Wait...people expect servers to speak to their babies?? :confused:

A lot of servers prefer cash because it's easier to tip back (to table bussers, the kitchen, the hostess) and they can do it more quickly. Some also like it because they don't claim all their tips on their taxes. Cab drivers prefer cash for the same reason (that and they may not report your fare/claim that entire fare on their taxes, but if you pay with a card they will have to, as well as not being able to turn over so quickly).

In which restaurants do servers have to distribute some of their tips to the hostesses and cooks? I’ve always given the bussers some cash at the end of the night, but that’s because they helped clean my tables, providing me with a faster turnover, and in turn, more money.

Is this done often?

ETA: Actually, I just remembered... Outback would have us calculate a whole bunch of stuff at the end of the night when cashing out, and the tip for the bussers was included, and was a specific percentage of our total sales for the night. At the other restaurants I've worked at, it was up to the servers how much they wanted to give. However, hostnesses and cooks were never included.

The restaurant I work at (an the restaurants I worked at before) doesn't allow servers to keep tips. We have to put all of our tips into a jar, and they add all of it up and everyone receives a bit. 80% is shared between the kitchen, host and take-out staff, and the remaining 20 % is shared between 14 waitresses. In the end I get to keep about 2 % of the tips I receive from customers.

LOL. That is ridiculous. People need to stop forcing the importance of their babies on everyone else.

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As for cash, I rarely keep cash on me. I probably have cash on me once a month or every other month.

Depends on the restaurant, really. When I was serving at a teeny outdoor bar and grill we always tipped back to the barbacks and cooks.

What the what?! The baby's not ordering, probably not eating, and definitely not paying.

My niece, who was quite a diva during her infant and toddler years, would throw a fit if the server didn't speak to her. My sister found it to be pretty embarrassing and certainly didn't demand it of the restaurant staff.

This is actually really terrible. Where I worked, since those folks made minimum wage or above (and I did not), we tipped about 30-40% back (which was split among them, and if they did something really awesome for us, it would be more), then the rest was ours.

We had a "bartender" but since we didn't serve spirits it was no more than opening a bottle of beer. Typically, the "bartender" was just a server assigned to bar - we all did our turn but did not tip back. I would imagine that if you were in an establishment that served spirits you would need to bartender to make drinks so you would tip back.

People rag on me all the time for tipping housekeeping when I go to a hotel. "Stop paying people for doing their job." But my parents taught me to tip housekeeping, so I do. All this tipping talk made me look up how much one should be tipping the housekeeping staff aaaaaannnnddddd......I overtip them. By a LOT. :o

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/fami...-tipping-apr05

Do you remember to tip housekeeping?

Yeah I'm not sure I get that. Especially when it's busy. I'm betting the baby doesn't really care if the server asks her how she's doing today.

Babies
 

Back in the day I never expected servers to interact with my babies, but I did appreciate servers who were baby-friendly - for example, bringing crackers or bread first thing. I know my younger daughter Cinderella (who is a server at Perry's) often gets praise and higher tips because she is considerate of children. It probably helps that she has vast experience thanks to her brothers who are 8 and 10 years younger than she.

Always. I learned this from my first job out of college (which required weekly travel). My parents never tipped housekeeping when we traveled :rolleyes: but I was specifically told that I could expense $3/day as a housekeeping tip ... so I left the specified tip and I expensed it. A good thing too... that company did a lot of business with that hotel, and I was there practically every week, so much so that the front desk staff would see me walk in on Monday evening and immediately print up my sign-in papers and keycard. (They got very confused when I got married and they looked up my reservation under my maiden name and didn't find it... and the usual Monday evening front desk clerk couldn't pronounce my married name (it's not that difficult, really!) so she insisted on calling me Ms. Maidenname...)

I usually picked up a taxi at the taxi rank at a hotel near my apartment building, so I tipped the doorman (if present) as he would load my bags into the trunk.

I briefly dated a guy who would.not.tip.a.taxi.driver. Ugh. That should have been a sign that he was an ass and deserved the royal kick to the curb... well, live and learn.

The fact that you think somebody on their job should give a damn about your baby is rude and borderline arrogant.

So, I'm not the only one who thought her post was stupid.

I tip housekeeping. From that list, I tip them appropriately, but I way overtip valet parking attendants apparently.