AnimeNfo

[Brandino (#102083)]

 Dining out experiences

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

We don't have a tipping culture here. Most restaurants levy a fixed service charge of 10% anyway. Why? Because if they didn't do that, most customers wouldn't give a tip. It helps ensure that servers at least get something. But it's a double-edged sword. Bad service gets rewarded too.

I'm a believer of the fast-in-fast-out way of doing things. Get work done fast, more time to relax and post in here. Get my dinner over and done with real fast, I can get home early to do the stuff I want, or Aoi-chan will have more time for shopping after our meal. I don't like to sit around and slowly chew my food 100 times before I swallow. At the same time, I don't like to have to wait too long for my food either. If I'm in a restaurant for a meal, that's because I'm already hungry. And a hungry me is a grumpy me.

I never want to know what goes on behind closed doors (of the kitchen). I've worked in afew restaurants in my life, back while I was in school. Extra pocket money during the holidays. And yes, things do happen and we never tell you about them. Because theuy're not nice things.

I never ask for recommendations either. As if they could sway me with their opinions. I see something I think I'll like, I'll go for it. In any case I usually just frequent a few old favorite joints and order the same food. If they have a new item on the menu, I'd try that too.

[Shiru (#135861)]

^Yeah it's the same in China. No tips period, and yet the waiters and busboys do so much more than the ones in the US. The things the restaurant owners make them do just to please an important customer... Oh, and you don't have to put the tray into the garbage can in fast food restaurants, so bus boys and/or waiters have to deal with that too.

As for American restaurants, I always leave a 15% tip. 20% or more when I really like the waiter or he/she did something for me to save money or something. I made my friend mad when I said that we should tip this one waiter more because he did that thing (like with the frozen margarita) where he gave us a non-alcoholic drink free. It turns out my friend was saving money (and she really was serious, she told me she was almost broke), but I didn't know, and we were splitting the tip.

Oh, and I always write down the tip twice and take the one that says it's my copy. But even if I left behind the wrong one it shouldn't be a problem as they say the same tip anyways.

Either way, whether it's in America or China, I'm always polite to waiters and never ask too much of them. I almost always say thank you, and I don't make a lot of nit-picky demands like some of my friends do. Bottom-line: It's not the waiters' fault if the food isn't cooked right, or if there's a fly in the food. (But if I find dishwater, I'll know who to blame )

[~*~Moi~*~ (#128504)]

Thankfully we don't do tipping here or in any of the other countries I've been to. *phew* The price of the food is more than enough to compensate. But out of curiosity, if you go to a country where everyone tips, how do you tip and how much as a general rule? Do you always have to tip? Even in recessions??

[Veleon (#124559)]

I usually tip 15-20% also. I know how hard being a waiter is. Although there have been a few times when I haven't tipped.

This one time me and a couple of friends when to a restaurant and they had a special for college students who provided their IDs. We also had coupons that we wanted to use. Before we ordered we asked the waiter if it was possible to use both of the discounts on one meal. She said something along the lines of "I don't see why not." So, she brings us our food and at the very end of meal, when she gives us our bill, she says we can only use one discount or the other. Now, all of us would've ordered differently had we known this.

I am pretty sure I can guess what happened. She assumed that we could use both but wasn't 100% sure. So when it came time to give us our bills she asked her supervisor if we could and they said no. So, I don't really blame her or anything but what she should've done was find out what we could do before we make our orders. And other than this one thing she gave excellent service. And I was serioiusly debating leaving her a tip because of how well she did, but I didn't. When you screw something up, you better make sure it has nothing to do with money.

[Shiru (#135861)]

[sakurafice (#142452)]

pretty sure tipping is the norm in australia...
it just depends if the person is feeling generous at the time...
i sure get tips

but can't give any insight than that, cause i just found out i'm leaving for a 7 day trip to the country in two hours ^_^;

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

Do restaurants in your home countries raise prices (even for the same items) on eves of public holidays or public holidays? Like for example, it's X'mas eve and they know everyone want to dine out to celebrate, and the raise the listed prices even if the item remains unchanged?

I don't quite like the idea of it, but it can't be helped. Aoi-chan's birthday is on New Year's Day and it seems like everywhere we go it's crowded and everyone's celebrating her birthday with her. The increase in price isn't all that much, but it's still a practice I don't agree with.

[Shiru (#135861)]

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

You know, they do have to pay the rent, staff salaries, etc.

[Shiru (#135861)]

Yeah yeah I know. And since Red Lobster's so popular, it can go rip off someone else. I know I'm not going back there again.

[Leighton Milano (#143027)]

I've always wanted to try Red Lobster but I'm allergic to seafoods so I haven't got the chance