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Honey's Listening!!

We're a work in progress...

check back often for updates!

9:25 am

From Honey's Order Pad...
Date:

Dear Friend,

If you've been visiting for awhile, you'll notice we have remodeled. Yup, scraped the gum from the bottom of the tables and re-finished the floor. We even painted the walls! We don't have everything in place yet, but we're working on it!

We're looking for contributions in all areas, especially stories from customers!

Are you a server or bartender who needs to 'vent' after a rotten shift? You've come to the right place! We love your stories, and will do our best to get them published right here on this site!

Are you a customer who has a complaint about a restaurant? Is their food good or bad? How is the service? Do you have a favorite server or bartender? What are your opinions on tipping, and do you feel you are a good tipper?

Would you like a FREE tip chart, so you can educate your customers who don't quite understand the concept??

If you missed the pop-up, you'll find the tip chart request form at the bottom of any page!

Customers...Let's talk about tipping.

Here are some interesting facts that may make you that 20% tipper we all know and love....

So you settle up and add a tip - what happens next?

There are four ways your tip may be distributed:

1) Your server keeps it - wasn't that what you intended?

2) Tip Outs - your server voluntarily (this is NOT voluntary where I work. It is required. Even if the bartender takes her sweet time pouring your drink or the busser is out back smoking instead of clearing tables) shares the tip, usually with an assistant server (they're often a team), and often with bartenders, cookstaff, and other backstaff (dishwashers, etc.).

3) Tip pooling - all the tip-receiving staff pool the money and divide it among themselves and other staff.

4) Tip sharing -- management collects all tip money, divides it according to a set formula, and includes it in people's paychecks.

Compensation for "Tipped Employees"

There's a Federal minimum wage for most workers of $5.85 an hour, but "tipped employees" are a separate category. The minimum for them is $2.13 per hour, as long as their average monthly income from tips will equal the $3.72 per hour that brings their total up to the federal minimum.

States have the ability to make wage policy, as long as they don't go lower than the Federal rules.

Around the U.S., there are a few restaurants that simply pay everyone a reasonable wage and add a standard service charge (often 18%) to the check.

The following question comes from the US Department of Labor's Website.

Question: Is it legal for waiters and waitresses to be paid below the minimum wage?

Answer: An employer may credit a portion of a tipped employee's tips against the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007. An employer must pay at least $2.13 per hour. However, if an employee's tips combined with the employer's wage of $2.13 per hour do not equal the hourly minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the difference.

Restaurants or bars

If you get awful service, talk to the manager. The manager cannot correct the situation if she doesn't know about it. Skipping the tip will not accomplish anything, and the next poor customer who gets that server will get the same service you did.

If you are buying the meal and someone offers to get the tip, tell them they can buy next time, and you pay the whole thing. This prevents any uneasiness about them seeing the amount of the bill or worrying that they will be stingy on the tip.

Restaurants report a percentage (around 12%) of the gross sales for food and beverage to the IRS for their staff. This means that if you have a $200 food bill and $200 wine bill, the restaurant will report 12% of $400 or $48 as income to the server. In other words, the server has to pay tax on it whether you tip it or not. If the restaurants do not report it accurately, the restaurant and the wait staff get audited by the IRS.

Please don't get hung up on the 12%. It is just a reasonable example. I recommend tipping 10-15% on the alcohol and 15-20% on the food. 10% on the wine is perfectly acceptable. Whether to tip 10 or 15 percent would depend in large part on how helpful the server was in choosing the wine and serving it.

Suggested tip percentage

Food server - 15-20%

Cocktail server - 15-20%

Bartender - 15-20% or $1 per drink. If at the bar before a meal, settle up with the bartender before you go to your table.

Double time

If you hold a table for two servings, make sure that you tip double. In other words, if you spend enough time at a table that a waiter could have typically gotten two parties seated and served, then compensate him for his time by tipping him twice. I like to ease his mind by telling him this about half-way through.

This is some basic information that will hopefully help you understand the process.

Please come back often, submit your stories through my email address below, read, and pass the site along.

Thank you, and come again.

It's been a pleasure serving you so far!

- Honey

What a Babe!