A few things you might not know about restaurants...

[settiai]

I've had a couple of questions in some of my recent work-related posts, so I thought that I'd throw together another quick post for those of you who've never been lucky enough to work in the restaurant business. Hopefully this will be of interest to at least some of you.

In the United States, servers are typically paid somewhere between $2 and $4 an hour depending on the state. The reason they can legally be paid less than minimum wage is because they're expected to make up the rest in tips.

In many restaurants, servers have to tip out at least 5% of the total bill for every table they wait on to bartenders, bus boys, food runners, etc. So, if you leave a 10% tip for your server, in actuality they're only getting 5%. If you don't tip, the server still has to tip out, so - in that case - they're literally having to pay money out of their own pocket since you didn't leave anything. So, basically, if you can't afford to leave at least a small tip? Don't eat at a sit-down restaurant.

If you use coupons or get discounts, base your tip on the original total not the discounted one. With or without the discount, the server did the same amount of work. Don't punish them because you're getting a cheaper bill than normal.

If you sit in a restaurant for hours and hours, leave at least a slightly bigger tip. Why? Because you're costing the server money. If you had left, the server could have had new customers sit at the table. Servers have set stations, and if all of their assigned tables are occupied, they can't make any more money until customers leave.

If there's something missing from your food order that has to be brought out a few minutes late and the server blames the kitchen for messing up, take a look at your check at the end of the meal. If the missing item is listed at the very end, there's a good chance that the server forgot to ring it in and didn't want to admit to it. On the other hand, if the missing item is listed in the middle of the check, it probably was the kitchen's fault.

If there's something wrong with your food or you simply don't like it, tell your server before you eat the entire meal. They want you to be happy, and if there's anything they can do to fix the problem they'll do it. Still, they're not mind-readers. If you don't tell them something's wrong, they probably won't know.

For the love of God, if you have allergies then tell your server first thing. Even if you're absolutely certain something won't have [insert rare food that you're allergic to here] in it, tell the server anyway. They would much rather spend two minutes going to check with the kitchen than watch you have an allergic reaction.

If your server is taking care of another table, let them finish before trying to get their attention (preferably not by snapping your fingers or yelling at them from ten feet away) unless it's an absolute emergency. If someone at your table is having a heart attack or is choking, then - yes - it's appropriate to interrupt them while they're taking to another customer. But if you need another lemon wedge, it can wait thirty seconds.

Don't ask for water, lemon and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. Or for hot water so you can make your own tea.

If you bring a different date to the same restaurant at least once or twice every single week, it might not be a good idea to bring your wife and children to the same restaurant.

If you're vegetarian, tell your server. Just because a dish doesn't have meat in it, that doesn't mean it isn't made with meat stock.

Servers are there to take care of you, but they're not your personal slaves. It isn't beneath you to make eye contact with them, speak with them, and remember what they look like even if you forget their name. If you need something and don't see your server, it's fine to ask another server to find yours for you. If you can't even tell them your server's gender or ethnicity, though, it makes it difficult for them to help.

If the restaurant is obviously closed or closing for the night, don't sit there for another hour, especially if you're finished eating. Many restaurants won't actually ask customers to leave unless they absolutely have no other choice, and as long as you're there your server will have to stay.

ETA: By the way, this is mainly relevant for restaurants in the United States. I realize that, in most other countries, it's a different situation.

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