Wednesday, April 1, 2009

AN INTERESTING DILEMMA....

My good friend T-BILL came across this article in yesterday's NY Times and it brought up an always interesting dilemma, especially in light of today's economic state. The article talks about the issue of tipping at a bar. Should you or should you not? How much is appropriate? As a bartender, obviously I have my own thoughts on the matter, however, what struck me as interesting was the lack of knowledge of foresight some individuals had when it came to what a bartender does or deals with. Check out the article and let me know your thoughts on the matter. I'm sure it will make for a good debate.

March 31, 2009, 10:45 am

A Dollar, a Drink and a Debate

By Frank Bruni

I don’t know where precisely our most universally accepted tipping rules come from.

But the dollar-per-drink dictum is one that, it seems, everyone’s been schooled in.

When people are at the bar, they don’t do the kind of math performed at the table, where they figure out what 15 percent is and what 20 percent is and where between those bookends they’d like their tip to fall. They just count up their drinks, and then count out the equivalent number of dollars.

Has that become insufficient? Has inflation passed it by?

In a blog post on Sunday, a Seattle bartender raised those questions, asserting that “tipping based on percentage is more appropriate, especially since drinks can be in the double digits. It’s always best for a bartender to make about twenty percent of their sales from that day off tips. So, if you have a martini that’s thirteen dollars, tipping at least two or three is ideal.”

Those of us at the Dining section were, um, tipped off to that post by its mention on the web site Down by the Hipster, which invited its readers to vote on what they thought was the appropriate tipping behavior for bar service. Readers could answer $1 a drink; 20 percent of the total bill; tips based purely on service; or “what’s a tip—get a real job!”

When I checked the results around 8:45 this morning, 66 percent of the votes were for $1 a drink, while 21 percent were for a “tip based on service” and just 11 percent of the roughly 280 respondents had chosen a tip of 20 percent of the bill.

Now: the “tip based on service” respondents may well be 20-per-centers in all but the most disappointing of circumstances. Then again, they could be $1-a-drinkers who are reserving the right to go even lower than that. Impossible to know. And “tip based on service” is really what everyone does in the end.

I’m certainly not the authority on proper tipping, so I’m not going to tell you which guideline to use or what specifically to do.

But I’ll point out some of what I find interesting in those blog posts and in this debate.

For starters, I find the 20-percent marker a little peculiar. I don’t think there’s been any consensus on 20 percent as the default tip even for table service, so I’m not sure why it should be the default tip for service at a bar, which is more straigthforward and usually involves a whole lot less walking.

I find the dollar-per-drink rule equally peculiar, because it has indeed become, with inflation, too striking a departure from what happens when you tip on a full meal. Now that many cocktails and glasses of wine indeed approach $15, the dollar-per-drink rule means that someone consuming $45 of alcohol could end up tipping $3, which is in the vicinity of 7 percent. Yes, the bartender may not have raced around quite the same way a waiter or waitress does. But the bartender’s cost of living is rising in sync with the cost of those drinks. As they become more expensive, shouldn’t his or her compensation go up?

I’m struck by an additional dynamic—by another frustrating consideration.

What are you to do when the cost of the two drinks you consumed at the bar is being transferred to the larger tab you’re about to begin accruing at the table? You’ll be tipping on the drinks when you settle that tab. But can you trust the table’s server to shuttle that part of the tip back to the bartender?

Conversely, if you tip the bartender fully 18 to 20 percent of those not-yet-paid-for drinks, will the server understand that the lesser-percentage tip you leave for your total bill reflects a tip already meted out for the drinks?

One solution is to settle the bar tab separately. But when the restaurant is waving you away from that and eagerly trying to shepherd you to your table—well, that’s precisely the kind of situation in which I find the dollar-per-drink guideline handy.

A dollar per drink, or even four dollars for five drinks, in cash, is a way of making sure that some tip goes directly to the bartender without putting you in a position where you’re tipping a full 18 to 20 percent twice for the drinks.

By the way, I’m not promoting 18 to 20 percent as the law for bar tips. There’s a school of belief that a bartender merely filling a mug repeatedly with tap beer or pouring glass after glass of wine shouldn't expect percentages as high as those a server does. I think that school is reflected in the Down by the Hipster votes, the sizable majority of which held that a dollar per drink is definitely enough.

Your thoughts?

Last night was a pretty good one at the bar. One of those nights where I really wished that I had my camera. For starters, the babe content was spectacular for most of the evening. Not just quantity, but quality too. It was a sure sign that Spring was really here.

While the night itself was pretty uneventful, it did have its moments. For example, the young lady who had to be cut off after a few rounds of Mind Erasers and Surf Nazis on Acid drinks (whatever the hell that is). First of all, the poor thing was about five feet tall, weighing about a buck 05, soaking wet. When it became apparent that she'd had enough to drink, FRENCHY wisely told her that she was done for the night. Of course, drunk folks being what they are, she naturally protested. She then asked BABY GIRL for a beer and she was again denied. She then proceeded to stare at the both of them for what seemed like forever, perhaps thinking if she gave them the Jedi Mind Trick, it was force the bartenders to serve her. Of course that didn't work. What finally did it for her was when she inexplicably fell out of her chair. She was finally escorted out of the bar, but not without a tongue-lashing from her equally drunk friend. Of course, about ten minutes later they tried to bulldoze their way back into the bar. That didn't work either and they finally gave up.

Then there was HORNY GOATWEED, JR. He easily won the award for being "THAT GUY". Dressed up in a suit, he came in and immediately made a beeline to the jukebox and began playing Jay-Z tunes. He went on to say that he and Jay-Z were boys from the hood (eyes rolling) and that Jay-Z gave him a shout-out in one particular song (don't care to remember, btw); At the 2:14 mark of the song as a matter of fact.

Anyways, this guy did exactly what he did last time he was at the bar; went from group to group, trying to make his presence felt, either by chatting up folks, showing them a ridiculous trick or two, or reciting Jay-Z verses with his fist held high, as if he was a Black Panther or something. Oh yeah, he said that he was an Ethiopian Jew. Keep in mind he was as white as snow with hair as red as a Ginger Ninja. Go figure that out. After awhile, I simply began to tune him out (either that or break his neck), and eventually we gave him the boot when his game grew stale.

Overall, it was a pretty good night. I'm really excited about the weather warming up as it signals good times ahead on Tuesday nights.

Nuff Said