Lunch at a local deli. Two servers covering the entire room. I don’t know what time our server started but she said she had 10 1/2 hours left to go on her shift. Both servers were moving fast and service was excellent. Most tables are two-tops. It’s hard work with an average tip probably no more than $5 a table. But attitudes were exceptional.

How many tables in the room and are they 2 seat / 4 seat mostly or some larger tops?

David

A dozen tables maybe, no more than 15, plus a counter with 4-6 stools. A few tables would seat 4 but this being retirement-land, all tables are occupied by couples with maybe one single. No table seats more than 4.

In addition to a full sandwich menu, breakfast is served all day. We were in and out in about 50 minutes.

sounds like $30/hour for tips if it’s steady and busy. Or if only 6 hours are full busy and other 6 hours are half busy, I’ll still venture $20/hour for tips. Isn’t that decent there?

Yes, it beats the $12-13 fast food wage. I have no idea how steady business is. It was our first visit.

Went to get pizza before the baseball game and noticed the now ubiquitous "help wanted" sign; the restaurant was staffed by a single cashier and one pizza cook. It wasn't very busy, but I could see where if I had gotten there with any kind of a queue, it probably would have been a long wait.

Recently, at least it doesn't too bad in SF right now, and Harris's Steakhouse & House of Prime Rib both seem very well staffed, at least for now. Morton's, though, a little on the light side, at least from untrained eyes, since, aside from eating, I know absolutely zero about the restaurant business.

This is what isn't computing for me. An average of $25/hour in most parts of the country is well above the "living wage" so many are complaining about. We went to a small Mexican joint Saturday night. I can't remember for sure but I think the tip was around $18 (we had a couple margaritas), and we were there for just over an hour. The restaurant seemed well staffed so not sure how many tables our server had. But even if she only had 3, it's very likely she made $50/hour that night in tips at least from 5-9 pm. I realize that Wednesday night might not be as lucrative, but if you can average even $25/hour, that's not bad. It's becoming clearer to me that a "living wage" won't solve the problem, in fact it may make the shortage worse if servers feel they're taking a pay cut. I'd love to see a move to a non-tipping experience at restaurants, but that may not be practical given how much servers make in tips. Not to mention that many don't claim 100% on taxes...

You need to remember that not everyone will tip, and of those who do, not everyone tips well. I've known people who have tipped $2 on a $90+ tip, etc. Plus, servers may have to tip bartenders and hosts, so the $50/hour in tips they receive is reduced.

I'd assume the non-tippers and good tippers balance each other out. Good point about the tip-outs though. And of course there's a difference between a cheaper Mexican restaurant in my example and if we had gone to a steakhouse, where I'd expect our tip to have been more like $40-50.

I think some days, they do balance out, other days, servers will have a run of non-tippers, and won't see much after tip outs.

I recently moved and picked up a bartending job to make a few bucks and occupy time while getting my main gig going in my new location. If the restaurant I'm at were busy all the time I could make well over $50/hr in tips but with ups/downs in volume I average about $20/hr (+ my hourly wage). The place is kind of an average sports bar type place. Upscale places I know servers/bartenders can my hundreds a night or more and, of course, there are low end places where they make little or nothing. With all the credit card tips these days tipped employees aren't able to avoid much of their taxes.

I dropped by Shake Shack recently for pick up and noticed, of course, a help wanted sign offering $20 an hour to anyone willing to apply. If restaurant servers are making a similar wage along with the added 5% o 6% healthcare benefits, while only speaking for myself, I'm returning to reducing my tips accordingly in the Bay Area. While I certainly don't mind tipping and appreciate our tipping culture, it was meant to help make ends meet, not to rocket an average wage up to $30 per hour.

Definitely the case. And a good example of why I dislike the living wage argument as long as tipping is in place. There are two industry scenarios -- either this is an entry level or part time job, or it's a career. If it's the former, occupied by high school and college students, aspiring actors, people who want a second gig, a living wage isn't necessary. For those people that see it as a career, the $20/hr is not a bad entry level job. They aren't supposed to stay there for their whole career, but aspire to move to higher end restaurants where their hourly wage increases. As I think I've written before, I had friends in college who made more working 2-3 shifts per week at a high end restaurant than I did my first 5 years out of college in a professional job. Several worked at Bob Chinn's (famous in the Chicago area) where a table of 4 with drinks could typically have a before-tax dinner check of $200-$250. I recall on busy weekends they would bring home thousands of dollars, and this was in the early 90's. They had all climbed the ladder, starting out in lower paying server jobs in high school, which enabled them to get hired at a higher end restaurant.

Dinner tonight at the nearest Italian place. We sat in the bar and the restaurant was packed. The bartender had to cover the bar, half the tables (4-5) and takeout. Needless to say, service was poor. Not his fault though so we didn’t penalize him.

Sigh my beloved arizmendi bakery is closed 8 more days. I’ll get a cookie for my child elsewhere Sigh
i often get corn cherry scone, chocolate chip cookies, other bread treats. Their pizza is good and I rarely get it because I still can cook pizza even if I’m not currently cooking much pizza.


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