How much would you tip for this meal?

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Fanatical Meat

Fanatical Meat

Lifer
Feb 4, 2009
35,862
17,403
136
I think paying for an over priced super fabulous meal would be more enjoyable than being f'd in the ass
 
Newbian

Newbian

Lifer
Aug 24, 2008
24,779
882
126
If you are paying $700 for a meal for 2 I hope you are getting more then just the tip after.
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,637
6,521
126
that sounds like a pretty incredible meal. i would never pay that myself for a meal, but then again i have paid $800 for helicopter tour that lasts probably shorter than that dinner will for my wife and i. i'm sure many people would think that is crazy too.

i'm no cheapie with food either. last week i was on vacation for 6 nights and every dinner we had was at a fine dining place and was over $100, with 2 of them reaching over $200. there is something mental for me though that i don't think i could spend $700 on dinner. when my bills hit over $200 i'm starting to bite my lip.
 
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purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,637
6,521
126
kranky said:
20% works most of the time but not all of the time.

My local diner's $5 breakfast comes with an attentive cheerful waitress who never lets your coffee cup go empty and checks on you more than once. 20% comes to $1 and that's not enough. I go $2-$3.

A $700 dinner might take 2 hours. Maybe they are so fanatical about service that your server ONLY works your table. The service is as perfect as it could be. 20% comes to $140 or $70 an hour, and that's simply too much even for the world's greatest server. As has been explained to me many times in my career, there is a ceiling to what a particular job is worth no matter how well it is being performed. To get over that limit, you have to get a better job.

However, I have to acknowledge that 15%-20% is the cultural norm and that's what people expect. But I just can't bring myself to tip at a $70/hour level no matter how good the meal or the service is. So the way I resolve that conflict is to not eat at places that expensive. I know it is not possible for me to enjoy a $350 meal any more than a great $100 meal. My tastes are not that discriminating.
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my meal at gordon ramsay steak in vegas was 3 hours long and it wasn't even a "X course meal" type of dinner. it was normal apps and entree. i'd bet the OP's 10 course meal will be a lot longer than 2 hours.
 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
126
purbeast0 said:
that sounds like a pretty incredible meal. i would never pay that myself for a meal, but then again i have paid $800 for helicopter tour that lasts probably shorter than that dinner will for my wife and i. i'm sure many people would think that is crazy too.
Click to expand...
Where was the tour? We did an hour one in Kauai that was pretty amazing.
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,637
6,521
126
Scarpozzi said:
Where was the tour? We did an hour one in Kauai that was pretty amazing.
Click to expand...

to the grand canyon in vegas.

the kicker of the whole thing is that it was storming that day so right as we were about to go over the canyon in the chopper, we had to make a uturn and go back to the airport. we were flying for a total of probably 45 minutes, with the route back going along the strip. we ended up being refunded the entire fee since we never made it to the canyon, where you land and hang out for like an hour or so, but next time we go back to vegas we're going to do it again.

so not bad i guess for a free chopper ride in vegas! would love to do one along the rugged coasts in hawaii.
 
Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
126
purbeast0 said:
to the grand canyon in vegas.

the kicker of the whole thing is that it was storming that day so right as we were about to go over the canyon in the chopper, we had to make a uturn and go back to the airport. we were flying for a total of probably 45 minutes, with the route back going along the strip. we ended up being refunded the entire fee since we never made it to the canyon, where you land and hang out for like an hour or so, but next time we go back to vegas we're going to do it again.

so not bad i guess for a free chopper ride in vegas! would love to do one along the rugged coasts in hawaii.
Click to expand...
Cool that they refunded you...not their fault the weather wasn't cooperating....they could have been jerks.
The Na Pali coast is awesome....best part is that Kauai also has the "little grand canyon", so you can see some neat rock formations and waterfalls.

I'm sure there are tons of videos like this on youtube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8PM69LGS2o
 
Dr. Zaus

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,764
347
126
purbeast0 said:
that sounds like a pretty incredible meal. i would never pay that myself for a meal, but then again i have paid $800 for helicopter tour that lasts probably shorter than that dinner will for my wife and i. i'm sure many people would think that is crazy too.

i'm no cheapie with food either. last week i was on vacation for 6 nights and every dinner we had was at a fine dining place and was over $100, with 2 of them reaching over $200. there is something mental for me though that i don't think i could spend $700 on dinner. when my bills hit over $200 i'm starting to bite my lip.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it's a function of your income. For me I get anxious about spending more than 0.2% of my income in any one go... But that's a significantly higher amount today than when I had to forgo popcorn at the mateinee movie to keep in budget as a grad student, and that significantly better than when I had to pitch in with friends to aford a blockbuster rental as an impoverished teen.

But all in all: box seats at the opera, watching a star wars vhs... I'm not sure it's all that different.

Nor am I sure my $120 in sushi is all the different from $40 in resteraunt ramen is all that differ from $10 in fancy home ramen.
 
Oyeve

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,066
883
126
I took my GF to a really nice romantic restaurant for her 50th birthday. Bill was 400, food was amazing, totally quiet place, waiter and wine guy was spot on, never checking every ten minutes if all was ok. It was 3hr meal and we had a fantastic time. I tipped $100. Well worth it IMO. hey, you're only 50 once. Sucked that michael jackson and farrah fawcett died on the same day as my GFs 50th but hey....
 
M

michal1980

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2003
8,019
43
91
I get these places, but if they fix the price of the meal, why not just fix the price of service? Very tempted to do Alinea once, sounds like an experance, but there are some policies that are just completely off putting, if we go as a group of 5, we have to pay for 6, because the owner wants every seat sold? WTF? Zero ability to cancel/reschedule because the owner wants to maximize profit? shit happens dude.
 
bigrash

bigrash

Lifer
Feb 20, 2001
17,648
28
91
Scarpozzi said:
Where was the tour? We did an hour one in Kauai that was pretty amazing.
Click to expand...

Funny, the only time I rode in a helicopter was in Kauai because the one main rode was closed, so we had to take a helicopter from our hotel to the airport.
 
B

Ban Bot

Senior member
Jun 1, 2010
796
1
76
Fanatical Meat said:
I love all the cheap bastards with the I don't tip or I'll tip a few percent. Assholes all of you.
If you can afford the meal you and afford the tip if not go somewhere less expensive like a $600 meal of two.
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Yeah, a few percent tip (2%) is ridiculous, so how about 5%?

I really don't know where/why 15% and then 20% became "standard." A tip is a gratuity.

The restaurant industry is really backwards and the anger at low-tippers is really a smokescreen for an industry that pays employees appalling low wages to keep their menu prices down (mask true cost) and offset poor training and hiring practices by using consumers as the approve/disprove metric for service. Of course there is no "rule" on tipping because it was originally a gratuity and not a built in rip off your employee technique and businesses are assailing the goodwill and generosity of consumers to cover for their poor treatment of their employees.

If people are mad at low tippers that anger should be directed at the management that creates an atmosphere where employees must survive on tips.

There are a lot of reasons we don't eat out often (food quality, atmosphere, and service are other factors) but I really don't like their business model. The growth of the low end "service" sector where people were not being paid well enough for insurance really artificially suppressed the true cost of service at the expense of others.
 
Ns1

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
^^

The industry is starting to move to a service fee/no tip model.
 
OutHouse

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
purbeast0 said:
my meal at gordon ramsay steak in vegas was 3 hours long and it wasn't even a "X course meal" type of dinner. it was normal apps and entree. i'd bet the OP's 10 course meal will be a lot longer than 2 hours.
Click to expand...

I would be so bored.
 
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