[mahastore]

Yep the waiter that served us the other night in a Mexican restaurant showed sufficient displeasure at the $50 tips we were giving him and clearly said he expected more. He hardly spent anytime talking to us (a party of 10 people) or making suggestions etc and did nothing out of normal , neither did he spent a lot of time on our table. I am not sure if they feel it is right to ask for more tips nowadays but I am afraid it also shows the general decline in affordability. Or the restaurants themselves are in really bad shape and not able to support the waiters fully? Either way it leaves a bad taste and if this continues even lesser people will go out for dining.

[Our_Benefactors]

What was $50 as a percentage of your meal? Typically for a party of 10 the 18% gratuity is automatically tacked on to the bill, so there should be no room for discontent from the server. It’s common to see this disclaimer on menus “for a party of 6 or more a gratuity of 18% will be added to your final bill.”

[JohnFen]

> “for a party of 6 or more a gratuity of 18% will be added to your final bill.”

Which, of course, means it's no longer a gratuity, but an additional fee. It irks me when restaurants lie in this way.

[apple4ever]

Agreed and I never tip more if it's automatically added. Tips are meant to communicate good and bad, and if I have no say, then I won't exercise it.

[dragonwriter]

> Tips are meant to communicate good and bad,

No, tips are meant to provide an excuse for lower baseline pay and to allow pay discrimination on what are otherwise protected traits by relying on the fact that tippers fairly consistently discriminate on those traits and anti-discrimination law does not apply to them at all.

[chung8123]

It is also taxed vs tips are not taxed if they are a gratuity.

[JohnFen]

Tips are taxed, in the US, anyway.