The food was just okay, but the tipping setup is what really left a bad taste…read more
This is basically a 95% self-service restaurant. You seat yourself, walk to the counter to order, pay before you even sit down, get your own water, and clean your own table when you're finished. The only real "service" is someone walking your food from the kitchen to the table.
Yet before you've received your food or experienced any service whatsoever, the payment screen has the nerve to ask for a 15% to 20% tip. A tip for what exactly? My outstanding performance as my own waiter and busser?
I counted roughly seven employees: two working the counter, one bringing out food, one near the water station, possibly two cooks, and maybe one dishwasher. If the restaurant collects thousands in prepaid tips during a busy breakfast and lunch, is all that money actually being divided among those employees? There's absolutely no transparency. It honestly feels less like tipping the staff and more like tipping the owner.
If the restaurant needs 15% to 20% more revenue, just raise the menu prices by that amount and be honest about it. Don't advertise one price, provide almost no table service, and then guilt customers into adding another 15% to 20% before they've even taken a bite.
Food: okay. Service: mostly provided by me. Suggested tip: apparently still 15% to 20%.
Update, the manager sent me a response that I should be happy someone happily took my order. Wow, the expectations at this place is off the chart low. I sent him a response below.
It's honestly wild that I'm supposed to be "glad" someone took my order politely, answered a question, and showed me where to tap my card. That is basic counter service, not some extraordinary full-service dining experience deserving 15 to 20 percent of the entire bill.
And comparing your tip prompt to Costco asking for a charitable donation might be the dumbest comparison possible. Costco asks whether you'd like to donate a few dollars to charity. They don't suggest handing over 15 to 20 percent of your grocery bill because the cashier smiled and showed you where to insert your card.
And just because tip screens are popping up everywhere doesn't make them right. This is the first restaurant I've eaten at where you order and pay at the counter, tip before receiving any service, get your own water, and then clear your own table. Your setup is not the norm. If I took ten people there for lunch and explained the system beforehand, they'd laugh me out of the parking lot.
In fact, I posted about your setup on Facebook, and practically every comment agreed it was ridiculous. I tagged you guys btw.
Let's recap: I stood in line to order, paid and tipped before eating, got my own water, and cleared my own table. At some point I apparently worked a shift there. Where do I pick up my paycheck?
That snide remark backfired quite a bit, don't you think?
