There are some situations in which I'd expect an automatic gratuity—say, a party of eight at a restaurant on New Year's Eve, or a birthday party at a crowded restaurant on a Saturday night. But increasingly in New York, I've been noticing restaurants tacking on tips for parties as small as 4 or 5, and a few weeks ago,
Eater NY even reported that the Ace Hotel was adding a 18% gratuity to every single drink served at the bar.
What's a reasonable policy for automatic gratuity?
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That'll be 18% tip, please. [Photo: Robyn Lee] Fork in the Road reports that one West Village restaurant, Cornelia Street Cafe, has started charging an 18% gratuity on all brunch checks—not just for larger tables. "For some reason, brunchers...
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[Photograph: Robyn Lee] In a New York Times op-ed piece Phoebe Damrosch, the author of Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter, and also a former server at Per Se, poses the following question: "How can restaurants attract...
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An interesting discussion over at the Midtown Lunch forum: Do you tip vendors at street carts? And if there's no tip jar, how and how much?...
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This restaurant didn't add a service charge, but you might want to watch out on your next bill. Nobody likes to be charged extra, especially when it's on the part of the bill you have the most control of—the...
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©iStockphoto.com/BrianAJackson Frank Bruni reports today that waiters in New York are being stiffed by foreign tourists used to service being included on their bill (service compri in French). Bruni feels the waiters' pain and wracks his brain for an elegant,...
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