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If you're on a blind date, one of the best ways to judge your companion is to observe how he or she is treating the waiter. If they're sniping at every tiny delay in service, demanding Sprite refills every five seconds and sending their food back multiple times for imaginary inadequacies, odds are that's how they're going to be treating you in a few months. So run. It's a sad fact of life in LA that just about everyone waits tables at some point and yet, when it comes to how to treat waiters, some people never learn.
Waiting tables is a hard job, not just because of how exhausting it can be but because LA is full of arrogant and entitled people whose twin passions are eating out and treating people like crap. Let's make this clear: Just because you're spending twenty bucks on lunch at the Cheesecake Factory doesn't make the woman taking your order your personal slave for ninety minutes. Serving you is part of her job, not her mission in life. You don't like it when your boss yells at you, so when you're on the other side of the table, show some damn respect.
And let's remember that many -- if not most -- waiters in this city are struggling actors, and that's a hard enough job in itself. Nobody needs to spend all day dealing with neglectful agents, snotty casting directors, the bitch she sees at every audition who fits the same casting profile as her and keeps stealing all her jobs and, on top of it all, rejection after rejection after rejection, just to punch the clock at night and open herself up to a bunch of spoiled trust fund kids complaining because their Diet Coke has too much ice or their fork has a smudge on it. Next time you're about to scream at your waiter because your medium-well burger showed up medium-rare, picture him giving a killer reading of a line like "Lulu's coat has never been so shiny!" for a dog food commercial and being told he didn't get the part because he's too tall. Or imagine her getting yet another call from her parents in which she pleads with them to let her stay in LA a few more months, because this time that pilot's really going to come through, she can just feel it!
Granted, there are always going to be waiters who are rude, slow or incompetent. And there's a special place in Hell for those smartasses who refuse to write anyone's order down and then proceed to mess things up. But otherwise, try to put things in perspective. Waiters are human; they make mistakes. If you ordered it medium-well, send it back, but do it politely. And when tip time comes around, remember: fifteen percent is a minimum. If the service was good and those drink refills kept coming without you even having to ask for them, or if you had 26 people in your party, or if the waiter brought your kid some crayons to keep him quiet so you could enjoy the meal, you're free to tip as high as you'd like. Come on, go nuts. You know that super-nice waitress at your favorite restaurant who always remembers how much creamer you like for your coffee? Give her 25% -- it'll make her day. And if you don’t want to tip at all, go to McDonald's next time, or cook for your own damn self. Not only is it cheaper, but then maybe you'll appreciate what a hard job it is to put up with someone who's as unappreciative and hard to please as you.
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What? Are you crazy?
Their job is to do their best to serve me what I am paying for. If I order it medium-well and I get it medium-rare, I won't be a dick about it, but it's not acceptable. I mean, if I go to buy a pack of Camel Lights and I get a pack of Camel Reds it's not cool. If the waiter forgets that I asked for a side of ranch three times, it's their fault. That's their fucking job; they're getting paid to provide me with a service.
And 15% minimum? I'll give 15% if the service is acceptable, but if it's bad, as is often the case, I'm not giving 15%. I may not give anything if it's bad enough. But, at the same time, if it's good service, I'll definitely let them know with the tip.
Ladies and gentlemen:
Meet the anonymous guy above, annoyed to hear that waiters should be treated with some sort of respect, yet not ballsy enough to share his email address.
He's the dick you hear raising his voice at his waiter/waitress at any given restaurant, probably because his boss upset him at work earlier in the day. Or miserable because no one's bought his screenplay yet.
He's part of the A&E portion of LA mentioned in the posting.
Sure thing, Anonymous. The truth from that article is that you shouldn't walk into the restaurant with your shitty attitude. Of course you should get the steak you want, cooked the way you want it. But it's about remembering that these are people -- not robots -- who have feelings and deserve a little bit of respect.
Keep up your positive outlook on life. You and half the rest of LA's population deserve each other.
True that because it's their job service standards should be regarded. However, -_, or whoever you are, there's also something to be said for giving people with demanding jobs like waiting tables or moving or sewage cleaning a break. As Jerry aptly explains, working in food service is no picnic. And despite the partially based-in-truth stereotype of the actor/waiter, most people serving you are like the fine lady pictured above in this post.
Granted LA diverges from the Italian and French cultural traditions where food service can be a dignified, honored life-long career, but if you eat at the thousands of places in Los Angeles other than 101 Coffee Shop, Toast, or Swingers, you'll know that they're hard working 'regular' people trying to make a living and *not* trying to break into some other more glamorous industry. Many are family-run operations trying to keep their heads above water in what's a damn tough business to get by in, and where marginal profits are razor thin.
For the sake of food service professionals across this city, I hope you only encounter stellar service, even though I suspect you don't quite deserve it karmically.
15% is a standard tip. 25%? Is that a joke?
Excuse me, when did I say they shouldn't be treated with respect. I said I wouldn't be a dick to them, but to just accept shitty service because my waiter has a difficult job is ridiculous. Most people have difficult jobs and most people work hard everyday. If they fuck up at work most likely their customers aren't going to let it slide by; that's the way business works.
Why should being a waiter be any different? Why is it when I sit down at a restaurant and order food I'm just supposed to accept bad service? All I ask is to get the food that ordered and to get it hot. I don't think I'm asking the world. If you can't do that, maybe you should get another job because you're obviously not capable of doing your current one.
Sorry, Jose. 15% is not a "standard" tip, unless you're in, say, Fresno. It's a piss-poor tip in any relatively cosmo area. If you've experienced cruddy service, maybe now you know why...
I'm not trying to suggest that waiters be given a free pass just because they work hard. But even the best waiters make mistakes, and lots of customers treat them like crap even if they're doing a great job. If your food comes out wrong, by all means, send it back. But before you yell at anyone, try to remind yourself of two things: 1) they're a real person with feelings, just like you and 2) it's just a hamburger.
For the record, I've never waited a table in my life -- I've just observed this behavior again and again when I've eaten out.
And I've tipped 25% plenty of times.
If you stiff your waiter for a rare steak when you wanted it medium rare, then you may be punishing your server for the kitchen's mistake. There's a whole team of folks in the restaurant that can conspire to screw the server out of his tip. The truth is that when you go into a restaurant you are entering into a contract in which you pay part (most!) of your server's salary. That's just the way it is. The server's part of the deal is to give you the best service possible. If they screw it up, by all means, it should reflect in your tip. But if the customer heads into a restaurant intent on finding things wrong, so they can start subtracting tip money with the Asshole Calculator they keep running in their head, then please, PLEASE, head over to Jack In The Box instead. At least the Jack staff makes a guaranteed minimum wage.
But then, when I was a waiter (for all of six months, ten years ago), I got punched in the head. So what do I know.
I never even made it to being a waitress because I got tired of men with "adventurous" hands who got too friendly when I'd lead them to a table. Further, I made more than most of the servers in the restaurant because they only made minimum wage plus tips (and they had to pay for meals), while I made a fixed wage well higher than minimum, got a share of the tips, and a free meal per shift.
I've tipped as much as 25% on numerous occasions; much like other service-based businesses, some people go way beyond in terms of how well they treat you, and they deserve to be compensated for it. I sure as hell wouldn't like to make a living clearing tables and catering to other people's whims. I dislike doing it at home as it is.