I am really fascinated by your perspective, Chris. So you're saying that waiters/waitresses would be incapable of providing good service when guaranteed a 20% tip that's built into the pricing? So then you agree that automatically adding mandatory tips for parties of 6 or more at your restaurant should be eliminated? And that everyone else in the world who has a job that does not includes tips can be excused for turning in a crappy performance?

I have great empathy for waiters/waitresses because it can be a really hard job and because without tips most of them do not make a decent wage. But if you were to eliminate the whole notion of tipping and pay them a real wage commensurate with the skill level and training required for the job, then I think it's only reasonable to expect nothing less than a professional, enthusiastic performance each and every time. Anything else is just a version of "entitlement" thinking, which I'm afraid has crept into much of your reasoning on this thread.