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Sorry, my post is wordy and not 100% on topic, but after reading a couple of posts in this thread, I got very passionate about it! ;)
I have a lot of experience in the food industry, having held literally every possible position from dishwasher to GM, in just about every kind of establishment from mall hot dog stand to 4 star full service restaurant.
My 2 cents:
Don't feel obligated to tip at subway or Quiznos or Starbucks or any other food place that is not full-service. Tipping is nice, but it's not expected at those type of establishments.
For full-service places, always tip servers and bartenders, even if they give you shitty service.
Why?
1) The tip you leave for the server is usually NOT just for the server. They have to do tip-share with the host, busboys, bartenders, and any other helper staff, like water or bread-boys. Yea, maybe your server sucked, but by not tipping you are punishing everyone else for your crappy server. Instead of one pissed off employee, you now have half the staff hating you.
2) All those peeps above, they are required to claim a set percentage on their gross sales.
So if you spend $100.00 and stiff them, they still have to pay taxes on what you SHOULD have tipped them. This percentage averages from 8-10%. Of course you are going to get shitty service. Why should they give you even the bare minimum when they have to actually pay for your cheap ass to eat there!
Front-of-house staff have excellent memories. If you stiff them, I promise you they will remember you. Even if it's a year and a half since you were last there. Next time you come in, you will get even shittier service. They won't even want to take your table.
Don't believe me? Go ahead, watch them while you are waiting in line. You will see servers going to the host stand and chatting with the hosts. What are they doing? They are looking at the waiting line and sizing you up. Then they are telling the host to seat you in someone else's section cuz they know you don't tip, so they don't want to waste their time on you.
Now hold on, cuz it doesn't stop there. If that server has to take your table, they will contain their anger till they get to the back-of-house. They are gonna go back there and start ranting and bitching about having to take your cheap-ass table. Now the cook staff is gonna get it on it. What you are going to wind up with is the smallest steak they had on hand, the steak they accidently dropped on the floor 4 hours ago and set aside or the least desirable looking portion of whatever you just ordered. And no, they are not going to give a shit if it's over or undercooked.
Karma is a bitch, and she lives in the food industry. You fuck with her, and she will fuck right back.
As far as tipping goes, the thought process of the server waiting on you is not what you think.
Stiffing a server in their eyes doesn't say 'You suck as a server', it says "I'm a cheap fuck and I'm entitled". If you want to tell a server they suck by way of tip, you leave them a flat dollar. Nothing more, nothing less.
If you get the service you expected, then leave them a proper tip. A 'proper' tip is the full tax amount of your guest check times 2.
If you want to get superior service, ie seated before people ahead of you in line, getting your food before those who ordered first, getting better portions of food, having your drinks refilled before your glass is half-empty.... then tip above the expected amount. The better you tip, the better your experience will be every time.
Like it or not, that's just the way it is.
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