Tell me about the special wine and maybe I WILL give you a big tip because it was so tasty.

By the way, just because I order water and a small meal (I eat light) doesn’t mean I’m a bad tipper. In fact, I tip well when the service is great.

Sadly, as one of my coworkers pointed out, they are stereotypes because they are true. While I treat everyone the same (not EVERY person in a particular group is a poor tipper), it isn’t unrealistic for people to come up with an assumption when a particular outcome results 85% of the time. It doesn’t have anything to do with the service in general, just the person’s perception of what an acceptable tip is.

http://www.baltimorespecials.com

[...] article on the Get Rich Slowly blog caught my attention recently. It was entitled How to Eat at a Swanky Restaurant Without Blowing Your Monthly Food Budget, and it gave 8 tips for saving money when dining out. To summarise, these [...]

But if you treat me like crap because I didn’t spend much–you may be getting a very sorry little tip. Not because I’m a cheapskate but because you did a godawful job of it (and it has to be pretty bad for me not to leave at least 15%, which is what I leave for mediocre service).

[...] Rich Slowly tells us how to eat at a “swanky” restaurant without blowing the budget.  He also writes about how to escape from minimum [...]

[...] How to Eat at a Swanky Restaurant Without Blowing Your Monthly Food Budget Get Rich Slowly gives some tips to lower costs of eating out. [...]

Having the attitude that people should only eat out if they plan to spend heaps of money is just as bad as the attitude that servers exist to serve only and should shut up & be opinion-free, both of which appear to be getting an airing.

I do think that going to a fine dining restaurant and being frugal is contradictory and counter-productive – sorry JD. That’s like going to a funfair, riding the carousel only and avoiding the rollercoasters to save money.

What I’d like to know is, how to communicate that to the waitstaff at the start of the meal? I mean, I know the old saw about the guy who calls himself a “big tipper” but only leaves a couple of bucks, so I don’t want to say something which might backfire.

I guess what it comes down to is, don’t make assumptions. Don’t assume the family will tip badly, or the two ladies together or the woman dining alone. Give us the benefit of the doubt and the good service.

Good tips!

[...] Eating at an expensive restaurant: JD @ Get Rich Slowly recently posted an article about how to eat at an expensive restaurant without destroying your food budget. Although the article makes some valid points on how to reduce your bill, it’s really not for [...]

I’ve always been curious about how the tip percentage should be calculated. In South Africa (where I stay) we used to tip 10% but over the years the percentage has increased to 15% 20% etc. My question is why this should be so if the restaurant is already increasing their prices on the food and beverages served as this means that the server receives an “increase” whenever the establishment’s prices change?

For example, our favorite restaurant near our home is a high end restaurant where you could easily spent $100+ per person if you factored in drinks, appetizers, entrees and dessert (it is comparable to a Ruth’s Chris’s–actually it used to be a Ruth Chris, but then was bought by a private owner). Fortunately, occassionally there are some gift certificates available on restaurant.com. We stocked up on the certificates during a 60% off sale at restaurant.com, so we were able to get $25 certificates for $4. The minimum purchase is $35 to use the gift certificate. We have figured out several menu variations, through combinations of appetizers, soups, salads, split entrees etc., that total $35-40. After the gift certificate we paying about $20-25 out of pocket including taxes and a 20% tip for a meal that is far superior to what you could get for $20 at any chain restaurant and a much more enjoyable atmosphere/ambiance.

We still try to limit our eating out, but if we’re going to, we’d rather carefully plan a meal at a nicer restaurant than to waste our dining dollars at a run-of-the mill chain.

No one at my restaurant has a problem with splitting apps, salads, entrees, or desserts. We’ll even plate them separately in the kitchen, so that it comes out looking like a regular portion. It helps me out when guests tell me their price range on a wine, so I’m not wasting all our time with too expensive bottles. You don’t have to be obnoxious about it (‘whoa, look at these prices!’), just communicate effectively.
Thanks to all you great tippers out there! I appreciate that you realize that it’s just as much work to carry out coffee as it is a steak (actually more work at my place, because the kitchen plates the steak, but I have to brew the coffee, warm the cup, heat the cream, and plate it

[...] JD tells us how to eat fancy without blowing the budget. [...]

[...] Get Rich Slowly is eating well -but he’s not spending a lot of money – Eating Out While Saving Money. [...]

A number of people have mentioned “friends” who shirk on the split bill, or don’t leave their share of the tip and just shrug. Which has happened to me too. That speaks volumes to me about the type of person they are. And they won’t be dining with me again.

For Daniel- your attitude is awful. I was a server, years ago, and hated the job. I respect anyone who can do it well and with a smile on their face. I tip well. However, it is not your job to judge the customers based on what they eat and how much money you perceive you will make. They are not there to ensure you make the maximum amount of money. Plus, you never know- that couple eating appetizers and drinking water might tip well, and the couple ordering expensive meals might be tightwads who don’t respect the service and tip poorly.

[...] JD has some clever ideas for saving money at swanky restaurants. [...]

Last week we went out for a retirement party with over 20 something people and we had 12 separate checks! Before we got in, it was discussed that the server would be tipped graciously. We personally gave 40% tip. We didn’t order a huge meal, we split and entree and had a large sampler appetizer. Others had a full meal. Waitress was happy and we had a great time with our food.

About sharing bills, I won’t go out to dinner with people other than my DH unless we are being treated by family or we are treating someone else. It’s just too annoying. I order very little and would get the evil eye when I wanted to pay my share only.

I was in a club that rotated meetings at area restaurants, I quit the club b/c of this silly check splitting business.

Another thing is in NYC they have Restaurant Week where expensive well-known restaurants will offer a prix-fixe for some pre-arranged price (this year it was 20.07) — you have to make reservations a bit ahead of schedule, but it’s a great way to try some of these restaurants that don’t fit my eating out bill, and you get the full appetizer, entree, dessert.

Where I live (NC, USA), it is common for a restaurant to refuse separate checks for parties of 6 or more.

PS – there are 2 “Daniel”s on here – perhaps one of us should use a different moniker.

[...] at get rich slowly, JD has written a post about eating out at swanky restaurants. Its quite interesting if you want to take a look, but what’s caught my attention was part of [...]