The simple way to end it is to go to a service charge, instead of a tip. Of course a service charge is a lot harder to dispute than a tip, but I digress. My bigget server pet peeve is probably the stereotypical server who chats it up with hisher coworkers, doesn't attend to her tables and then gets into a hissy fit for the lower than typical tip. As a person who dines solo a fair bit as well as dining during off hours, it's not uncommon for me to see a 1:1 (or greater) server to table ratio. I tend to avoid peak hours unless I make a reservation, so I'd hope that I could possibly get slightly more attentive/aware service.