Tips for Tipping
Breanna Hoffman, who has been in the waitressing industry for 12 years now, expects a 20% tip for her services. When she goes out to eat she said, “There have only been a handful of times in my life that I have given less than 20% and even then I give at least 15%.”
One bit of information that bothers her is the “don’t expect your server to drop everything to serve you and only you. There are other people we are also serving” mentality. She has a story that explains how as wait staff you can bend over backwards for people, and they still do not seem to appreciate it. Bend over backwards by modifying the food, which typically gets you in a pickle with the kitchen, they hate it, and just doing whatever a customer says when they say it.
She had a older couple a few years back that she modified an entire dinner for. They still hated it, but they seemed quite friendly the entire time. Hoffman thought everything was going smoothly. That is until the couple left her with a really “crappy tip and a rude comment card.” The comment card said, “You should move to Florida with all the other Mexicans to pick tomatoes.”
“My best night I made over $660 dollars, but just the other day I made $12. It is not consistent. During the winter we notice the biggest decrease in money. In the summer we get busier, but the pop of people doesn’t happen till later in the evening,” she explained.
“I enjoy my job, and hope other people will be more understanding of how hard we really do work,” said Hoffman.
Her advice? “If you tip well, we will remember you. If you tip badly, well, we will remember that also. So, be careful.”
