Restaurants have gotten so expensive……also recycling and phone apps (2 Viewers)

[Courtjester]

Just anecdotal, as I mentioned previously, my 19 year old daughter is a server at Applebees. One of the worst snowstorms we have had in about a decade started Wednesday night and has just kept going. I have well over 18 inches in my front yard. The whole town is closed. Well, my daughter still had to go in last night and do a 4:00 pm to close shift. I told her, oh, it is going to be slow, slow as the roads were just impassable. Nope. The place was packed to the brim. She made over $400 in just CC tips and another $100 plus in cash and didn't get out until 2:00 am. I didn't know people needed Riblets so badly.

Does your area tend to lose power during snow storms? Is it possible people were there because they couldn't cook at home?

That's a great night for your kid! I think everybody should spend some time as a server. If I got fired today, I'd start waiting tables tomorrow and job search on the side.

I think the volume of people was surprising, but the tip percentage is all my kid. She is made for sales. Her last check was 3k for a two week period and that didn't include cash tips. They have state-wide server rankings for sales and she has been #1 for many months. She is paying her own way through college and has over 20k saved. We are very proud of her.

But there are nights that some tables are absolute nightmares. $300 tabs and a zero tip. The worst ones are the people that are just looking for a comp--they will eat 3/4th of the steak and want a refund or drink most of the alcohol beverage and say is was bad. Some guy left a negative review on her because she wouldn't give him her phone number. She has had to break up fights between groups of women--you know exactly the kind of things you would come to expect from an Applebees experience.

However, you are dead on that the experiences and people interactions are priceless and will serve her well once she graduates.

That's great stuff! I can see pride vapors leaping off your words in here.

Is this Applebees hiring? GM and I would like to know.

They are always hiring. Every night, multiple people call out and the remaining staff has to pick up the slack. Last night, my daughter was there until 3:00 am and she is already back on the clock for tonight's shift. One weekend, they didn't have a dishwasher hired. I told my daughter, I would come down and take the job for two nights for $250 (under the table of course). Heck, I am retired and have time on my hands.

 

[the moops]

We also shared five desserts with three friends though.

@Scoresman must be so angry reading this sentence

 

[Scoresman]

We also shared five desserts with three friends though.

@Scoresman must be so angry reading this sentence

I’m not a big dessert guy.

 

[3C's]

My favorite local food truck is expensive but it's also really good. $16 for a Cubano and fries, which isn't really that expensive, but it's so big it's 2 meals for me. Tomorrow I'll have to decide whether to finish the other half or go with Irish food. Irish stew and soda bread I suppose, Cubano can wait.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Just anecdotal, as I mentioned previously, my 19 year old daughter is a server at Applebees. One of the worst snowstorms we have had in about a decade started Wednesday night and has just kept going. I have well over 18 inches in my front yard. The whole town is closed. Well, my daughter still had to go in last night and do a 4:00 pm to close shift. I told her, oh, it is going to be slow, slow as the roads were just impassable. Nope. The place was packed to the brim. She made over $400 in just CC tips and another $100 plus in cash and didn't get out until 2:00 am. I didn't know people needed Riblets so badly.

Does your area tend to lose power during snow storms? Is it possible people were there because they couldn't cook at home?

That's a great night for your kid! I think everybody should spend some time as a server. If I got fired today, I'd start waiting tables tomorrow and job search on the side.

I think the volume of people was surprising, but the tip percentage is all my kid. She is made for sales. Her last check was 3k for a two week period and that didn't include cash tips. They have state-wide server rankings for sales and she has been #1 for many months. She is paying her own way through college and has over 20k saved. We are very proud of her.

But there are nights that some tables are absolute nightmares. $300 tabs and a zero tip. The worst ones are the people that are just looking for a comp--they will eat 3/4th of the steak and want a refund or drink most of the alcohol beverage and say is was bad. Some guy left a negative review on her because she wouldn't give him her phone number. She has had to break up fights between groups of women--you know exactly the kind of things you would come to expect from an Applebees experience.

However, you are dead on that the experiences and people interactions are priceless and will serve her well once she graduates.

That's great stuff! I can see pride vapors leaping off your words in here.

Is this Applebees hiring? GM and I would like to know.

They are always hiring. Every night, multiple people call out and the remaining staff has to pick up the slack. Last night, my daughter was there until 3:00 am and she is already back on the clock for tonight's shift. One weekend, they didn't have a dishwasher hired. I told my daughter, I would come down and take the job for two nights for $250 (under the table of course). Heck, I am retired and have time on my hands.

Where are you located? Staffing has been rough since Covid

 

[FairWarning]

Just anecdotal, as I mentioned previously, my 19 year old daughter is a server at Applebees. One of the worst snowstorms we have had in about a decade started Wednesday night and has just kept going. I have well over 18 inches in my front yard. The whole town is closed. Well, my daughter still had to go in last night and do a 4:00 pm to close shift. I told her, oh, it is going to be slow, slow as the roads were just impassable. Nope. The place was packed to the brim. She made over $400 in just CC tips and another $100 plus in cash and didn't get out until 2:00 am. I didn't know people needed Riblets so badly.

Does your area tend to lose power during snow storms? Is it possible people were there because they couldn't cook at home?

That's a great night for your kid! I think everybody should spend some time as a server. If I got fired today, I'd start waiting tables tomorrow and job search on the side.

I think the volume of people was surprising, but the tip percentage is all my kid. She is made for sales. Her last check was 3k for a two week period and that didn't include cash tips. They have state-wide server rankings for sales and she has been #1 for many months. She is paying her own way through college and has over 20k saved. We are very proud of her.

But there are nights that some tables are absolute nightmares. $300 tabs and a zero tip. The worst ones are the people that are just looking for a comp--they will eat 3/4th of the steak and want a refund or drink most of the alcohol beverage and say is was bad. Some guy left a negative review on her because she wouldn't give him her phone number. She has had to break up fights between groups of women--you know exactly the kind of things you would come to expect from an Applebees experience.

However, you are dead on that the experiences and people interactions are priceless and will serve her well once she graduates.

That's great stuff! I can see pride vapors leaping off your words in here.

Is this Applebees hiring? GM and I would like to know.

They are always hiring. Every night, multiple people call out and the remaining staff has to pick up the slack. Last night, my daughter was there until 3:00 am and she is already back on the clock for tonight's shift. One weekend, they didn't have a dishwasher hired. I told my daughter, I would come down and take the job for two nights for $250 (under the table of course). Heck, I am retired and have time on my hands.

Sat nights were always the worst for call-offs if they had a Good Friday night for tips.

 

[The Z Machine]

Just anecdotal, as I mentioned previously, my 19 year old daughter is a server at Applebees. One of the worst snowstorms we have had in about a decade started Wednesday night and has just kept going. I have well over 18 inches in my front yard. The whole town is closed. Well, my daughter still had to go in last night and do a 4:00 pm to close shift. I told her, oh, it is going to be slow, slow as the roads were just impassable. Nope. The place was packed to the brim. She made over $400 in just CC tips and another $100 plus in cash and didn't get out until 2:00 am. I didn't know people needed Riblets so badly.

Does your area tend to lose power during snow storms? Is it possible people were there because they couldn't cook at home?

That's a great night for your kid! I think everybody should spend some time as a server. If I got fired today, I'd start waiting tables tomorrow and job search on the side.

I think the volume of people was surprising, but the tip percentage is all my kid. She is made for sales. Her last check was 3k for a two week period and that didn't include cash tips. They have state-wide server rankings for sales and she has been #1 for many months. She is paying her own way through college and has over 20k saved. We are very proud of her.

But there are nights that some tables are absolute nightmares. $300 tabs and a zero tip. The worst ones are the people that are just looking for a comp--they will eat 3/4th of the steak and want a refund or drink most of the alcohol beverage and say is was bad. Some guy left a negative review on her because she wouldn't give him her phone number. She has had to break up fights between groups of women--you know exactly the kind of things you would come to expect from an Applebees experience.

However, you are dead on that the experiences and people interactions are priceless and will serve her well once she graduates.

That's great stuff! I can see pride vapors leaping off your words in here.

Is this Applebees hiring? GM and I would like to know.

They are always hiring. Every night, multiple people call out and the remaining staff has to pick up the slack. Last night, my daughter was there until 3:00 am and she is already back on the clock for tonight's shift. One weekend, they didn't have a dishwasher hired. I told my daughter, I would come down and take the job for two nights for $250 (under the table of course). Heck, I am retired and have time on my hands.

Sat nights were always the worst for call-offs if they had a Good Friday night for tips.

Yeah, but that only happens like once a year at most.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Staffing has been rough since Covid

Without it getting political, do you have thoughts on why you're experiencing this?

 

[Drunken knight]

Up here, staffing was tough even before covid.

Covid made it worse as hours were more uncertain and there were potential safety issues.

Also, people were discovering that there are easier jobs for the $$

 

[FairWarning]

Staffing has been rough since Covid

Without it getting political, do you have thoughts on why you're experiencing this?

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid. It’s tough if you’ve never worked in the service industry and have to deal with those people. Labor prices shot up, especially back of the house employees. It’s part of the reason restaurant prices shot up.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Staffing has been rough since Covid

Without it getting political, do you have thoughts on why you're experiencing this?

The get off my lawn answer, is that kids these days, just don’t want to work and are a buncha no good lazy bums. There seems to be a mindset, not just with kids, that one doesn’t/shouldn’t have to work hard. The subsidies during Covid and the easy unemployment fueled the fire, but what is keeping it lit now? I have no idea how some of these people are surviving. I live in a VERY expensive area of the country. Credit cards? I know some of them still live at home.

I have one guy that is 23, lives at home, in Dana point at the the beach. drives a new Tacoma. Works as little as possible at the restaurant. And works as a grip, for free, as an intern of sorts, on independent/student films. He is not in school. I had a chat with him last week and he really wants a career in the film industry, but he’d have to move to LA to really do that. It was during this chat that I found out he was doing the grip work for free. I couldn’t believe it. I told him about my childhood friend that’s been in that business grinding his *** off, since he was 17. His response was some sort of vague mumblings about he’d have to move to do that. And that he couldn’t possibly drive up to LA. I told him that many people who work on set drive 1-2 hours. No no, can’t do that. Huh? This kids knows what he wants to do, knows what he has to do to achieve it, and refuses to do what’s necessary. Kids these days….

 

[fruity pebbles]

A lot of 20 something’s I meet want the dream of what they want to do but don’t want to put the work in to achieve it.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

 

[FairWarning]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

Understood. But how has that tangibly changed the customer’s behavior?

 

[FairWarning]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

Understood. But how has that tangibly changed the customer’s behavior?

The customer doesn’t want to hear the excuses, or don’t understand why their prices go up.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

Understood. But how has that tangibly changed the customer’s behavior?

The customer doesn’t want to hear the excuses, or don’t understand why their prices go up.

So they complain when things take longer and/or cost more? To whom?

 

[FairWarning]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

Understood. But how has that tangibly changed the customer’s behavior?

The customer doesn’t want to hear the excuses, or don’t understand why their prices go up.

So they complain when things take longer and/or cost more? To whom?

To anyone they deal with. Why take it out on a cashier or a waitress?

 

[Terminalxylem]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

Understood. But how has that tangibly changed the customer’s behavior?

The customer doesn’t want to hear the excuses, or don’t understand why their prices go up.

So they complain when things take longer and/or cost more? To whom?

To anyone they deal with. Why take it out on a cashier or a waitress?

Yeah that sucks.

I seldom complain, especially to people who have little/no power to change things. Rather invest my time stacking.

 

[Penguin]

I went into a Popeye's 2 years ago. There were about 10 other people in there ahead of me. Almost all of them were screaming at the one cashier they had. I felt so bad for her. Just my opinion but she seemed like a late 20's something single mother type that couldn't just walk out. When it came time for me to order I leaned over the register and whispered to her, "F these people, you're doing great, don't let them get to you." She was in tears and said to me, "We had 5 people call out today and it's been this way all day." When she gave me my order she said I gave you some extra chicken for being so nice. Thinking back on it I wish I had done more for her then just some kind words.

 

[The Gator]

Just anecdotal, as I mentioned previously, my 19 year old daughter is a server at Applebees. One of the worst snowstorms we have had in about a decade started Wednesday night and has just kept going. I have well over 18 inches in my front yard. The whole town is closed. Well, my daughter still had to go in last night and do a 4:00 pm to close shift. I told her, oh, it is going to be slow, slow as the roads were just impassable. Nope. The place was packed to the brim. She made over $400 in just CC tips and another $100 plus in cash and didn't get out until 2:00 am. I didn't know people needed Riblets so badly.

Does your area tend to lose power during snow storms? Is it possible people were there because they couldn't cook at home?

That's a great night for your kid! I think everybody should spend some time as a server. If I got fired today, I'd start waiting tables tomorrow and job search on the side.

I think the volume of people was surprising, but the tip percentage is all my kid. She is made for sales. Her last check was 3k for a two week period and that didn't include cash tips. They have state-wide server rankings for sales and she has been #1 for many months. She is paying her own way through college and has over 20k saved. We are very proud of her.

But there are nights that some tables are absolute nightmares. $300 tabs and a zero tip. The worst ones are the people that are just looking for a comp--they will eat 3/4th of the steak and want a refund or drink most of the alcohol beverage and say is was bad. Some guy left a negative review on her because she wouldn't give him her phone number. She has had to break up fights between groups of women--you know exactly the kind of things you would come to expect from an Applebees experience.

However, you are dead on that the experiences and people interactions are priceless and will serve her well once she graduates.

We have had a lot more people trying to freeload in the last month also, very frustrating.

Larry David currently trying to return a piece of key lime pie, but can't because he ate past the return threshold

 

[beer 30]

Just anecdotal, as I mentioned previously, my 19 year old daughter is a server at Applebees. One of the worst snowstorms we have had in about a decade started Wednesday night and has just kept going. I have well over 18 inches in my front yard. The whole town is closed. Well, my daughter still had to go in last night and do a 4:00 pm to close shift. I told her, oh, it is going to be slow, slow as the roads were just impassable. Nope. The place was packed to the brim. She made over $400 in just CC tips and another $100 plus in cash and didn't get out until 2:00 am. I didn't know people needed Riblets so badly.

Does your area tend to lose power during snow storms? Is it possible people were there because they couldn't cook at home?

That's a great night for your kid! I think everybody should spend some time as a server. If I got fired today, I'd start waiting tables tomorrow and job search on the side.

I think the volume of people was surprising, but the tip percentage is all my kid. She is made for sales. Her last check was 3k for a two week period and that didn't include cash tips. They have state-wide server rankings for sales and she has been #1 for many months. She is paying her own way through college and has over 20k saved. We are very proud of her.

But there are nights that some tables are absolute nightmares. $300 tabs and a zero tip. The worst ones are the people that are just looking for a comp--they will eat 3/4th of the steak and want a refund or drink most of the alcohol beverage and say is was bad. Some guy left a negative review on her because she wouldn't give him her phone number. She has had to break up fights between groups of women--you know exactly the kind of things you would come to expect from an Applebees experience.

However, you are dead on that the experiences and people interactions are priceless and will serve her well once she graduates.

That's great stuff! I can see pride vapors leaping off your words in here.

Is this Applebees hiring? GM and I would like to know.

Let's open our own version of Applebees and work the front room like pros. We call the place - "Dad Bods".

It'll slay!

If you aren't going topless with suspenders covered in flair, you're doing it wrong.

D2 worked yesterday at the sandwich shop that has supported her through college. Said it was a zoo as they are located in the middle of the bar scene but she made a **** ton of cash so it was worth it. She's 22 and unlike a fair number of her peers, she isn't afraid of hard work. Has made her a lot of cash over the years.

 

[General Malaise]

Just anecdotal, as I mentioned previously, my 19 year old daughter is a server at Applebees. One of the worst snowstorms we have had in about a decade started Wednesday night and has just kept going. I have well over 18 inches in my front yard. The whole town is closed. Well, my daughter still had to go in last night and do a 4:00 pm to close shift. I told her, oh, it is going to be slow, slow as the roads were just impassable. Nope. The place was packed to the brim. She made over $400 in just CC tips and another $100 plus in cash and didn't get out until 2:00 am. I didn't know people needed Riblets so badly.

Does your area tend to lose power during snow storms? Is it possible people were there because they couldn't cook at home?

That's a great night for your kid! I think everybody should spend some time as a server. If I got fired today, I'd start waiting tables tomorrow and job search on the side.

I think the volume of people was surprising, but the tip percentage is all my kid. She is made for sales. Her last check was 3k for a two week period and that didn't include cash tips. They have state-wide server rankings for sales and she has been #1 for many months. She is paying her own way through college and has over 20k saved. We are very proud of her.

But there are nights that some tables are absolute nightmares. $300 tabs and a zero tip. The worst ones are the people that are just looking for a comp--they will eat 3/4th of the steak and want a refund or drink most of the alcohol beverage and say is was bad. Some guy left a negative review on her because she wouldn't give him her phone number. She has had to break up fights between groups of women--you know exactly the kind of things you would come to expect from an Applebees experience.

However, you are dead on that the experiences and people interactions are priceless and will serve her well once she graduates.

That's great stuff! I can see pride vapors leaping off your words in here.

Is this Applebees hiring? GM and I would like to know.

Let's open our own version of Applebees and work the front room like pros. We call the place - "Dad Bods".

It'll slay!

If you aren't going topless with suspenders covered in flair, you're doing it wrong.

D2 worked yesterday at the sandwich shop that has supported her through college. Said it was a zoo as they are located in the middle of the bar scene but she made a **** ton of cash so it was worth it. She's 22 and unlike a fair number of her peers, she isn't afraid of hard work. Has made her a lot of cash over the years.

We don't want people regurgitating their food, GB.

That's great about your daughter. Best part is she won't be afraid of hard work later in life and that's key.

 

[massraider]

Also, people were discovering that there are easier jobs for the $$

I know where I am, people were forced from their jobs, and had to scramble post-Covid.

A bunch of people who otherwise would have stuck it out in restaurants were forced to make a move, and when they did, they realized they were making more consistent money elsewhere.

The tip $ has not kept up with anything. When I was in college and bartending, I was paying bills, and had money. I went out to dinner, I went out for drinks.

The mystery of where restaurant staff went is no mystery to anyone working in restaurants.

 

[Drunken knight]

@massraider

agree. saw them forced out and dis-incentivized to return, even when wages increased

 

[Doug B]

The tip $ has not kept up with anything.

Hmmm?

I'd have thought that with the current "start from 20% then go up" tip ethic, servers would be making bank. In fact, I'd think 2024 servers make more inflation-adjusted money than my mid-1990s server cohort. If that's not the case, I'm pretty surprised and would love to run through a rough approximation of the math. Are people tipping less than, say, 5-10 years ago? Bills have gone up a lot I had thought?

EDIT: It occurs to me that this all can be very dependent on the type/level of restaurant one works at.

 

[Keerock]

Going here tonight, $300+ potential for the 2 of us

Oak & Reel - Detroit

Dining at Oak & Reel is a journey – We source the freshest seafood, kissed by flames fueled by our oak burning hearth, paired with house made pasta, and wrapped in a stunning yet casual-contemporary environment.

www.oakandreel.com

More like $400. It was good but that’s like a weeks worth of groceries

We each had a cocktail downstairs before dinner that was like $30+ tip. They had a $25 sazerac on the cocktail list that’s just getting ridiculous

We each opted for the 4 course (the 6 course had a raw seafood course and I think like an extra pasta course or something). With the 4 course we could each get what we wabted

She got
Buratta
Bucatini
Halibut
Some sort of Italian biscuit donut
1 cocktail
Glass of wine

I got
Octopus
Squid ink pasta with crab and shrimp
Orata (whole fish…eyeballs were :chefskiss
Panna cotta
2 cocktails

We also the parsnips appetizer

I liked all my food, she was a little underwhelmed (she’s just not a big fine dining fan in general). Left quite full

I would certainly go back , but at $300 and another 25% tip that’s quite an expensive night

Wife and I did a cocktail and 2 apps (tuna ceviche and truffle fries) at the new place in Plymouth that is really trying to do a Detroit style place. It was $75 plus tip. The drinks were excellent and the food was both delicious and enough to fill us both. The fries were actually pretty cool- thickcut sidewinders. Not sure I had ever had those, certainly not with truffle. There was so much potato there that combined with the tuna made for a good meal for 2. If we had then ordered off the entre menu and another round of drinks, dessert it would have probably been just short of 300 plus tip but of course money is no object. I am a public school teacher.

What new place is this? The Ledger?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

The tip $ has not kept up with anything.

Hmmm?

I'd have thought that with the current "start from 20% then go up" tip ethic, servers would be making bank. In fact, I'd think 2024 servers make more inflation-adjusted money than my mid-1990s server cohort. If that's not the case, I'm pretty surprised and would love to run through a rough approximation of the math. Are people tipping less than, say, 5-10 years ago? Bills have gone up a lot I had thought?

EDIT: It occurs to me that this all can be very dependent on the type/level of restaurant one works at.

That tip ethic is not the norm Good servers will average slightly above 20%. And they are tipping out 30-40% to support staff in nicer restaurants

 

[Ilov80s]

Going here tonight, $300+ potential for the 2 of us

Oak & Reel - Detroit

Dining at Oak & Reel is a journey – We source the freshest seafood, kissed by flames fueled by our oak burning hearth, paired with house made pasta, and wrapped in a stunning yet casual-contemporary environment.

www.oakandreel.com

More like $400. It was good but that’s like a weeks worth of groceries

We each had a cocktail downstairs before dinner that was like $30+ tip. They had a $25 sazerac on the cocktail list that’s just getting ridiculous

We each opted for the 4 course (the 6 course had a raw seafood course and I think like an extra pasta course or something). With the 4 course we could each get what we wabted

She got
Buratta
Bucatini
Halibut
Some sort of Italian biscuit donut
1 cocktail
Glass of wine

I got
Octopus
Squid ink pasta with crab and shrimp
Orata (whole fish…eyeballs were :chefskiss
Panna cotta
2 cocktails

We also the parsnips appetizer

I liked all my food, she was a little underwhelmed (she’s just not a big fine dining fan in general). Left quite full

I would certainly go back , but at $300 and another 25% tip that’s quite an expensive night

Wife and I did a cocktail and 2 apps (tuna ceviche and truffle fries) at the new place in Plymouth that is really trying to do a Detroit style place. It was $75 plus tip. The drinks were excellent and the food was both delicious and enough to fill us both. The fries were actually pretty cool- thickcut sidewinders. Not sure I had ever had those, certainly not with truffle. There was so much potato there that combined with the tuna made for a good meal for 2. If we had then ordered off the entre menu and another round of drinks, dessert it would have probably been just short of 300 plus tip but of course money is no object. I am a public school teacher.

What new place is this? The Ledger?

Yeah that is the one

 

[massraider]

I'd have thought that with the current "start from 20% then go up" tip ethic, servers would be making bank. In fact, I'd think 2024 servers make more inflation-adjusted money than my mid-1990s server cohort. If that's not the case, I'm pretty surprised and would love to run through a rough approximation of the math. Are people tipping less than, say, 5-10 years ago? Bills have gone up a lot I had thought?

EDIT: It occurs to me that this all can be very dependent on the type/level of restaurant one works at.

I can give you some numbers, which apply to some cities I am aware of.

In Boston and New York, in the 90's, at a decent place, you were looking for $200 a shift. $400 nights happened at some places. Steakhouse people can make $500+.
With the understanding that you don't actually average that, and if you miss a week of work for vacation, you don't get paid. But by and large, if you were working at a decent place, taking home $800+ a week was expected, and you budgeted accordingly. In those cities, you could budget $800 for rent, and find cheaper. I can say that, for the people I knew, 1 week wages=rent was a solid goal. It was always in my mind.
For about 7 years in Boston I worked four nights a week, no more. And I had no financial concerns. This is like, 1994-2000. When I went out at night, I was with other restaurant staff, and they were out there spending money. Not any more.
In those two cities now, the waitstaff have much less buying power. The late night restaurants that used to count on that crowd have died down, and new ones have not opened. They work 5 days a week, they are STILL hoping for $200 a night, and pay over $1200 for rent. Many restaurants, most of them actually, their front of the house staff probably average less than $26/hour when it's all said and done.
I know nightclub bartenders in NYC right now, beautiful young women, and they are scraping by. Nightclub bartenders in the 90's lived like rock stars.

 

[culdeus]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

That is correct

 

[fruity pebbles]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

I do know several people who are basically flat rate tipping. Two years ago it was $75 for dinner and they’d tip 20% or $15. That same meal is now $100 and they’re still tipping that same $15 or 15%.

 

[culdeus]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

That is correct

I remember when people would flex because they tipped people that brought couches, or their mail guy and would say they were at 20+ because "these people touch my food". Now are saying 15 is plenty and skipping drinks to hit a budget.

 

[Desert_Power]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

That is correct

I remember when people would flex because they tipped people that brought couches, or their mail guy and would say they were at 20+ because "these people touch my food". Now are saying 15 is plenty and skipping drinks to hit a budget.

Definitely not tipping the mail people. They are so awful around here. You see them more on Sunday than any other day because they are driving around delivering stuff they didn't get to during the week.

 

[fruity pebbles]

I’m not tipping anyone anymore except sit down meals which I still ring at 20%. I never use Uber or DoorDash. Everywhere are tip screens now. Places I’ve been the last six months that wanted a tip……..auto mechanic…..place charges $180 an hour, movie theater, tire place, every single place that serves any kind of food or drink, i went to a grocery store and in the self checkout line they asked for a couple bucks at the end to keep the machines running properly. F off. Nobody’s tipping me for doing my job. Start telling patients they can’t have their medication unless I hear something hitting the tip cup.

 

[dgreen]

Local fast casual Mexican restaurant has $9.95 fajita online special every Monday. Got two orders for me, wife, and son (16) to split. Tiny bit left over that I can have for lunch tomorrow. The food is nothing special, but it’s solid so it’s a good deal. We could have made something that tastes better at home, but I’d guess we would spend nearly the same amount (or more, knowing Mrs dgreen) and obviously have to cook it ourselves and clean up.

 

[Doug B]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

I figured the percentages thrown around in this thread have become common.

 

[Doug B]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

I do know several people who are basically flat rate tipping. Two years ago it was $75 for dinner and they’d tip 20% or $15. That same meal is now $100 and they’re still tipping that same $15 or 15%.

This makes sense as a reaction to menu price sticker shock, in the sense that it’s how you’d expect some proportion of the clientele to react.

 

[General Malaise]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

That is correct

I remember when people would flex because they tipped people that brought couches, or their mail guy and would say they were at 20+ because "these people touch my food". Now are saying 15 is plenty and skipping drinks to hit a budget.

Definitely not tipping the mail people. They are so awful around here. You see them more on Sunday than any other day because they are driving around delivering stuff they didn't get to during the week.

We have a very friendly mailman. I give him $25 around Xmas every year and he always writes a nice thank you. He's always smiling. There are days I wish I were a mailman. Just driving around that little jeep, listening to podcasts, getting some exercise, saying hello to folks.

 

[fruity pebbles]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

That is correct

I remember when people would flex because they tipped people that brought couches, or their mail guy and would say they were at 20+ because "these people touch my food". Now are saying 15 is plenty and skipping drinks to hit a budget.

Definitely not tipping the mail people. They are so awful around here. You see them more on Sunday than any other day because they are driving around delivering stuff they didn't get to during the week.

We have a very friendly mailman. I give him $25 around Xmas every year and he always writes a nice thank you. He's always smiling. There are days I wish I were a mailman. Just driving around that little jeep, listening to podcasts, getting some exercise, saying hello to folks.

Then I see them when it’s 10 degrees out or slogging around in the pouring rain and I’m like……..yeah, I’m good.

 

[General Malaise]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

That is correct

I remember when people would flex because they tipped people that brought couches, or their mail guy and would say they were at 20+ because "these people touch my food". Now are saying 15 is plenty and skipping drinks to hit a budget.

Definitely not tipping the mail people. They are so awful around here. You see them more on Sunday than any other day because they are driving around delivering stuff they didn't get to during the week.

We have a very friendly mailman. I give him $25 around Xmas every year and he always writes a nice thank you. He's always smiling. There are days I wish I were a mailman. Just driving around that little jeep, listening to podcasts, getting some exercise, saying hello to folks.

Then I see them when it’s 10 degrees out or slogging around in the pouring rain and I’m like……..yeah, I’m good.

You bring up good points, however if Seinfeld taught me anything and I'd like to believe it has it's that mailmen can take rainy days off!

 

[Courtjester]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

Understood. But how has that tangibly changed the customer’s behavior?

The customer doesn’t want to hear the excuses, or don’t understand why their prices go up.

So they complain when things take longer and/or cost more? To whom?

To anyone they deal with. Why take it out on a cashier or a waitress?

It is an every night thing for my daughter. The host sat the person too slowly--take it out on the server. The food is under cooked=server's fault. My daughter's location is 2-3 miles from a fertilizer distributor and when the wind gets a certain direction, you can smell that place for miles---yep, that's my daughter's fault too according to some reviews.

But I think it is just the nature of customer service in general. My daughter makes money because she tries. Most of her co-workers do not because they do not care and the job just pays for their rent, alcohol and weed use. "Waiting" is a movie from 2005 with a young Ryan Reynolds and a loaded cast, but it really sums up the restaurant industry and is actually really funny.

 

[ChiefD]

I tend to tip in the 30% - 40% range more often that not. Why? To make up for the cheap wads out there tipping 0 - 15%,

The way I see it is on a $100 tab, and extra $10 - $20 is not that big of a deal. But it may be to the person who just served me.

 

[Scoresman]

I think I'm going to start tipping nurses (teachers too if I had kids). If anybody deserves a tip jar, it's them. I dont know why we ended up where the restaurant industry is the one that gets our extra money. Nurses and teachers provide us with a much more important service, are also underpaid, and have to deal with just as much if not way more crap.

 

[the moops]

I think I'm going to start tipping nurses (teachers too if I had kids). If anybody deserves a tip jar, it's them. I dont know why we ended up where the restaurant industry is the one that gets our extra money. Nurses and teachers provide us with a much more important service, are also underpaid, and have to deal with just as much if not way more crap.

Have you looked at the wages each of those professions get?

 

[FairWarning]

Customers have been much more demanding since Covid.

How so?

When things started to open up again, there were severe labor and supply chain issues in retail. Now it’s a battle with inflation/prices.

Understood. But how has that tangibly changed the customer’s behavior?

The customer doesn’t want to hear the excuses, or don’t understand why their prices go up.

So they complain when things take longer and/or cost more? To whom?

To anyone they deal with. Why take it out on a cashier or a waitress?

It is an every night thing for my daughter. The host sat the person too slowly--take it out on the server. The food is under cooked=server's fault. My daughter's location is 2-3 miles from a fertilizer distributor and when the wind gets a certain direction, you can smell that place for miles---yep, that's my daughter's fault too according to some reviews.

But I think it is just the nature of customer service in general. My daughter makes money because she tries. Most of her co-workers do not because they do not care and the job just pays for their rent, alcohol and weed use. "Waiting" is a movie from 2005 with a young Ryan Reynolds and a loaded cast, but it really sums up the restaurant industry and is actually really funny.

No doubt the waitstaff gets the most abuse unless they sit at the bar, then the bartenders do.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Tipping comes up in conversation alot. Irl I'm hearing people are not close to 20% and frequently well below that.

That is correct

I remember when people would flex because they tipped people that brought couches, or their mail guy and would say they were at 20+ because "these people touch my food". Now are saying 15 is plenty and skipping drinks to hit a budget.

Definitely not tipping the mail people. They are so awful around here. You see them more on Sunday than any other day because they are driving around delivering stuff they didn't get to during the week.

We have a very friendly mailman. I give him $25 around Xmas every year and he always writes a nice thank you. He's always smiling. There are days I wish I were a mailman. Just driving around that little jeep, listening to podcasts, getting some exercise, saying hello to folks.

I do the same with our trash man

 

[Todem]

Staffing has been rough since Covid

Without it getting political, do you have thoughts on why you're experiencing this?

I can only speak for South Florida.

Housing is thru the roof. We have a rent and insurance crisis down here.

Working class and workforce housing is too expensive now....hence the service industry's quality of staffing that it can even manage to hire has suffered greatly too.

It's a huge growing problem.

 

[nirad3]

I tend to tip in the 30% - 40% range more often that not. Why? To make up for the cheap wads out there tipping 0 - 15%,

The way I see it is on a $100 tab, and extra $10 - $20 is not that big of a deal. But it may be to the person who just served me.

A few weeks ago I went to a little sports bar/restaurant for some food and a couple of beers while my son was at his new Boy Scout troop's meeting. Sat at the bar and the off-duty server who sat next to me and the bartender who served me were both super nice. I ended up tipping like 30-40%.

Ended up going again last night and the same bartender was there. He remembered my name and what I liked to drink, and when I cashed out he informed me that one of the seltzers I got was on him.