Too expensive to eat out anymore?

[DebbieL]

Actually, a waiter/waitress in a good restaurant can be a very hard job to come by. They can EASILY earn a wage (with tips) that is higher than many professionals are making. Even 20 years ago, I knew someone working in a fancy restaurant making a minimum of $200/night in tips. Waitresses in night clubs can do even better with lots of drunk people and loose wallets. The prime shifts (weekend nights) are hard to get there too. I used to bus tables at a pretty nice restaurant in 1990. The waiters would give me a cut of their tips. On a good night, my cut of the tips could be about $90. That was with 2 waiters giving me about $45 each. Want to guess how much they were pocketing? I would have loved to have had their job, but I would have probably had to stay there a few years to even DREAM of being allowed to wait tables there (and I hated the coke head owner, so that wasn't going to happen). The owner unfortunately put all the profits up his nose and lost the place within a couple years after I had worked there.

[pearlieq]

I've never understood why the percentage would increase over time.

I agree completely, and that is why I resist the change from 15% to 20% for standard service. The base price of the entree is going up over time, which increases the waiter's pay porportionally. Increasing the % of the tip makes no sense.

I'm perfectly happy to tip 20% or more for exceptional service, but for standard "get me a drink, bring my entree" I'm not going over 15%. And I'm also willing to go all the way down to 0 for truly awful service.

Aside from tips, I do agree the costs are increasing rapidly. We rarely go to chain restaurants anymore. Why would I want to pay $30 for two mediocre cheeseburgers at Applebees?

We're doing more takeout these days, but when we do go out it's either to a higher end place where the prices are often not that much more than the chain crap but the quality is a lot better, or to a local family restaurant where the prices are low and the quality ranges from decent to surprisingly good.

[Vapors]

If this quote was true, becoming a waiter would be more difficult than it currently is. I'd be willing to bet you don't make $30 or more an hour. Maybe you should reconsider your current occupation?

If you don't want to tip, move to Australia where tips are not required.

I dated a girl when I was in college who was a waitress at Lone Star steak house. She would clear $100 to $130 a night in tips and this was 14 years ago. I was working in a tax office making $7.15 an hour.

And I agree it's very expensive to eat out now. My wife and I only order water now and that can save $3 to $5.

[Ima saver]

We eat at a good family restaurant and many entrees are under $10 each. We brown bag and take our own mixers. A typical night's bill is usually about $16. The waitresses fight over who gets us because I tip 20% or better. They still wait on tables that leave very little or nothing. We good tippes make up for that.
I agree that in a nightclub kind of place they do make excessive tips.

[Gruntina]

I do think it is too expensive to eat out. Not because of the tips though.... because my mind set has changed.

I spent so much money eating out prior to 'getting control over my finances' life change. I was reviewing my bank statement archives around 6 years ago and apparently I did not thinking eating out was too expensive. I paid more then compared to the occasion dinner out now days.


On the other hand, I have felt rip off by lousy food at tourist attraction near in the SF. Bay area and felt dinner out was way too expensive. But when I find a great restaurant and the food was terrific, I felt that was worth every penny.

[safari]

We eat at a good family restaurant and many entrees are under $10 each. We brown bag and take our own mixers. A typical night's bill is usually about $16. The waitresses fight over who gets us because I tip 20% or better. They still wait on tables that leave very little or nothing. We good tippes make up for that.
I agree that in a nightclub kind of place they do make excessive tips.

If your typical bill is $16, the difference between a 15% tip and a 20% tip is only 80 cents, hardly worth fighting for. Do you just order entrees without drinks and appetizers? $16 for a dinner for 2 is really cheap.

[n_vizion]

After spending $25-$40 for eating out with my spouse, I will secretly figure in my head how much in groceries could have been purchased with the same amount of money. It kinda takes the fun out of eating out.

[rooskers]

In Oregon waitresses have to make Oregons mininum wage not the $2.00 or so stupid federal waitress minimum wage. As for making $30 or more that is completely true for those people lucky enough to land a job at the nicer restaurants. I knew a waitress at one of the local fancy places and asked what she made per table in tips she said usually $50 - $100 dollars per table. She said she only worked Mon - Wed and part-time because she wasn't senior enough to get full time or the premium days were tips could be even greater. She did not get all her tips some of it was shared with the hosts and bus boys but most were hers. I new her from college and said with that type of money why was she here. She said her job didn't have any medical or other benefits at all and with medical costs today she could take a huge paycut from a job with medical benefits and still be way ahead. Now on the other hand she said when she started out working at a small breakfast place her tips were closer to $1 - 2.00 a table (if that) so I guess it depends what type of establishment you are working at.

I also can't understand the reason for a percent increase baffles me. The other thing I noticed at least with my local food chains (Applebees, Olive Garden, etc,...) is that the prices are going up but the quality of there dishes is going way down. The quality going down seems to have coincided with the chains offering take out.

I tip between 10% and 20% depending on the service.

[Mike_Joiner]

Often we only notice the big ticket meals. The meals that can really add up our simple sandwich lunches. Buying a coke, sandwich and chips can cost around $5 more than making your own. Do that 5 days a week for 48 weeks a year and that's $1200 a year ..... which could pay for lots of meals out + tips!

[Vapors]

After spending $25-$40 for eating out with my spouse, I will secretly figure in my head how much in groceries could have been purchased with the same amount of money. It kinda takes the fun out of eating out.

Lol! I do the exact same thing. I do most of the grocery shopping at our house so I am very aware of what I can get for that kind of money.

We tend to eat now mostly at restaurants where we know we will have leftovers. There is a nice Italian place that is sort of pricey ($12-15 for most meals). But we get 1 to 2 more meals out of it in leftovers so we don't feel so bad.

[disneysteve]

I've also never understood why the tip was based on the cost of the meal. If I order $30 filet mignon and my wife orders $15 spaghetti, the server does the same amount of work to bring each plate to the table. Why should my plate generate a $6 tip and my wife's only generate a $3 tip.

Is eating out too expensive? We've found that we spend a lot more than we used to for a couple of reasons. Our daughter is older and eats adult meals now, so no more $3.99 kids menu items. Also, we prefer "real" restaurants. We don't do fast food or chain restaurants like Chili's or Applebee's or Ruby Tuesday, so the prices are usually higher at the nicer places. Just the other night we decided to go out for dinner spur of the moment. We tried a newer Italian place and the bill, with tip, came to $48 for the 3 of us. Dinner was excellent, but that's a lot of money for an everyday dinner for no particular reason.

[Vapors]

I've also never understood why the tip was based on the cost of the meal. If I order $30 filet mignon and my wife orders $15 spaghetti, the server does the same amount of work to bring each plate to the table. Why should my plate generate a $6 tip and my wife's only generate a $3 tip.

When I waited tables back in college we had to report our total sales from all the tickets we had that day. They would then report 7% of our sales as income to the IRS. So if you are at an expensive restaurant and they do that you have to tip more. I was only working at a pancake house so not sure how the nice restaurants do it.

[moneybags]

When I waited tables back in college we had to report our total sales from all the tickets we had that day. They would then report 7% of our sales as income to the IRS. So if you are at an expensive restaurant and they do that you have to tip more. I was only working at a pancake house so not sure how the nice restaurants do it.

It is done based on sales, no matter what type of restaurant it is. The waitperson's W-2 is increased for "assumed" tips.

[disneysteve]

When I waited tables back in college we had to report our total sales from all the tickets we had that day. They would then report 7% of our sales as income to the IRS.

I understand that. What I was asking is why should I be expected to tip more for a $30 meal than for a $15 meal. If the tip is supposed to reflect a gratuity for the service provided, I don't get any more or better service if I order a more costly entree.

I wish they would just raise the food prices, pay the servers fairly and do away with tipping. There are plenty of other service jobs that don't depend on tips to make a living, nor should they.

[cicy33]

I waitressed for about 4 years. I would love to have made $30 per hour. I averaged about $12. which I thought was good. I was happy. Now when I eat out I tip based upon service but I don't get all picky about the 10% or 15% I just tip. for example, never less than $3 unless it is a self serve and then sometimes that is just $2. Generally for a nice dinner we tip about $5. But we dn't usually spend more than $25 - $30 for dinner. Off the top of my head I have no idea what that percentage is. If we go somewhere really expensive and I have a real issue with that! I have tipped as much as $10 for a meal. I agree though that the amount of the tip should not be based upon the cost of the meal.