Restaurant Adventures

jmcquown said:

At any rate, John had a very nice big burger and they actually asked how he
wanted it prepared. You know how scared places are to serve a rare or
medium rare burger these days? Ah, it was refreshing to hear the question!
It was a wonderful burger.

Before flying home yesterday from D.C. I had lunch with a friend at Joe
Theismann's restaurant in (Old Town) Alexandria, Virgina. I noticed
those warnings all over menus in the D.C. area, more so than I have
noticed locally to me? I ordered the burger medium and it was incredibly
good. Slight pink in the very, very center, juicy and delicious.
Murphy's Law is that if one cuts a burger in half to share with another
it will be one fine tasting burger and you'll wish you had more! <sigh>
The fries pretty darn good too.
The mojito was so-so.

jmcquown wrote on Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:25:42 -0500:

j> We all know it sucks but come on! That's ridiculous! You
j> can't count on tips; people just don't tip that much even
j> when they figure in %. Get a table of 20 and maybe make $3
j> in tips?! You all know how I feel about the tipping system.
j> It's stupid and how can people live on that?!

Snipping

How do you calculate that? At a low guess, $10 each = $200: X
15% =$30

j> The next night we went to a Chinese buffet. I'll be the
j> first to say we don't normally eat at buffets. (and yes, we
j> tip there) But we were very pleasantly surprised.

Snipping

I think 10% is enough in a buffet for good service tho' I round
up to the dollar value and thus don't leave less than a dollar.
Actually, on this basis I guess my buffet tip would be 15%.

j> As we were leaving the restaurant the Chinese lady asked us
j> if the food was good. Oh yes, it was fantastic. She came
j> around the check-out stand and hugged me. I've never been
j> hugged by a Chinese lady before for simply saying the food
j> was excellent.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

jmcquown said...

Quoted message said:

We all know it sucks but come on! That's ridiculous! You can't count
on tips; people just don't tip that much even when they figure in %.
Get a table of 20 and maybe make $3 in tips?! You all know how I feel
about the tipping system. It's stupid and how can people live on that?!

That certainly seems unfair. You'd probably have to work 24/7 just to pay
the rent!

Quoted message said:

At any rate, John had a very nice big burger and they actually asked how
he wanted it prepared. You know how scared places are to serve a rare
or medium rare burger these days? Ah, it was refreshing to hear the
question! It was a wonderful burger. And I had a very nice crab cake
and some steamed broccoli.

Ruby Tuesdays are popular here too. They seem to be located at the malls. I
never saw one on it's own piece of real estate.

Their TV commercial touts a fresh ground "triple prime" burger. I don't
recall if it means USDA Prime meats or if it's just a gimmick.

I haven't been to one ever since they stopped making guacamole. How can you
have a burger without guac? 😉

Andy

Andy said:

jmcquown said...

Quoted message said:

We all know it sucks but come on! That's ridiculous! You can't count
on tips; people just don't tip that much even when they figure in %.
Get a table of 20 and maybe make $3 in tips?! You all know how I feel
about the tipping system. It's stupid and how can people live on that?!

That certainly seems unfair. You'd probably have to work 24/7 just to pay
the rent!

For ordinary places like Ruby Tuesdays or any other cheap "fern bar"
type place, I only really expect to see kids working there. (Not to be
confused with professional waiters in big cities who *do* manage to earn
a respectable living and provide for others on their salary and tips)
I think much of this type of work as menial, lower paid because the
qualifications and expectations are pretty minimal. Perfect for
singles,college kids and such. IMO, it is good incentive to get through
school or learn a trade to be able to earn grown up money down the road.
I never assume folks are planning on providing their entire support from
such a job and live *well* of it.

Goomba38 said...

Quoted message said:

I think much of this type of work as menial, lower paid because the
qualifications and expectations are pretty minimal.

So what happened to "minimum" wages? And what about the calculated tax on
tips whether they actually earn it or not?

Andy

Goomba38 said:

Andy said:

jmcquown said...

Quoted message said:

We all know it sucks but come on! That's ridiculous! You can't
count on tips; people just don't tip that much even when they
figure in %. Get a table of 20 and maybe make $3 in tips?! You all
know how I feel about the tipping system. It's stupid and how can
people live on that?!

That certainly seems unfair. You'd probably have to work 24/7 just
to pay the rent!

For ordinary places like Ruby Tuesdays or any other cheap "fern bar"
type place, I only really expect to see kids working there. (Not to be
confused with professional waiters in big cities who *do* manage to
earn a respectable living and provide for others on their salary and
tips)
I think much of this type of work as menial, lower paid because the
qualifications and expectations are pretty minimal. Perfect for
singles,college kids and such. IMO, it is good incentive to get
through school or learn a trade to be able to earn grown up money
down the road. I never assume folks are planning on providing their
entire support from such a job and live *well* of it.

Our server was at least 35 years old. Said he took the job so he could go
back to college. When he tends bar he makes slightly more than the $2.13 an
hour gig but not by much. I don't understand why the wage hasn't increased
at all since I last worked in a restaurant! 17 years, come on, something is
really wrong with that picture.

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Goomba38 said:

Andy said:

jmcquown said...

> We all know it sucks but come on! That's ridiculous! You can't
> count on tips; people just don't tip that much even when they
> figure in %. Get a table of 20 and maybe make $3 in tips?! You all
> know how I feel about the tipping system. It's stupid and how can
> people live on that?!

That certainly seems unfair. You'd probably have to work 24/7 just
to pay the rent!

For ordinary places like Ruby Tuesdays or any other cheap "fern bar"
type place, I only really expect to see kids working there. (Not to be
confused with professional waiters in big cities who *do* manage to
earn a respectable living and provide for others on their salary and
tips)
I think much of this type of work as menial, lower paid because the
qualifications and expectations are pretty minimal. Perfect for
singles,college kids and such. IMO, it is good incentive to get
through school or learn a trade to be able to earn grown up money
down the road. I never assume folks are planning on providing their
entire support from such a job and live *well* of it.

Our server was at least 35 years old. Said he took the job so he could go
back to college. When he tends bar he makes slightly more than the $2.13
an
hour gig but not by much. I don't understand why the wage hasn't
increased
at all since I last worked in a restaurant! 17 years, come on, something
is
really wrong with that picture.

Nobody's putting a gun to their heads and making them work there. Some of
them must be doing OK with the tip money. While it may not be true
everywhere, there *are* other types of jobs available for anyone who takes
the time to explore. My 18 year old son could've had a restaurant job this
summer, but instead, he went to work for a contractor who does home
improvements. He's getting ten bucks an hour, building a kitchen extension
from the ground up. He says his boss is "worse than you" in terms of being
obsessed with safety goggles, etc. He's working in 90 degree heat, but he
loves it. He says that when he's done, he'll be able to see a tangible
result.

jmcquown said:

Our server was at least 35 years old. Said he took the job so he could go
back to college. When he tends bar he makes slightly more than the $2.13 an
hour gig but not by much. I don't understand why the wage hasn't increased
at all since I last worked in a restaurant! 17 years, come on, something is
really wrong with that picture.

I read not too long ago that the US Senate rejected an increase in the
federal minimum wage. At the time, there had not been an increase in the
minimum wage for 8 years, but during that same period the Senate had voted
itself 7 pay raises totoallling $28,000. There raises alone are more than
double what someone can earn working full time at minimum wage.

Dave Smith said...

Quoted message said:

I read not too long ago that the US Senate rejected an increase in the
federal minimum wage. At the time, there had not been an increase in the
minimum wage for 8 years, but during that same period the Senate had voted
itself 7 pay raises totoallling $28,000. There raises alone are more than
double what someone can earn working full time at minimum wage.

Sadly fitting:

Murphy's Golden Rule: Those who have the gold make the rules.
--Mrs. Murphy

Andy

Andy said:

Goomba38 said...

Quoted message said:

I think much of this type of work as menial, lower paid because the
qualifications and expectations are pretty minimal.

So what happened to "minimum" wages? And what about the calculated tax on
tips whether they actually earn it or not?

Andy

Well, what about the waiters who make much more than minimum wage yet
only declare the minimum required amount?
Seems to me waiters average out at least minimum wage over x period of
time when those tips are taken into account. That's the system we have,
and I have no beef with it.

Andy said:

jmcquown said...

Quoted message said:

At any rate, John had a very nice big burger and they actually asked
how he wanted it prepared. You know how scared places are to serve
a rare or medium rare burger these days? Ah, it was refreshing to
hear the question! It was a wonderful burger. And I had a very nice
crab cake and some steamed broccoli.

Ruby Tuesdays are popular here too. They seem to be located at the
malls. I never saw one on it's own piece of real estate.

Their TV commercial touts a fresh ground "triple prime" burger. I
don't recall if it means USDA Prime meats or if it's just a gimmick.

I haven't been to one ever since they stopped making guacamole. How
can you have a burger without guac? 😉

Andy

Our Ruby Tuesday's is a stand-alone establishment (not connected to a mall),
but we've vowed to never go back. All we ever get is the salad bar and
they're drastically cutting back on the choices - it's down to about half of
the salad toppings. They've even changed from real bacon bits to Bacos. We
also have watched (on more than one occasion) the manager and waitstaff
stick their un-gloved fingers into the middle of customer's food to test for
proper temperature as well as steal fries off a plate before the plate is
served. Another negative about our particular Ruby Tuesday's is that the
waitstaff prefers to flirt with each other rather than tend to the
customers. It's like a mismanaged teenage fiasco in there. We've been in
there about 4 times and 3 out of the 4 was like this. Not a do-over. We've
eliminated every non fast-food restaurant in our little cow-town except for
the locally owned Mongolian BBQ restaurant, Golden Panda, which we love.

Dang, I ranted way too long! LOL.

kili

jmcquown said:

Our server was at least 35 years old. Said he took the job so he could go
back to college. When he tends bar he makes slightly more than the $2.13 an
hour gig but not by much. I don't understand why the wage hasn't increased
at all since I last worked in a restaurant! 17 years, come on, something is
really wrong with that picture.

I think your server was prevaricating a bit. Bar tenders usually
get very good tips. I live in a college town and the bar tenders
I know all seem to make far more than minimum wage when they count
their tips. College students aren't known to be big tippers, and
they are the main clientelle for bars in this town. So either he
works a really lousy shift, or he's not admitting how much he makes
at the bar.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

kilikini said:

Andy said:

jmcquown said...

Quoted message said:

At any rate, John had a very nice big burger and they actually asked
how he wanted it prepared.

Ruby Tuesdays are popular here too. They seem to be located at the
malls. I never saw one on it's own piece of real estate.

Their TV commercial touts a fresh ground "triple prime" burger. I
don't recall if it means USDA Prime meats or if it's just a gimmick.

Our server explained it is three different cuts of prime beef ground
together to make a burger. We weren't sold.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I haven't been to one ever since they stopped making guacamole. How
can you have a burger without guac? 😉

How can you have a burger *with* guac? 🙂

Quoted message said:

Our Ruby Tuesday's is a stand-alone establishment (not connected to a
mall), but we've vowed to never go back. All we ever get is the
salad bar and they're drastically cutting back on the choices - it's
down to about half of the salad toppings.

Ours was on stand-alone real estate, as well. You would have laughed really
loud if you saw the huge plates of salad the women seated behind went to the
salad bar to get. They had to go back twice because apparently one plate
each of [censored] piled 6 inches high, topped with shredded cheese and (I think
it was real) bacon bits and croutons then loaded with french dressing just
wasn't enough for one grazing. And that was *before* they got their
burgers. But it's salad, so of course it must be healthy, right?

Jill

Quoted message said:

jmcquown said:

Our server was at least 35 years old. Said he took the job so he
could go back to college. When he tends bar he makes slightly more
than the $2.13 an hour gig but not by much. I don't understand why
the wage hasn't increased at all since I last worked in a
restaurant! 17 years, come on, something is really wrong with that
picture.

I think your server was prevaricating a bit. Bar tenders usually
get very good tips. I live in a college town and the bar tenders
I know all seem to make far more than minimum wage when they count
their tips. College students aren't known to be big tippers, and
they are the main clientelle for bars in this town. So either he
works a really lousy shift, or he's not admitting how much he makes
at the bar.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

Our server was also bartending that day, and he was responding to my
question about the standard hourly wage for servers, not about what he gets
paid when he works as a bartender. Having worked in restaurants, Bill, I
know pretty much what they earn from the bartenders to the hostesses to the
line cooks and the soux chefs. That's why I was shocked $2.13 an hour is
still the hourly rate of pay for servers. That will barely buy you a cup of
coffee these days. And counting on people tipping? Only if you're a glass
half full kind of person, which obviously I'm not. Been there done that.

Jill

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

jmcquown said:

Our server was at least 35 years old. Said he took the job so he
could go back to college. When he tends bar he makes slightly more
than the $2.13 an hour gig but not by much. I don't understand why
the wage hasn't increased at all since I last worked in a
restaurant! 17 years, come on, something is really wrong with that
picture.

I think your server was prevaricating a bit. Bar tenders usually
get very good tips. I live in a college town and the bar tenders
I know all seem to make far more than minimum wage when they count
their tips. College students aren't known to be big tippers, and
they are the main clientelle for bars in this town. So either he
works a really lousy shift, or he's not admitting how much he makes
at the bar.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

Our server was also bartending that day, and he was responding to my
question about the standard hourly wage for servers, not about what he
gets
paid when he works as a bartender. Having worked in restaurants, Bill, I
know pretty much what they earn from the bartenders to the hostesses to
the
line cooks and the soux chefs. That's why I was shocked $2.13 an hour is
still the hourly rate of pay for servers. That will barely buy you a cup
of
coffee these days. And counting on people tipping? Only if you're a
glass
half full kind of person, which obviously I'm not. Been there done that.

Jill

Depends on where you work, I guess. While planning my son's grad party, we
wondered (and then eliminated) the idea of offering beer for the adults, and
hiring a bartender to control who got served. I spoke to a truly remarkable
bartender from a club where I play music. She said she gets a lot of offers
like that because she's fabulous. But, she turns them all down. This is a
tiny neighborhood bar. If the room's packed, there'll be 30-40 people
sitting and standing. She'll make $150 on a slow night, $300-ish on a crazy
night, just in tips. And, this ain't no rich neighborhood. People do tip.

JoeSpareBedroom said:

Depends on where you work, I guess. While planning my son's grad party, we
wondered (and then eliminated) the idea of offering beer for the adults, and
hiring a bartender to control who got served. I spoke to a truly remarkable
bartender from a club where I play music. She said she gets a lot of offers
like that because she's fabulous. But, she turns them all down. This is a
tiny neighborhood bar. If the room's packed, there'll be 30-40 people
sitting and standing. She'll make $150 on a slow night, $300-ish on a crazy
night, just in tips. And, this ain't no rich neighborhood. People do tip.

A nurse I know will go back and tend bar during The Master's at one
restaurant she worked in while going to school. She says she can make
$800/night.

Andy g said:

I haven't been to one ever since they stopped making guacamole. How can you
have a burger without guac? 😉

Quite easily. I typically have only a slice of onion on burgers. And
salt
and pepper, of course.

Are you from California? (she asked, with some suspicion.)

Cindy Hamilton

Goomba38 said:

JoeSpareBedroom said:

Depends on where you work, I guess. While planning my son's grad
party, we wondered (and then eliminated) the idea of offering beer
for the adults, and hiring a bartender to control who got served. I
spoke to a truly remarkable bartender from a club where I play
music. She said she gets a lot of offers like that because she's
fabulous. But, she turns them all down. This is a tiny neighborhood
bar. If the room's packed, there'll be 30-40 people sitting and
standing. She'll make $150 on a slow night, $300-ish on a crazy
night, just in tips. And, this ain't no rich neighborhood. People do
tip.

A nurse I know will go back and tend bar during The Master's at one
restaurant she worked in while going to school. She says she can make
$800/night.

Boolah for her! Not the normal tip rate, trust me. Then again, before John
Daley fell off the wagon and was celebrating his first big win he bought a
bunch of rounds at the bar and the bartender walked out with a lot of money.
On an average day you sure as hell can't count on that.

jmcquown said...

Quoted message said:

Ours was on stand-alone real estate, as well. You would have laughed
really loud if you saw the huge plates of salad the women seated behind
went to the salad bar to get. They had to go back twice because
apparently one plate each of [censored] piled 6 inches high, topped with
shredded cheese and (I think it was real) bacon bits and croutons then
loaded with french dressing just wasn't enough for one grazing. And
that was *before* they got their burgers. But it's salad, so of course
it must be healthy, right?

Years ago dieters would just buy the salad bar for lunch. It was a "fad"
something or other diet. Lettuce for lunch. Yum... 🙁

Andy