>>21435382Underrated post. I served and tended bar for a decade, and the kind of service I get everywhere now makes me rage. I've abandoned percents altogether and just made up my own formula
$5 ร # of people ร hours at table + $1 per cocktail (I'm not tipping anyone for pouring a tap or opening a bottle)
By myself this means I'm usually paying anywhere from $2.50 - $6 ($5 ร 1 person ร 30min-1hr + 1drink) regardless of the restaurants prestige, the servers entitlement, or how much food I ordered.
Let's say you're on a date, whether you only split an app and drinks or two full course meals, what matters is how long you took up the table
Ex1. $5 ร 2 people ร 3 hours + 6 drinks = $36
Ex2. $5 ร 2 people ร 1 hr + 2 drinks = $12
I'm not sure how this scales for larger parties or if i need a new system for parties that normally would be charged flat gratuity.
My reasoning is there's two castes of servers: chain restaurants and fine dining, and additionally there's bartenders.
Applebees waitress expects $5/table, about 40 tables per shift. Leaving room for cheap fucks who stiff, in her mind she's losing $5 for every extra hour you take up that table. Upselling only gets you so far when it's $10/plate.
Meanwhile white cloth restaurant servers can expect anywhere from $10-20/table, and only need 8-12 tables for the same outcome. They don't lose money on people taking their time, they know they'll likely get tipped well regardless. Bartenders expect $1/drink, again I refuse unless you actually MAKE the drink, plus they coast on getting tipped out by the servers.
I think the entitlement epidemic would end if customers & staff would communicate expectations more directly. I'm sure servers would rather be tipped on how long you took up their table MORE than how much food they managed to sell you. You're already at the restaurant, you know you want to eat there. It's dinner & drinks not a used car. Obviously if theyre rude or the service sucks in general I don't tip