Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

I went out showing my shirts tonight. If you don’t know, I go out many Friday and or Saturday nights in the Dallas Fort Worth area and show my shirts. I generally come home with a lot fewer shirts than I take with me. In fact I have seen about 15,000 waiters and waitresses and maybe once came home with every shirt I took out.   So in other words, these waiter and waitress shirts move well. I always come home so pumped up that I can’t sleep for several hours. So I thought I would document my fun. Amanda stayed home with Tessa. She didn’t get much sleep last night. Anyways, it was a very slow night tonight. I showed up to my first restaurant, Carrabbas at 9:30 and the parking lot looked like it was 10:30. It’s funny how I can tell what is going on inside the restaurant by the parking lot. I know that if there are three great parking spots available then first cuts have been made and it’s generally ok for me to go in. If I can’t see three great spots this means the waiters and waitresses are a little to busy for me. I will a lot of times catch the food runner leaving early or the guys on a smoke break in the parking lot. I will show them my waiter/waitress shirts first and a lot of times they have to own one because they love them so much. They can also generally give me a good feel for the restaurant and sometimes the manager.

I love Waiters and waitresses. I love everything about you. You have no idea how great it feels to see you guys laughing at my shirts. I know you have a rough job and I want you to smile when you see me come in. I, like you, believe that everyone should be a waiter or waitress for at least a year or so. I do believe that this world would be a better place.    

Anyways, most of the restaurants I visited tonight were pretty dead. When you have a slow night, I have a slow night. It’s cool though. I got some good waiter waitress pics to put on the site and I got some surveys filled out. I always survey 100 waiters and waitress before I introduce another shirt. I will put 20 jokes and let them rate them from 1-10 and I will put the most popular on the shirt. This has saved me a few times. I think something will be a hit and something else I might just put up to fill up space and I get a surprise. For instance “everything that is wrong with your food is the kitchens fault” was never expected by me to make it to the shirt, but the waiters spoke.

I got asked to leave by two managers tonight. That is a little higher than normal. I generally get asked to leave a restaurant once per shift I work. That still amazes me though. I would think that every restaurant manager would love me. After all, they used to be a waiter or waitress and they should know what its like to need a laugh after a tough night. It’s not like I am causing a commotion or anything. I am the only person who is serving the waiters and waitress except bartenders and drug dealers. You would think they would welcome me with open arms. I guess even some restaurant people are up tight, on a power trip and just plain old sticks in it the mud. It’s funny because it usually takes me two nights to get though a normal size “restaurant row” so I will just call the next night and ask “is ______ closing tonight?”  It’s amazing how the host won’t miss a beat and give up the information. “Oh no, ____ is closing”. I just pop back in and show my shirts and generally do well regardless. I sure would love to see the manager that asked me to leaves face at the next Saturday morning meeting when half his waiters and waitress are wearing our shirts. They just can’t keep us down. I often times have fantasized about posting all the “no bueno” managers names and restaurant names on this site and give you the corporate number so you can call in a fun report on that particular manager. I don’t think I would ever do that but its still fun when they ask me to leave to say “what’s your name?” You should see the look on their face as they tell me. I just write it down and keep great records. I like to know what I’m getting into next time I go out. I guess I can handle getting asked to leave once per shift, on average, for the fun and success I have when I’m out. I can’t recall one person not liking the waiter waitress shirts that I create.

Ever wonder why I am constantly saying waiter and waitress? Check out our frequently asked waiter and waitress questions for a full explanation. I assure you its for a reason.

One of my favorite things is when I see a waiter or waitress that I have met a year or more ago who still is wearing the shirt they got from me. I have heard that a customer is not a customer until they wear the product out. Well I meet people all the time who have done just that. Then sometimes I will run across a waiter or waitress that did not get one and they will run to me and tell me how much they have regretted not getting one and they want one of every shirt I have. It is so rewarding. I love this job.

I saw a girl I used to work with at another restaurant years ago. She told me how happy she was to be gone from that horrible place. I smiled and told her she would find something wrong with this one soon enough. I have learned that there is no such thing as a perfect job and that something is going to drive you crazy everywhere you go. People carry their environments with them. Your problem is not your job; you are the one that needs to change. Sorry I just felt like preaching for a minute. Regardless, it’s true.

So I went to about 10 restaurants tonight. I generally only visit six or seven per night but like I said, it was a dead night and a few of them I was only inside for 5 minutes or less. The key to my success is to be in and out. I try to allow 15 minutes per restaurant on average. I was once in Sports city café in Mesquite for like 30 minutes but then again I left with like 20 waiter waitress shirts less than what I came with. So in other words it was well worth it. I must have made 15 trips to my truck to get more shirts. They were apologizing. I’m like, “ladies I will run all night long if you keep handing me twenty’s. This fat boy will shock you and how long I can run”. Run is exactly what I do when I am going to get a shirt for a waiter or waitress. I am not about to make them wait. I love to serve waiters and waitresses. After all they are the best people to serve.

Oh yeah, we are looking for a few more people to show our waiter waitress shirts. It’s an easy part time job that pays very well. If it works out, you could have part ownership in the company. We are going to do so many things that we just don’t have the money for right now, but let me tell you its going to be great.  

Some might ask the question, why is tipping important? For those of us who are or have been in the business, this seems like a silly question. But for those who have never been around this great industry of food service, I will take a minute and do my best to answer this age old question. Because your waitress has bills to pay. Wow, that was easy.

For those who would like a more detailed “smart person” answer, because your waiter make almost zero on their check. I’m not talking about when most people say they make “no money”. I’m talking literally zero. I’m talking, we work all week (40 hours) and our check says $0.00. Then you work you tale end off for someone and because you are not perfect in their eyes, they think you do not deserve a tip. I believe that full effort deserves full tip (20%+). That’s right, 20% is where we start now days. So to get back to the original question, why is tipping important. The answer is, because you owe it to your waiter every single time. It is part of the cost to dining out.

OK, I could rant and rave ALL DAY on this topic. I’ve been in the restaurant business for a long time and the different races/ethnicities/genders/ages don’t tip equally. They may tip equally in other areas, or even at fine-dining restaurants, but not in casual dining restaurants. There are a lot of decent to good tippers out there, but don’t get me started on which races/ethnicities/genders/ages, etc. don’t tip (in casual dining restaurants, anyway). Believe me, it’s true, certain races/ethnicities/genders/ages, etc. tip horribly, if at all, and what’s really bad is that you can determine it 80-90% of the time. I don’t know if they are ignorant, or just don’t care. If you don’t believe in tipping, work in a restaurant for a month and see if you don’t change your mind. (Had that happen to a server I knew. See used to tip 10% until she started waiting tables, now tips 20%). Tip 20% or Drive-through or get it To-Go (however, the To-Go person appreciates a little something, especially if they have to walk out-side in the cold and/or rain to bring out your food! They usually just make minimum wage). Oh, and by the way: If you go to a restaurant that does NOT include the gratuity (tip) for large parties (ASK if your not sure!!!) and you don’t tip, the server basically paid you to eat. (And sometimes they are near tears in frustration because they spent their time and energy on you for $3.13 per hour and don’t want to wait on you, or any other parties, again). BE CONSIDERATE, DON’T BE STINGY AND ASK FOR YOUR PALTRY 3 CENTS BACK, AND DON’T BE A MORON! That server had to tip out the busser and bartender (even if you didn’t get drinks) on your total bill. If you have 25 people and run up a $300 tab, the server just paid $6.00 in tip-out for you to eat. (BTW, It should be a $60 tip for those of you who can’t do basic math and there are calculators in phones these days, use those!) It may be the only tip they recieve their whole shift because of time taken with the large party. That is the only money that server is making if they are spending all their time on you. Most of them are college students and single parents and live off of your generosity!!!!! IF YOU DON’T WANT TO TIP, don’t come in. If you can’t tip, then you don’t have enough money to eat in a restaurant, or at the least, order water so you’ll have money for the tip. And while I’m on the subject, if you had GREAT service, told the server you loved them, told the manager how great they were, but tip them $5 on a $100 tab, this is an insult. (Should be $20. Hell, you just spent $100 on food, $5 on the “tip”. I’m sure you can reach in your pocket and pull out another $15). Just so you know… If you don’t agree with the practice, yell at the Federal Gov’t and the restaurants, but don’t screw the server. The gov’t is the one who allows $3.02 per hour deduction to be subtracted from the minimum wage of that state. For example, NC is $6.15 per hour. Subtract the $3.02 per hour and a server is being paid $3.13 per hour. Hey, when the minimum wage goes up to $7.15 per hour, servers/bussers will be paid $4.13 per hour! Woohoo! BTW, if restaurants paid the servers more per hour, the food prices would just go up, anyway, so it would be equal. If the service isn’t good, chances are that there are situations you don’t realize (short-handed, etc.). Most of time, the server gets great feedback, and then there will be one bad day, and they’ll get complaints. Talk to a manager, they may be able to help, but don’t take it out on your server. Most of them really want you to have a good experience!!!! After all, they make their living that way. Also, if the food was taken off because it was wrong/cold/didn’t like it, etc. please give your server something! That stuff is beyond their control and they just spent their time and table on you that they could have gotten a tip on from someone else. Hell, tip them bigger, you got free food for crying out loud, you jerks!!!! Also, when you are done eating, leave!!! Go have your conversations somewhere else. The server loses money while you sit there, unless you are considerate enough and leave extra money for the extra time you sit there. The server will love you. Also realize the server usually has more than one table. They are usually required to run food, stock ice/plates, etc. and can’t be there every second for you. Be patient!! For any other information, this website is a good one: 86badtips.com (and, no, I don’t run it or know the people who do. I just agree with them.) Take care and remember your servers! At least the hairdresser gets paid more than minimum wage! If you tip them, you can tip your server. Here’s to great tips!!!

I can tell you this. One thing your waiter/waitress hates is seeing you pull out a tip chart. If you can figure out how much to tip, feel free to ask your waitress, she can help you out. Another thing your waiter hates is to see you left him a religious tract and no/bad tip. We are thinking about making a shirt that says “Hey Christians, if you want to recruit me, tip me”.

Hey servers, would you buy this shirt?

Are you as a customer confused on how much to tip your server (waiter/waitress)? Then you have come to the right place. We believe that you should start at 20% and move up. Some people would argue that you should start at 15%. In most case they are arguing over a few bucks. You may or may not know this, but your server only makes about 2 bucks per hour, therefore relies completely on your tips. Not only this, but they also have to pay the host for seating the tables, the busboy for cleaning the tables and the bartender for making drinks regardless of whether or not you tip. In addition to all of this most servers must work for up to an hour after all of their tables are gone and sometimes an hour before they get tables. Again in an attempt to answer the original question “How Much to tip”, the answer is to start at 20% and move up depending on how much you require. Why not give them of couple extra bucks. Being generous is never a bad idea.

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