Ask almost anyone over fifty about the worst restaurant service they have had lately, and you will get an earful. One former server decided to turn the tables and ask the question from the other side of the apron: why does it feel like waiters are working so much less for so much more?
That is the rant from @brinedevil, who says he was a waiter at an Applebee’s before moving up to what he calls a relatively upscale sushi restaurant. He opens by saying he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and he is not shy about where he stands. This was back in 2011 and 2012, he says, and he was working fourteen hours a day.
His complaint is a simple one, and a lot of diners will nod along.
@brinedevil
Fourteen-hour Saturdays and the two-bite rule
According to @brinedevil, an adult dinner entree back then ran about ten dollars. Customers tipped roughly ten percent at lunch and fifteen percent at dinner, and twenty percent was reserved for truly exceptional service. He says he was paid two dollars an hour, which was the going wage for servers at the time, and he made his money by hustling.
On a busy Saturday, he says, he kept the Dr Pepper drinkers’ glasses full, and anyone who has waited tables knows how fast that crowd drains a glass. Nobody at his tables went without a drink. He followed what he calls the two-bite rule: once a guest takes two bites of the meal, you are back at the table asking how everything tastes. He says he handled six tables in his section at once.
What he sees at the table today
Then he describes a recent trip to a Buffalo Wild Wings. In his telling, it took around ten minutes to get a menu and around fifteen minutes to get a sweet tea. He got a single refill for the entire meal. The server came by three times. And when the bill arrived on a forty dollar meal, he says, the expectation was a fifteen dollar tip.
Do the math and you can see why that stung. Fifteen dollars on forty is thirty-seven and a half percent, well above the twenty percent that most people now treat as the high end of normal. His closing point is that this is all happening after servers started earning minimum wage or more in many places, while he was making that two dollars an hour when he did it.
It is only one man’s experience, and plenty of servers would answer that restaurants are understaffed and that they are working harder than ever. But the frustration he voices is real and widely shared, and it is worth thinking about what you can actually do about it.
How to handle slow service without a fight
Most of us do not want to be the person making a scene over a sweet tea. A few calm habits go a long way.
- Ask early. If you want a drink right away, say so when the server first walks up. Ordering drinks and appetizers together gets things moving.
- Speak up politely at the first sign of a problem. A simple “could we get a refill when you have a moment?” works better than stewing for forty minutes and taking it out on the tip line.
- Ask for the manager if it keeps happening. A short, friendly word with a manager often fixes the problem on the spot, and it is fairer than quietly punishing a server who may have too many tables.
- Know that a tip is a choice. The suggested amounts on a screen or a receipt are suggestions. You decide the number based on the service you got.
Know what the bill is really asking for
Take a quick look at the bottom of your check before you pay. Some restaurants add an automatic gratuity for large parties, and it is usually printed right on the receipt. If it is already there, you do not need to add another tip on top of it. If it is not there, the tip line is yours to fill in.
It also helps to remember where the money goes. In many states, servers are paid a lower base wage than other workers, and tips make up the difference. That is why a lot of servers feel strongly about tipping, and it is also why customers feel strongly when they believe the service did not earn it. Both sides are reacting to the same system.
There is a fair middle ground, and it is the one most of us live in. Tip well when someone takes good care of you, tip a fair amount when the service is just fine, and do not feel guilty about tipping less when you were ignored for fifteen minutes with an empty glass. A server who works the way @brinedevil describes himself working, with full drinks and the two-bite rule, is exactly the kind of person worth a generous tip.
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