smitho
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Americans work for their tips. Table service, checking in if foods ok, any more drinks, fresh cutlery the second a kid throws one on the floor.
Aussie hospitality is walking into an empty restaurant, getting some menus yourself, and being told to order at the counter when you're ready by some nonchalant 17yr old who doesn't look up from their phone.
Getting suggested tips at those places annoys me. I'm happy to pay 20% or more if I visit the US though.
I agree to a point - but the service you get at many higher end restaurants is above and beyond anything I’ve experienced in the US and where tips really are warranted.
I bartended in a few 1 and 2 hat restaurants in uni, and the wait staff and sommeliers there deserved every cent of their tips - 15-20% was the norm. They got paid the same award wage, but the tips reflected their encyclopaedic knowledge of the menu and every variation of dietaries, attention to detail, massive wine and beverage knowledge and real effort to always be personable and hospitable - all from hours of unpaid study and training.
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