every incident of bad service gets 1-2% deducted and so on.  Lets just say this girl got no tip because what was left of her tip payed for the drink I was charged for, but didn’t order.  I understand that some people chose to make their living as wait staff and I think thats a fantastic thing, I also understand that it’s really hard to pay all the bills on your hourly wage.  People are not required to tip and I think that if customers required more out of servers they would get better service, don’t just blindly leave a tip.  I have been places where the staff are INCREDIBLE!  They make your night whether the food is any good or not, to those people….THANK YOU and to everyone else EARN IT!

  • i understand what you mean sometimes i wonder if i should tip the waitors because i get such bad service, but then i know what it feels like to work and need money, but then again, whatever. So i just tip the min. that i can usually around 3-4 dollars, my sister works at a restaurant however, and she hates how people come into the restaurant, and then halfway or more into the meal they complain about it, and then they say, you dont need to get me a new one i’ll just take it home and cook it, or sometimes they complain after theyve eaten it all, my advice is to eat it, if its bad tell them right away, if they are pleasant about replacing it, than their service isnt that bad after all. You might have to wait, but if your main focus is on the food, time shouldnt matter, other than that just take it to go and cook it at home like the guy at my sis says he was going to do, but who really knows what he did.

  • I don’t think I ever ate at a place with good service + bad food. Bad service & food normally came hand in hand.. well, in my experience at least. The food presentation in your photographs is equivalent or less appealing to food at Denny’s or IHOP. Isn’t it more like you get what you paid for? Maybe it’s just me, but good service varies… I love the ones where they actually smile and give their 2 cents in about the food/drink.. and they get a generous tip. As for the poor service folks.. I leave a few coins to show them that they didn’t do their job.

    <333

  • That was some depressing looking food :( I feel bad that you had to experience that. And as for tipping I think you did the right thing.

  • bad service bad food. NO TIP

  • I always tip. Most of the places I eat are not expensive at all ($10 to 14 a person), so I usually leave $2. Only when eating at higher end places ($20 and up per person) do I actually calculate the tip. My feeling is that even if the food and the service are extreemly poor, the fact is they served me. For that they get my standard tip, always. Whether I ever go back is another story. Just my two cents worth.

  • I generally dont reduce the tip of a waiter/ess if the food is lousy it isnt their fault.  If the service is terrible I will tip according to how they made me feel.  If I wasnt taken care of 8% seems fair.  Although once I tipped the full 20% because I knew I was going to be back to that particular place for drinks so I knew the waiter would recognize me and I wanted him to feel like crap.  It worked  he apologized.

  • I went to a red robin burger joint and my waitress was awful and my food had hair in it…this other waitress stepped in and did the bad waitresses job for her …i gave the good waitress the tip…it was funny cuz the bad waitress acted like she had been wronged and that she earned a tip. that first dish looked absolutely horendous, i think i would have sent it back!

  • I think bad service has no excuse they work at a place that needs people to come back with a few referals too. I work at a fast serve location and if we aren’t in a 100% all customer service greatness then we are automatically sent home. I usually just ask the waiter/waitress who gets the tip. and if the food was bad no tip for the chef and if the service was bad no tip for them. I don’t believe I didn’t tip anyone yet but I’ve given out like a 5% tip its better then nothing.

  • Why should I, as a customer and one who is going to suffer from “bad food/bad service” pay a single cent over what is owed? Tipping is a custom, and I enjoy tipping generously (I’m a 25-30% guy,) however it is not a commandment. If the waiter/waitress is unhappy with their tip then they should know why, so let them know. “Excuse me, I don’t have any flatware,” or “Excuse me, I think somebody may have accidentally tipped the garbage can onto my plate.” The waiter/waitress’ duty is to see that my meal is a pleasant one, and I tip for the service and meal they bring to me. If they are unsatisfied, as I sometimes am, let them pressure the chef (or the management) for something better. I have been known (to the dismay of my wife) to tell a manager, “The waitress is great, but do you expect me to put THIS in my mouth?” So, when I am served a plate of some unidentifiable gruel, I let the waiter/waitress know. They fix it, they get a nice tip. Leave it sitting in front of me, and it becomes their tip. Simple.

  • my husband is a restaurant manager, so we are pretty good tippers in general.  however, nothing ticks me off more than getting bad service from someone who “makes very little and therefore deserves a good tip.”  serving is their job.  if they aren’t good enough at it to make good tips, they should find another job, not complain about people being cheap.  if you do your job, and do it well, you will be properly compensated for it.  if you are incompetent, you will surely know it by the tips you don’t receive.

  • I’m usually afraid that they’ll think I’m cheap or something if I don’t tip well but I don’t care anymore. We went to Sushi Tango and the service sucked…we ordered some martini’s and didn’t even get it-it was still added to our bill. Our drinks never got filled for the remainder of our stay…..we didn’t want to leave tip but 20% gratuity was already added plus we had to wait an hour for a table.

  • Eww. What is in that bowl in the second picture? It looks like someones vomit.

  • that is so gross bx i would NEVER eat at a place like that!

  • but….but……..I kinda cook like that!!! I dn’t want to be a bad cooook….

  • well, i have a pretty minimal amount of experience in this, but doesn’t the tip go straight to the waiter? So then, shouldn’t the tip be based solely on the waiter’s performance? Horrible service receiving no or little tip and excellent service receiving 20-25%?

  • if you got bad service and bad food i think you should’ve tipped poorly! but good service on the waitress part but bad food….i think you should give a good tip because the waitress cant help how bad the food is..

  • Normally, as I eat, I give tips… but it is NOT a compulsary or rule to give tips
    all the time..for me, it depends on the service…
    If the crew can be terrible with their services, I can also be terrible with giving tips…
    Often than not, we dont react on a crew/waiter/server(‘s) attitude BEFORE your meals
    arrive coz you never know how they treat your food at their kitchen…but always
    give attack that you dont appreciate their services…it’s a lesson to improve their
    task…

    im very particular with how my meals look like…presentation is a major factor for me…
    with the pictures you shared, it seems that the food has been served to someone else
    and has been rejected…. i wont dare give a tip regardless on who’s fault is it, the server or
    the chef…

  • It’s good to know that you worked in both places before you wrote something about this. 

    The word tip is an accronym for “To Insure Performance,” so if they don’t want your tip that bad, they shouldn’t get it. 

    But my dad works as a delivery driver, so I can say with confidance that the great majority of the time, you should appriceite whatever service you get.  Some people count on tips more then they should have to. 

  • i usually leave like 50 cents if something like this happens. but it’s only happened to me twice, and the place was seriously horrible.

  • Hmmm… I vote for no tip thing, or the note on the receipt thing. I still don’t understand this tipping business. I don’t get extra for doing my job, so why should a waiter/ waitress get a tip just for doing their job? Shouldn’t the employer be responsible for their salary? I guess if they go over and beyond the call of duty then they should get extra — but then it should come from the employer, not the customer! Just my 2 cents worth

  • Greasy or salty foods makes my stomach turn upside down. Therefore, if I was your situation I probably end up sick for the rest of the night. As for tipping I don’t have much rules. I usually pay 15% or higher even if the food or service sucks. Sometime I want to give lower tips for poor service but, I feel like 15% is the standard. Any lower people will think I’m cheap a not good tipper.

  • I was kinda hungry, but when i saw those two pics…i lost my appetite!

  • as a former waiter, i wholeheartedly agree.

    but for me, tipping doesn’t have anything to do with the food. usually it’s more about the waiting service. because basically my money is already invested in the food and i should be getting what i paid for. any more money should be for the waiter since they’re making minimum wage.

    actually strike that. i’ve given more money when a meal was just phenomenal.

  • I’ve always ran into issues with wait staff that undermine me because of my age/appearance. Granted I’m of college age and I may not always be dressed to the nines on a regular basis, but I do tip well, and my boyfriend even better. I’ve always made a point to tip in reflection of service. Occasionally I’ll tip more if the food is outstanding. The few instances where I’ve encountered terrible service, I believe I tipped 5%.  I’ve never heard of the two cent tip. It’s an interesting concept but I’m not sure that that message would come across clearly.

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