Quote :

"Though in NC servers here don't seem to mind splitting checks as much as they did when I was living in NY."

I went out with some friends to a place in DC and we asked the waitress to split our bill. She looked at us like we just asked her to do a topless juggling act.

7/25/2012 10:17:28 AM

Oh good, another tipping thread...tell me less

7/25/2012 10:18:47 AM

Large group company sponsored dining represents the bulk of business for most >30$ entree establishments. I couldn't disagree more with jbrick's analysis. What else is new.

7/25/2012 10:22:29 AM

Well, if they are going to add gratuity to an individual check they should have a sign that says so. Anywhere I go that does that to me, or my party of two, I will not leave a penny more and I will never go back.

7/25/2012 10:24:14 AM

The shadiest place ever for auto tipping was the fucking maaanjri lounge and pi-bar. I am pretty sure I got raped by them on a few occasions.

I fully support a bartender writing in a 20% tip when you black out or forget to sign out of your tab..but its not really ethical to go higher than that without talking to the patron about it.

7/25/2012 10:50:58 AM

Quote :

"Large group company sponsored dining represents the bulk of business for most >30$ entree establishments."

Absolutely incorrect.

7/25/2012 11:03:49 AM

Get back to me when you move to a city

7/25/2012 11:07:25 AM

I'm sure in the shitty food industry of Charlotte that is the case...and there are certainly a few restaurants that probably cater to that...but nice restaurants don't get the bulk of their business from your crappy company's dinners. You'd find that out if you actually moved to a REAL city...Charlotte is not one of those.

7/25/2012 11:09:35 AM

Whiteville to Raleigh to Charleston and my man thinks he's Rand McNally.

Charlotte is a top 5 banking city. Banks have money and banks spend money. Its not New York or Chicago, but we do alright.

7/25/2012 11:14:27 AM

Quote :

"I went out with some friends to a place in DC and we asked the waitress to split our bill. She looked at us like we just asked her to do a topless juggling act. "

haha yeah that's how they act in NY. My friend in San Jose says they'll be outright rude with you if you asked for a split check. I don't really get it as long as you ask in the beginning of the meal since the software most restaurants use for placing orders makes it super easy to split checks.

7/25/2012 11:15:48 AM

People north of VA are rude by default.

7/25/2012 11:17:56 AM

My point still stands. I'm glad the failing banking industry in your wanna-be city is supporting the sub-par food and beverage industry. Good restaurants don't depend on that.

7/25/2012 11:22:35 AM

Last night, our waitress for a party of 6 actually wrote the tip by hand on to the "merchant copy"...

Flipperz in Emerald Isle.


It was kinda sheisty.

7/25/2012 11:33:30 AM

Your point is buffeted by years of tending bar at dives in a sleepy municipality best known for its Civil War history and cockroaches. Congratulations on becoming an authority figure on all things food and drink.

7/25/2012 11:35:22 AM

Quote :

"Oh good, another tipping thread...tell me less"

7/25/2012 11:37:02 AM

Your history of "living big" in a mini-city working for failing companies leads you to be the authority figure on fine dining. Congratulations.

7/25/2012 11:41:28 AM

You've already lost this battle d00d.

Lick your woulds and move on.

7/25/2012 11:42:38 AM

Quote :

"My point still stands. I'm glad the failing banking industry in your wanna-be city is supporting the sub-par food and beverage industry. Good restaurants don't depend on that."

The charleston restaurant/bar industry depends on old money to prop them up. There's no actual industry other than the service industry itself in that area. Those Good restaurants in Charleston will die as the old money crowd dies off.

7/25/2012 11:42:53 AM

Thanks, I was hoping you'd concede before lunch.

7/25/2012 11:43:09 AM

Arguing about the Charleston food industry to someone who has lived and worked here for the past 8 years is a losing argument. Sorry BobbyD, but you are so wrong that its not even worth arguing.

And everything I've posted in this thread is tried and true. You don't see me going over to Tech Talk and claiming superiority. People need to know their roles.

7/25/2012 11:48:46 AM

I love a good slave vs. brick pissing contest.

7/25/2012 11:50:01 AM

Quote :

"Whiteville to Raleigh to Charleston and my man thinks he's Rand McNally. "

LOL

7/25/2012 12:02:59 PM

^^^

doesn't change the fact that there ain't shit there but old money and poor people.

oh and all the shitty cruises depart from there too.

The sad thing is that it's still probably the best place in all of SC.

7/25/2012 1:05:33 PM

i dono i thought charleston was great all the way around and I look forward to returning next year

...except for the fishing access, it sucks unless you want to be waist deep in pluff

7/25/2012 1:12:32 PM

I'd be a little bitter about one of the best cities in America if I was moving to a shitty one in Virginia. Sorry Bobby D, at least you'll be working from home.

7/25/2012 1:21:21 PM

Quote :

"Arguing about the Charleston food industry to someone who has lived and worked here for the past 8 years is a losing argument."

Nobody gives a shit about your experiences in the heart of the shit-hole state known as South Carolina.

You're a fucking lawyer. The only thing you know how to do is argue semantics over bullshit most people don't give a rats ass about. When you go out to dinner with suppliers and customers that don't just supply your maxi pads and legal pads, but rather supplies your company with multi-million dollar equipment or with multi-million dollar orders, then maybe you can speak from experience that business dinners rarely take place in high-dollar restaurants in large groups.

But you live in fucking Charleston. It's a God damned tourist attraction. What manufacturing companies in that area are even going to take people out to dinner? You work in establishments located in a service area. You might as well work in Bermuda, as Charleston has about has much industry as that shit hole.

7/25/2012 1:30:14 PM

^^hahaha, the two are on pretty equal footing IMO.


^ I will submit that bermuda has a shitty food scene compared with Charleston. I'd guess that's because most tourists who go to bermuda are cheap and/or poor.

[Edited on July 25, 2012 at 1:31 PM. Reason : .]

7/25/2012 1:30:20 PM

I just LOVE when a nigga bring his whole crew. Its just a bigger piece of cake for me to chew a hole through.

7/25/2012 1:31:51 PM

Quote :

"Your history of "living big" in a mini-city working for failing companies leads you to be the authority figure on fine dining. Congratulations."

WTF. "Mini-city." Charlotte? It's 17th in terms of population in the US. Charleston is 210th, you fucking moron.

7/25/2012 1:35:52 PM

Quote :

"Food Network magazine Evo Pizzeria, One of the top 50 pizzas in the U.S. National Geographic 50 Best Places to Live: The Next Great Adventure Towns (2008) Businessweek No. 23 — City of North Charleston in America's Most Fun, Affordable Cities (2011) GQ Coolest Small Cities in America (2010) Travel + Leisure America's Favorite Cities Survey (2010, out of 35 cities): No. 1 Friendly city No. 1 Bed and Breakfasts/Inns No. 1 Noteworthy neighborhoods No. 1 Antique stores No. 1 Stylish boutique hotels No. 1 Attractive people World's Best Awards (2011): No. 2 Best Cities in U.S. and Canada U.S. News and World Report No. 20 Best U.S. Vacations (2010) AmericanStyle No. 4 Top Arts Destinations, midsize cities (2011) Lonely Planet No. 10 Top 10 Cities (2010) Conde Nast Traveler No. 2 Travel Destination in the U.S. (2010) TripAdvisor Readers' Choice Awards No. 17 Best Romantic Vacations, anywhere (2011) No. 7 Best Romantic Vacations, U.S. and Canada (2011) No. 14 Best History and Culture Vacations, U.S. and Canada (2011) No. 20 Top Destinations, U.S. and Canada (2010) No. 2 Great Food & Wine, U.S. and Canada (2010) No. 4 Culture and Sightseeing, U.S. and Canada (2010) No. 3 Top Girlfriend Getaways in the U.S. (2010) United States Tennis Association Best Tennis Town in the U.S. (2010) Outside Best Towns (2010) Southern Living No. 1 Best Southern City (2009) No. 2 Best Neighborhood for Shopping — King Street (2009) No. 10 Best Family Destination (2009) Parade Five Great American Cities Augusta Chronicle Best Romantic Getaway (2011) Best Romantic Getaway (2010) Best One-tank Getaway (2010) Forbes No. 40 Best Places for Business and Careers (2011) Milken Institute No. 19 Best Performing Cities (2010) Portfolio.com No. 4 Small Business Vitality (2010)"

I think that was posted about 6 months ago:

Forbes Best and Worst cities for jobs this summer....Charleston comes in right after the Triangle at #4.

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efkk45igej/no-4-tie-charleston-north-charleston-summerville-s-c/#gallerycontent

There's about a dozen others to add to those. But for the Raleigh tech-boys I'll add this one as well:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1839445/charleston-silicon-harbor

Quote :

"Despite being the 75th largest metro area in the U.S., Charleston is ranked in the top 10 fastest growing cities for software and Internet technology. Here's why. "

Boeing is the biggest manufacturer we have. But Charleston's food and beverage industry (the good part, not the Bubba Gump Shrimp company that the shitty tourists go to) is mainly supported by the Blackbaud/Benefitfocus/PeopleMatter tech companies, the Real Estates guys, and the doctors and lawyers (for which the town is saturated with).

[Edited on July 25, 2012 at 1:45 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on July 25, 2012 at 1:46 PM. Reason : .]

7/25/2012 1:42:28 PM

Geeks don't socialize, ergo, no business dinners.

Yet none of that has anything to do with you calling Charlotte a "mini" city while Charleston is barely on the list of largest cities (the cut-off is 100k, and they're at 120k).

[Edited on July 25, 2012 at 1:46 PM. Reason : .]

7/25/2012 1:44:04 PM

Hey fat-ass, I'm not comparing Charleston to Charlotte. Point out where I've done that? I'm defending Charleston and laughing at Slave Famous for acting like Charlotte is NYC.

7/25/2012 1:46:59 PM

I'm facing an auto-tip right now at red robin

7/25/2012 1:52:54 PM

Point out where I've done that

7/25/2012 1:53:13 PM

Yours can be inferred. You at least back-pedaled with a "I mean...we're not NY or Chicago". But I never even tried to compare. It's at least become apparent that merhuge is post-stalking me.

7/25/2012 2:01:03 PM

The only back pedaling I see is you trying to get away from calling Charlotte a mini-city.

7/25/2012 2:04:16 PM

Quote :

"I'm defending Charleston and laughing at Slave Famous for acting like Charlotte is NYC."

He never said that. He said he disagrees with your retarded notion that companies don't take large groups (usually 6+ for auto-gratuity) to nice restaurants. Which, you later disprove yourself when you say this:

Quote :

"But Charleston's food and beverage industry (the good part, not the Bubba Gump Shrimp company that the shitty tourists go to) is mainly supported by the Blackbaud/Benefitfocus/PeopleMatter tech companies, the Real Estates guys, and the doctors and lawyers (for which the town is saturated with). "

So how can slave be "absolutely incorrect" when he says that large group company sponsored dining represents the bulk of business for most >$30 entree establishments, when you later say that the tech companies and real estate guys (an even more dead industry than the banking industry in this economy) support the restaurant industry in Charleston...

You also use Charleston as your only anecdotal evidence that Slave Famous was "absolutely" incorrect, when there are 209 cities larger than Charleston that you cannot attest to in the slightest. So how can you extrapolate your experiences in a tourist city to that of other more business oriented cities (like Charlotte, Chicago, NY, ect)? If you were to extrapolate your experiences to that of Orlando, Savannah or Myrtle Beach, maybe you might have some credit. But you're not.

7/25/2012 2:05:27 PM

But I guess that's expected in a tipping thread lol.

7/25/2012 2:14:18 PM

Quote :

"Yours can be inferred. You at least back-pedaled with a "I mean...we're not NY or Chicago". But I never even tried to compare. It's at least become apparent that merhuge is post-stalking me."

How can it be "inferred?" You mean you read what he literally wrote, made up some alternative meaning to what he wrong in your head, made an argument based off of what you want his posts/stance to mean, and now you're getting upset that you're being called out on it? That's called a straw man.

You never tried to compare? You used a comparative term "mini" to compare Charlotte to larger cities in order to try to discredit his viewpoint that a banking city has frequent business dinners with at least 6 people... You may not have compared Charlotte to Charleston, but you most certainly did compare. My point was that I called your ass out for saying that Charlotte is "mini" when it is 17th in the US for city population, while your experience comes from a city ranked 210th in the nation...

And how am I post stalking you? I'm responding to the thread and assisting you in your exercise in futility. Maybe if you didn't have such a huge ego, you would have shut the fuck up by now.

7/25/2012 2:14:43 PM

Quote :

"You also use Charleston as your only anecdotal evidence that Slave Famous was "absolutely" incorrect, when there are 209 cities larger than Charleston that you cannot attest to in the slightest. So how can you extrapolate your experiences in a tourist city to that of other more business oriented cities (like Charlotte, Chicago, NY, ect)? If you were to extrapolate your experiences to that of Orlando, Savannah or Myrtle Beach, maybe you might have some credit. But you're not."

I've worked with people who have worked and owned restaurants in "real" big cities. The majority of nice restaurants don't cater or gear their restaurant towards large dining groups. Are there certain places that do? Sure. Do some restaurants have separate dining rooms for large dining groups to use? Yep, I know a few. This is what I'm arguing with:

Quote :

"Large group company sponsored dining represents the bulk of business for most >30$ entree establishments."

It's just incorrect.

Quote :

"You may not have compared Charlotte to Charleston, but you most certainly did compare."

Wait...wut?

Charlotte is a city...but it's residents think it's some major metropolitan. 17th? I mean, it's not small, but I don't think the rest of the country would call it a major metropolitan area. Which is what I'm saying. But that really is a different argument. I also never said Charleston was a big city. It's just a wonderful city with a growing tech industry.

And my evidence about Charleston growing was not meant to be used as support of large dining groups (but I can see how you took it that way). That was to combat Bobby D's bitterness towards Charleston by saying it was full of old money and poor people and that it would die out when the old people died out. But he's more than likely trolling and upset that he's going to be a stay at home dad in a shitty city in Virginia.

7/25/2012 2:26:34 PM

I think it's kind of lame how many people claim to not tip a penny over the autograt. In most cases (at least in my restaurant), the server is required to autograt parties of 6 or more no matter what. It's not like they're personally trying to insult you. I don't see why someone that would normally tip 20% would tip less just because the 18 was already included.

(but really the reason autograt is in place at restaurants is because of minorities and foreigners and white trash. because they don't tip for shit)

[Edited on July 25, 2012 at 3:10 PM. Reason : ]

7/25/2012 3:09:38 PM

Quote :

"I think it's kind of lame how many people claim to not tip a penny over the autograt. In most cases (at least in my restaurant), the server is required to autograt parties of 6 or more no matter what. It's not like they're personally trying to insult you. I don't see why someone that would normally tip 20% would tip less just because the 18 was already included."

how are they "required"? does the computer ask you how many people were in the party and automatically assign a gratuity? can the server really not put "1" in there and let the folks tip for themselves?

i would assume that waitstaff LIKE it when the tip is included, regardless of the clientele, because they know they're going to get it...i'm thinking that if they wanted to, any server could remove the included gratuity easily enough

i admit, though, that i could be totally wrong in that...i've never been a server or worked in a restaurant before

regardless of that, a gratuity is a "thank you" for being a good server...when you REQUIRE someone to say thank you, it sort of loses its meaning...honestly, i don't think waitstaff DESERVE a monetary "thank you" for doing the job they've chosen to do, but i recognize that their wages are shit and i consider a tip part of the cost of going out to eat and it rarely has anything to do with the server's performance (with the assumption that most waitstaff are average, neither very bad nor exceptional...the outliers get rewarded appropriately)

if waitstaff got a living wage and/or there were a "dining in" fee associated with eating in a restaurant (as there is in a lot of europe), i wouldn't tip at all...i mean, i don't get a monetary "thank you" for doing MY job, why should waitstaff (assuming they were being paid fairly in the first place)?

[Edited on July 25, 2012 at 3:22 PM. Reason : grammar]

7/25/2012 3:21:32 PM

Quote :

"i'm thinking that if they wanted to, any server could remove the included gratuity easily enough i admit, though, that i could be totally wrong in that...i've never been a server or worked in a restaurant before"

It sounds like in *some* cases the server can make the choice to , but in many places they can't. I'm sure restaurant software and policies vary wildly.

7/25/2012 4:10:59 PM

^ fair enough

7/25/2012 4:15:58 PM

Like most everybody else I usually don't tip on top of the autograt, I'm just not all "I NEVER GO A PENNY OVER THE AUTOGRAT, THAT SHIT AIN'T RIGHT" about it...It's that I usually tip 20% so the auto is fine. Autograt or not, above average service warrants a higher tip imo.

7/25/2012 4:20:15 PM

Quote :

"if waitstaff got a living wage and/or there were a "dining in" fee associated with eating in a restaurant"

I'd bet it wouldn't be popular with the waitstaff...many of whom earn more than they would with a fee system, and the rest of which think there is the potential to

7/25/2012 4:22:28 PM

^ that's a good point...i mean, i know that waitstaff CAN make decent money (especially in nicer restaurants)...i suppose there's something to be said for a rewards-based income system

7/25/2012 4:24:21 PM

Also I'd imagine the potential for bad service might be increase if they were paid hourly

[Edited on July 25, 2012 at 4:41 PM. Reason : ]

7/25/2012 4:31:08 PM

Let's be honest, this is really what this thread is about...

Quote :

"because of minorities and foreigners and white trash. because they don't tip for shit"

7/25/2012 5:58:27 PM

actually no, it's about

Quote :

"it sucks then the servers know they're going to get auto-tipped, and instead spend their time servicing other smaller/non-auto-tip tables instead of yours. Obviously this doesn't happen every time, but it sure does suck when it does."

7/25/2012 6:03:59 PM