Noah's Bagels - No Tip Please

I went to Noah's Bagels today in Pasadena. Much to my surprise they had a sign next to the register informing customers that they no longer took tips. They stressed that they were there to make sure that you had the best experience possible there and that they were happy to provide you with great service at no charge.

Sounds kind of like my idea which I had several years ago where I would start up a restaurant and refuse to take tips. Seriously, I love this idea. People just doing a great job because they should. Those who do the best, should get paid for it, so I only hope that Noah's bagels is finding some other way to properly compensate their employees for providing great service. Otherwise, it would just be the same crappy service (if not worse), just patrons aren't paying as much for it.

What's With Restaurant Service Lately?

In the last few weeks, I've been to several restuarants where the service was severely lacking. I was even forced to not leave a tip on two occasions and only reluctantly left one in another instance.

I like to tip, even though I do not believe tipping should be mandatory. But the service at these places was just atrocious. In one instance, they got the order wrong. Then, they didn't bring out all the food at once but insisted the rest was coming. The food that did come was spicy and my girlfriend was drinking lots of water. Did they come by to fill her glass? No. She ended up drinking my glass. Fifteen minutes later they had still not brought the rest of the order. So I asked again. They hadn't even started on the food so I canceled the order and left hungry.

Now, I can be a pretty patient guy. I can understand if the place was busy then the service might be slower. But seriously, we were there at lunch and there were two other tables of two there! And there were two servers. So two servers, three tables, six guests. Doesn't sound like impossible odds to me. To make matters worse this was a sushi place, you write down your own order. How do you mess up an order when the customer checks what he actually wants? I use to go to this place regularly just because it was conveinent. I won't go back again. It is Woomi Sushi in the Santa Anita Mall. I suggest you don't go there either if you like a restuarant that actually has service.

Tipping

We are getting lunched delivered and they are charging a 12% gratuity for delivery. So now tipping is mandatory?

I hate this. Before people get on my case let me say this. I always tip and I tip generously. It is not at all unusual for me to leave 20 or 25% for a tip if the service is good and I always leave 10% even if its bad. I have also worked as a busboy and a server so I know what it is like.

But tipping should NEVER be mandatory. I do not want to hear arguments about how the waiters or waitresses are losing money because their wages are less because tips are factored in. It does not matter. You go to a restaurant to be served. The cost of this service is factored in into the cost of your meal. Tipping is meant to be a way of saying, "Thanks for giving me excellent service ABOVE AND BEYOND what is required." For me this is normally the case if the person just says hello, smiles, and comes by once to make sure I'm OK. If I have to flag the person down more than once then something is probably wrong.

If I ever own my own restaurant this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to pay the highest wages around for my servers. I will only hire the best people I can find. If I find that my servers are below par then I will get rid of them and get better servers. The best servers will want to work for me because I pay the best wages. They will work hard because they will know that if I don't get their best I can find someone else who will give it their all. I believe people go to restaurants probably more so for the service than the food (I'm biased since I don't like food I know) so I will make it my top priority to have the best service.

Then, I will post a sign and place a note on the menu that states

"Tips are not requested nor expected. It is our pleasure to serve you to the utmost of our ability."

Mandatory Tipping

On the subject of tipping. Why is it compulsory to tip? When did this happen? Whenever I go to a restaurant, no matter how bad the service is, I always tip the 15-20% standard. Why? I'm getting to the point where I'm thinking I'm going to refuse to do this but then I get badgered into thinking otherwise (like in Reservoir Dogs).

People always say one of two things. That its part of the waiter's wage and they need to make a living or that you are paying for the service in a restaurant. I'm sorry. I have to completely disagree with both these arguments.

A waiter is paid a wage. Now I understand that restaurants may pay their waiters less than they would otherwise but that should still not make tipping mandatory. Could you imagine if I went to my boss and said, "I wrote an excellent piece of code for that module. I think you should give me a 15% bonus this week"? My boss would laugh me right out of the building. If a waiter needs the money that badly then they should work harder to earn that tip. I have absolutely no problem leaving a big tip if I think the service is exceptional. (I've left tips in excess of 50% before) Somehow we have become a society where we think we are owed certain things. That's BS. Life doesn't owe anyone anything.

And the argument about paying for the service. Are you kidding me? That's why you go to a restaurant!! The price of the service is built into your meal. You don't tip your dentist do you? He provides a service for you does he not? Most people don't tip their mechanic but how is this much different than a waiter?

My point is not to say that you should never tip. Quite the contrary. I probably tip more than almost anyone I know. I just think its ridiculous that we have become a society where we think you HAVE to tip.