This happened last Friday at a restaurant in Bishop Arts. I am not naming the place because I am not trying to hurt their business — just questioning whether I was wrong.
My wife and I went out for a date night. Reservation at 7:30 PM. We were seated at 7:55 (25 minutes late despite having a reservation). No apology.
The issues:
- It took 20 minutes to get our drink order taken. The restaurant was not even full — maybe 60% capacity.
- My wife's cocktail came out wrong. She ordered a margarita, got a mojito. When she pointed it out, the server rolled her eyes and said "same thing basically" before taking it back.
- Entrees took 55 minutes from ordering. My wife's steak was ordered medium rare and came out well done. She sent it back. The replacement took another 20 minutes.
- The server checked on us once during the entire meal. Once.
- When we asked for the check, it took 15 minutes.
Total bill: $127 before tip.
The check had a tip suggestion section. The lowest suggestion was 25%. The options were 25%, 30%, and 35%.
I tipped 15%. On the $127 bill, that was $19. My wife thought I should have tipped 20% because "the server might be having a bad night." I felt 15% was generous given the experience.
The server saw the receipt, made a face, and said loud enough for us to hear: "Some people should not eat out if they cannot afford to tip."
I can afford to tip. I regularly tip 20-25% for good service. But I do not believe that tipping should be a guaranteed 25% regardless of the quality of service. That defeats the entire purpose of a gratuity.
So — am I wrong for tipping 15% on objectively terrible service?
Everyone sucks. The service was legitimately bad and you had every right to tip less. But the server comment as you left was unprofessional and she should be reported to management. Both sides handled this poorly.