Here's a Tip: Despite Recession, Gratuities Grow

No skipping gratuity, restaurant says

(NEWSER) - Turns out that mandatory 18% gratuity for large parties at restaurants is mandatory enough that skipping it can get you arrested. A Philadelphia-area couple who found service at a pub was so scarce they essentially waited on themselves and their six friends ended up in cuffs when they refused to tip their server. “I understand that, you know, we didn’t pay the gratuity,” one of the patrons tells NBC Philadelphia , “but it was a gratuity, it wasn’t something that was required.” More»

Start by looking her in the eye

(NEWSER) - Dining out anytime soon? True/Slant blogger (and former waitress) Susannah Breslin has a little advice on how to treat your server. Check out the full list here . A sampling:

• Eye contact: Too many people treat servers like they’re invisible. Don't be one of them. “Look your server in the eye. The goal of dining out is great service. Treating your server like a human being is one way to get it.”
• Tip: At nice spots, it’s 20%, so deal with it. “If I just spent several hours running around … and basically acting like your personal slave for the evening, I’d like to be reimbursed for it.”

Former waiter irked by Bruce Buschel's New York Times list

(NEWSER) - Along with the rest of the world—or at least, frequenters of the New York Times website—Lauren Bans read restaurateur Bruce Buschel’s recent “100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do.” And the former waiter is pretty annoyed. “No minimum wage job should ever require a list of 100 Don’ts,” she writes on DoubleX —and 80% of the rules are “either flat-out insulting or so absurdly obvious they’re insulting.” More»

Owner offers another 50 ways to please guests, keep job

(NEWSER) - Bruce Buschel isn't out of touch. "I realize that every deli needs a wisecracking waiter," he writes in the New York Times, "and burgers always taste better when delivered by a server with tattoos and tongue piercing(s)." But at his soon-to-open restaurant, these rules (coupled with last week's) are set in stone:

• Educate thyself. "If you serve Balsam Farm candy-striped beets, know something about Balsam Farm and candy-striped beets."

Owner lays down the law with these rules for staff

(NEWSER) - The seafood restaurant Bruce Buschel is building will have excellent service—or else. Some staff members, he acknowledges, "will no doubt protest some or most of what follows," but he's the boss, and he presents 50 rules in his New York Times blog. A tasting menu:

• "Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait."
• Make sure the table is level and the wine glasses clean before anyone sits down or orders a drink.