# Ask a waiter! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928 "2004-06-06T06:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/21 "2004-06-07T04:52:00Z")
> [@qts](#): > > Is there actually a career structure of sorts for waiters? Do waiters at swanky restaurants get paid more than those at somewhere like Greasy Joe’s? How do you get to become Maitre d’Hote at a swanky restaurant or in a high-grade hotel? There is and there isn’t… I’ve only been a waiter at two places, both of them very similar in demographics. At a swanky restaurant, more tips are made, but you also have to tip out more people besides yourself. Swanky will include bussers and barbacks and water boys and all that nonsense. I’m sure you make more at Emeril’s than you do at Denny’s, though. You become anything in this world with experience and a good personality and work ethic. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/22 "2004-06-07T04:53:22Z")
> [@Sami41](#): > > Not so much a waiter question, in particular, but how’s Ruby Tuesday to work for? I’m relocating w/out a job lined up and I have tables experience. Is RT a decent chain to work for. (BTW, I’ve only eaten there once, at the one in Albuquerque–I wasn’t floored, but wasn’t dissapointed, either). It’s a great company! Lots of teamwork and friendly atmosphere, shorter hours than a lot of restaurants, and you get to wear decently comfy uniforms. The company’s also doing well financially, check it out: RI is the stock symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/23 "2004-06-07T04:56:12Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Can you make a good living being a waiter? I’ve always one could make a lot of money if you were good. You can make about 12-20 bucks an hour, and in Tampa-ish, FL, that’s a decent living. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/24 "2004-06-07T04:57:24Z")
> [@bluethree](#): > > Can I have a dessert spoon? No, that’s a soup spoon, I wanted a dessert spoon. No, not an ice tea spoon. Are you the most incompetent waiter on the face of the earth!? We have five different spoons, and we’re not even a fancy place. No. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/25 "2004-06-07T04:59:48Z")
> [@Magickly Delicious](#): > > Approximately how many people or tables are you taking care of at any one time? How do you keep track of who gets what order? At Ruby Tuesday, we have zone mates, wherein two people will share a 8-16 table section, depending on how staffed/understaffed/busy/dead we are that shift. When someone’s seated in our section, the person who didn’t get the last table takes that table. So we can be taking care of 4-8 tables at a time. Yes, it gets horribly hectic. When a ticket is started on the computer, it asks for a table number…some people have yet to master how to put in the right one, but if they do, it keeps track of people just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/26 "2004-06-07T05:03:27Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Do you or the kitchen staff get pissed off when someone sends something back? > > Would you rather have tips, or a higher salary that would exactly match the amount of tips you make? > > See _Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life_. 😉 It’s their money, let em have whatever they want. Just don’t tell me I brought it out wrong when you asked for it JUST HOW YOU GOT IT. No, a higher salary would lead to a lower work ethic and thus lead to more work for people like me who have to pick up the slack of the people who are getting lazy at their higher pay. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/27 "2004-06-07T05:04:33Z")
> [@Johnny Bravo](#): > > What are today’s specials? We don’t have specials, we have the same menu all the time. Og, I hate that question. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/28 "2004-06-07T05:11:06Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > Here’s a timely question. A number of times it has been mentioned that some of the worst tippers are the Sunday “after church” crowd. I know that’s a mighty broad brush, but in your experience, do they indeed tend to be more stingy with the gratuities? Yes. God gets 10%, why should we get more? \ ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/29 "2004-06-07T05:11:17Z")
What’s the soup du jour? ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/30 "2004-06-07T05:12:22Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I tip generously and I expect good service. What I could NEVER understand…you order a steak, and it comes to you on a cold plate! WTF?? > ALL restaurants have plate warmers, and at the ones I’ve worked at (yes, I WAS a waiter once) had the plates scalding hot, so by the time the meal was delivered to the table, the ffod was nice and hot. > I absolutely hate this,food should never be cold (unless you order fruits de mer)! 😕 Our food is served on plates so hot that we have food running towels. I agree fully with you, and my old restaurant (Bennigan’s) didn’t mind serving pasta marinara in a refrigerated bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/31 "2004-06-07T05:16:18Z")
Welcome back, **Dan**. Hope you didn’t mind my babysitting your thread while you were away. Back to you now. Have fun! 🙂 –Ian ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/32 "2004-06-07T05:18:49Z")
> [@Hey you!](#): > > • Why do some careers (cabbies, food service) merit obligatory tipping and not others (teaching, waste removal, firefighting)? > • Are there any cases where people should withold a tip? > > In the spirit of full disclosure (and reveal where I’m coming from): > I feel that the restaurant biz is screwed up in that the employer can pay so little and passes the buck to the patron to subsidize the server’s income, regardless of the quality of their service. I am a patron who begrudgingly tips when service consists of moving plate from point A to point B. Conversely, I LOVE to tip when the server is engaging, friendly and anticipates things I might want. > > I’m not looking to start a Great Debate, I just want to hear the servers’ perspective. 1. That’s just how it is. Why do people think that washing their hands in hot water is so much better than cold water? Why do people think that Highway Patrol officers carry Coke in their trunks to clean up blood? 2. Yeah, crap service. I’m glad you disagree yet still do the socially acceptable thing. People need to learn that stiffing a server is not going to bring about a sea change in the way the business is run, it’s just going to get them crap service next time they come in. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/33 "2004-06-07T05:20:07Z")
> [@Second Star to the Right](#): > > What’s the soup du jour? It’s the soup of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/34 "2004-06-07T05:21:42Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > Welcome back, **Dan**. Hope you didn’t mind my babysitting your thread while you were away. Back to you now. Have fun! 🙂 > > –Ian Thanks. Great answers, I was at work getting my heapin’ helpin’ of Sunday Funday Jesus Love. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/35 "2004-06-07T05:44:03Z")
What’s up with black people and tipping? You hear the stereotypes, and then you hear them refuted. Be honest, not politically correct, and give us the skinny on dealing with black customers. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/36 "2004-06-07T06:07:06Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > What’s up with black people and tipping? You hear the stereotypes, and then you hear them refuted. Be honest, not politically correct, and give us the skinny on dealing with black customers. You have my real name and the location of where I work, so I’ll answer about what I’ve heard other waiters say at my old job. 🙂 According to what I’ve heard from waiters at my last job, black people are often said to run you to death, send food back even if it’s right, then leave you a 10% tip. According to some people, it’s a stereotype that’s untrue. According to others, if you write down tips and bill totals, you will see there’s 100% truth to the parts that can be tracked quantitatively. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/37 "2004-06-07T06:54:40Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > What’s the soup du jour? > > It’s the soup of the day. Ha! Do you ever read something and wonder if the poster was kidding? I’m having one of those moments. DAN, when a customer flags you down and asks you for something do you ever say “This isn’t my section/table/job?” I hope the answer is “no.” I _hate_ that. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/38 "2004-06-07T07:22:12Z")
No, but others due. Tell the management if that happens, it’s absurd and unacceptable. Don’t EVER flag me down by snapping your hands or interrupt me while I’m talking to another table, that’s horrible. Few things I hate more than having my back to a table as I’m talking to another table, and hearing the first table calling my name or asking for things. :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![SpasmicChaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@SpasmicChaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpasmicChaos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/39 "2004-06-07T11:41:18Z")
I have a question that I have wondered about for a long time: Is it a rule that you only question customers about the quality of their meal when they have a mouth full of food? No matter what restaurant my wife and I are at, this happens, without fail. Not that I am complaining or anything, I just think it’s a little strange. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928/40 "2004-06-07T12:24:42Z")
> [@Dan Turk](#): > > 1. Yeah, crap service. From your perspective, what constitutes crap service? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-waiter/248928.md?page=3)