Question for anyone who's been a server...
 

When you go to tip out your host/hostess, how much are you supposed to give them??

The reason I ask is, I recently got a job as a waitress because it was really the only thing that would fit with my upcoming school schedule and provide any sort of $$ whatsoever, but I've never done this before. The restaurant I work in does not require us to tip out the hostesses like most other places around here do, but we are strongly encouraged to (read: you'd better do it, or else you look really really cheap). However, I never know how much to give them--is there some sort of guideline to go by, as when customers tip waitresses? Another complication is that the daytime hostess is a real...well, she's not a very polite person, and I find it very hard to give her any of my hard-earned money when she's constantly hollering at me to get out of her way and shoving me when I have the nerve to be in front of her. The first shift I worked, she goes, "Where my tip?" as I was leaving. I was like, "Pardon me?" and she repeated, "Where my tip?!?!?" really loudly, and I felt like giving her a tip upside the head but I restrained myself. :mad:

So anyway, what's the protocol? Heaven forbid people think I'm cheap.

If the title at the restaurant is "host" or "hostess," then they don't get squat because its not that good of a restaurant. The only exception would be if they did something exceptional that was going to make your evening more enjoyable, then $20 would be in order.

If its a fine restaurant, then a Maitre D' gets at least $20, and $50-200 if they do something special.

I worked in restaurants all through high school/college, and there was only one that required us to tip out the hostesses. We were required to tip them 10% of what our actual tips were for the shift. So, if I had $100 in tips, I was supposed to tip the hostess $10. But, we didn't have buspersons, and that was part of the hostess' job.

If I were not required to tip the hostess, and she behaved the way she did, I would not have given her any $$$. When she asked where her tip was, I would have told her to be less rude and more helpful and maybe next time she'd get some cash.

The way it works in most places around here is all the servers are required to tip out a certain percentage to the host/hostesses at the end of the night, because they supposedly "increase our tips." But the place I work doesn't have a rule on that--it's just up to us, but I have no idea how much is good. That's why I'm asking.

It all really comes down to if they actually help you. When I worked at BW-3's last summer, the servers had to tip the bartenders for pouring/mixing drinks. There really wasn't a set amount. If you made about $50 in tips and the bartender made you a bunch of drinks, then you would probably tip him not quite ten dollars. And if you didn't make a lot of tips, then you wouldn't give him anything.

What exactly do the host/tesses do? If all they do is seat customers and hand out menus, then I wouldn't tip them very much. Hosts usually make minimmum wage already, while the wait staff gets like $3.00 an hour plus tips. In the end, I wouldn't give her more than 5-8%.

I definitely agree here.

Do all of the other hostesses demand tips the way this girl was? If your coworkers had any sense, they would probably think she was being a b*!!!! before they thought you were being cheap.

You get your tips based on your service to the customers, so for her to just think she can be a meany to you and still get a tip just for seating people at tables is pretty dumb. If she wants a tip she can maybe be a little nicer next time.

That's just my opinion though.. I wouldn't have given her anything. :D

If you're worried about what percentage to tip out in your particular restaurant, maybe you should ask your fellow servers what they normally do.

She seats customers and will sometimes bus tables, but I usually just bus my own tables so she can't lord it over on me. :p We're supposed to tip out the bartenders, too, but I don't unless my tables order drinks.

She's an older lady, which makes it worse. You'd think a 60+ year-old woman would know how to behave, but...

They just say, "It's up to you" and that's it. It's sort of something you don't talk about. *shrug*

Whoops! Wasn't paying close enough attention.

5% sounds about right for just that. (Good idea to bus your own tables!) If she bitches about how much you tip her, tell her you earn tips on your service and politeness, and if she wants tips from you, she had better treat you the same way you treat customers.

i work at a restaurant as a server and were required to tip out the hostesses 1% of our sales...doesnt matter how much we make in tips. so if youre sales were 100 dollars you give the hostess 1 dollar. we can give more if we want but not less. we dont call them hostesses though. we call them server assistants. they have to seat people, bus tables, and reset the table for us. we have to give the bartender 1% too even if we have no bar drinks for the entire shift. so you could always do it that way if you want...take a percentage of your sales. good luck with your hostess though--id probably say something to a manager about it. if shes not doing her job and you dont have to tip her out then id probably not give her anything. who cares what she thinks about you? good luck!!

I think that's a pretty good idea ^^^^

When we cashed out at my last waitressing job, it tallied up 3% of our sales and we were supposed to give that to the host/hostesses. I'd give more if they helped a lot with bussing, but less if they were double and triple seating me or not helping or being rude. The manager would ask where the money was, and I'd just tell him that they didn't deserve my hard-earned $ that night. Their attitudes usually improved after that :)

What she said! We tipped out 5% of our sales and G-d forbid if I was double or triple sat...there was hell to pay!

However if they helped me out with stuff, they KNOW I would hook them up!

At the restaurant where I serve (similar to a Friday's, but not a chain...ridiculously busy on the weekends), we dont give anything to the bartenders or hosts (bartenders make their own tips and the hostesses make a normal hourly wage, so they dont need tips). We are required, however, to give 3% of our total sales to the busboys at the end of the night, which I do gladly since those little Guatemalan dudes do basically all the table cleaning.

Some other questions for servers...

How many tables on average would you be waiting on at a time? At my restaurant, its normal on a Friday night to have 10-12 tables, all sat at the same time. Upon talking to a friend who works at Olive Garden, I found out that this isnt normal (he would have 3-4 tables) and this is why I get so ridiculously stressed out. Oh, and yesterday I was double sat with 2 parties of 15...at the EXACT same time...thats not typical of most places I dont think!

How much sidework do you have to complete?? We basically have to clean the entire kitchen and our sections which takes HOURS. OliveGardenGuy, again, said this isnt normal...hmmm..Im thinking i want more than my $2.83/hr haha.

Any thoughts?