Restaurant patios in Ohio can open for business again under new safety guidelines as of today. Indoor seating at restaurants and bars begins next Thursday.
There will be restrictions — including dividers or space between tables — and while important for helping control the spread of COVID-19, those restrictions are going to result in less of everything that the bar and restaurant industries are used to — less business, less customers, less profit and, crucially, less tips.
All this is to say: If you’re planning on hitting a restaurant this week or next or going forward, you better also be planning to tip like your money is on fire.
Many of the servers and bartenders that are going back to work are doing so because they have no choice in the matter.
To add insult to that injury, the amount of money they get in tips will be down dramatically due to those restrictions on occupancy and social distancing measures that will result in less tables per server, less customers per bartender. So now, not only must they work in potentially life-threatening conditions, they’re going to have to do so for less money.
If you’re a decent person, you’ve already been tipping like crazy for the many deliveries you’ve had brought to you while you’ve stayed safe in your house during the pandemic. And while you should definitely keep that up, you should realize that the servers and bartenders have to deal with the same safety issues that come with working during the coronavirus crisis, but without the uptick in demand delivery drivers have seen — in fact, just the opposite.
In other words, tip hard. 100 percent is a great tip, in this situation. Plus it’s so easy to do the math on it! Take the total on your check and double it, then walk away knowing you did the right thing.
If you’re sincere in your stated goal to support the businesses in your local community now that the city is opening back up, you need to remember that it’s not just the ownership that needs your support to stay afloat — the people serving you your food and drinks do, too.
Show them you appreciate their efforts. Dump out your whole wallet. And if you can’t afford to do so, maybe just stay home.
This article appears in May 13-19, 2020.
I was going to go out to help support local businesses with my stimulus check, but after being pressured like this I think I’ll just stay in.
Servers, Bar Tenders and Owners, you can thank Daniel Hill
fuck you, daniel
I have been tipping huge on carryout. Not ready to sit and dine, but will be very generous when I do.
So, if someone can’t afford to tip, “like their wallet is in fire” they should just stay home instead of pumping what money they can afford back into the economy? Maybe you should check your privilege before you open your mouth and speak on behalf of business owners.
100% isn’t enough! People can take out loans and use that money to tip! Credit scores be damned!
wow… just wow…. I always knew that for some reason this publication doesnt want Cleveland to succeed, but this has taken it to a new level by clearly stating it.
“Show them you appreciate their efforts. Dump out your whole wallet. And if you can’t afford to do so, maybe just stay home.”
I have always tipped 20% and plan to continue to do so and probably more, but a lot of people can’t afford to leave even that or more generous amounts of tips. But to say, if you can’t tip a crazy percentage then just stay home??? How do you honestly believe in these things? Like, I am seriously wondering if you actually believe this? I can bet that a large portion of the servers and bartenders are excited to get back to work. Would you rather they stay home and make nothing?
Just wow.
right idea, awful reporting. DO TIP HARD PEOPLE! but do it because the govenment FORCED them out of work! not their fault they couldn’t work, so help them out!
All this for a chance to pay for a $14 glass of wine, $10 salad, and a $28 entree??? No thanks, I’ll be staying home!!!
You had me until that vile last sentence. I do eat out as much as I can afford to – and I do tip 20% or more if I can. But as a member of the now constantly demeaned “Senior Citizen” population – I only have a finite amount of Social Security $$$ to go around. It is smart assed and insulting remarks included in your so called “reporting” and if that vile screed ius sanctioned by your editors) – well, that certainly make me question if the Scene deserves my financial support,
How about restaurant owners pay their employees a regular wage and not pass their labor cost onto customers directly. This way my tip is an actual show of appreciation and not the result of an exploitive industry. I’m not paying you just because you showed up for work and did the job someone hired you to do. You are not my employee. I hate the fact that I tip (and I always do) simply because I feel sorry for the server even if he/ she is shitty at the job. No other business model says hey please pay for our product or service, oh and by the way can you pay our employees also.
Fuck you, Paul. You don’t know jackshit about anybody here, so you be the one to shut the fuck up.
I was on board until I red the last sentence.I do appreciate their efforts. But “Dump out your whole wallet. ” Even if you’re a retired geezer on a limited income?
“And if you can’t afford to do so, maybe just stay home.”
Fucking A I will. Not just because of arrogant elitist attitudes from Danny Boy. But because it’s a matter of LIFE and DEATH. When people stop dying, I’ll start going out. And if it takes two or three years, tough titty for the entremanures in this town, and everywhere else.
I am a geezer and I’m compromised because I smoked for 30+ years. No goddam “eatery” or “bistro” is worth getting sick and dying for. So, tough shit, boys. I’ll wait it out. For as long as it takes.
And you can stick your arrogance and condescension and your attiude up your ass, Danny.
You know for a minute there people on unemployment were making buck and I get the point of the article. But not every gots the money to tip like wildfire. Service does rely on tips but if this will be the exoectation people will just say screw it and stay home. The economy needs a boost and people need to pay their bills. But remember you got to give the public a reason to patronize a restaurants feel safe and comfortable. And to the guy who snarked about people not knowing what its like to be a server. No I dont but I work and have worked with the public. Every one who is working outside of home has a risk of exposure
I’ve worked in restaurants for 10 years….. sure it would be great but a lot of others were out of work too. I think I enjoyed reading comments than the shit article.
The comments on here are precious. If you can’t afford to tip, stay home or eat fast food. You think someone wants to wait in you? If I can’t afford the tip I don’t dine out. Idiots.
Tommy, it’s not about the tipping, it’s about the arrogant asshole who demands a 100% tip, and has the balls to actually write: “Dump out your whole wallet….and if you can’t afford to do so, maybe just stay home.” It’s not about affording to tip, it’s about the amount. A hundred percent tip…who tthe fuck is this guy, a Mob loan shark?
Hey, I didn’t bring the plague to America, and I didn’t close the bars and restaurants, so why pressure ME to fork over more than I can afford? NO estaablishment is worth that much. No cuisine and no ambiance is worth that much. Even in “normal” times. So stuff it, pal.
I didn’t make the new rules and create the social distancing and force people to stay at home. Thet presumtuous, arrogant demand that I tip for the other four patrons who chose NOT to come, is complete and total horseshit.
I am extremely sorry that they have to work in unsafe consitions, and that they’re literally risking their lives, and that they’ll be making a whole lot less money, but that’s not my fault. I only have so much discretionary income to spend on dining out, and if someone is literally threatening me to pay outrageous fees to employees for the privilege of paying the owner’s outrageous menu prices…well…then…fuck the restaurant industry, for the duration of this crisis.
Nobody HAS TO eat out, ever. It’s a luxury, not a necessity. Foodies and those in the foodie business need to remember that, or they won’t be around long. And if SCENE thought this piece was funny and it was their idea of a joke, merely okayed to rile people up and generate comments, clicks, and angry hostility, fuck them, too. There’s enough shit going on without this noise…and without people being played.
Guessing Daniel is taking his paycheck from all the “donations” Scene is soliciting and then tipping 100%.
The best part was when Daniel alluded to how he has been supporting local restaurants…”If you’re a decent person, you’ve already been tipping like crazy for the many deliveries you’ve had brought to you while you’ve stayed safe in your house during the pandemic.”
Guess what jack wagon, 99% of local restaurants do not have the financial capacity to offer delivery service so they rely on services like Grubhub and Uber Eats….those companies literally take 50% of the the bill as “fees” so if you ordered a $20 pizza…that local restaurant only gets $10. While if you ordered carry out at least the restaurant would get the $20 for their product.
So as you rant about giving 100% tips you have literally been paying restaurants 50% of the food you ordered by not getting off your lazy ass and picking up your food in person.
Typical Scene writer with no sense.
This “writer” should learn the difference between less and fewer.
Chrissakes. It’s an 8th grade English lesson.
This is dumb
Only thing I’ll add here is to tip IN CASH ONLY…there are a few restaurants that are keeping all credit card tips and only letting the staff split cash tips which are usually pennies compared to cc tips. The customer is getting duped thinking the cc tip is going to the server but in fact the restaurant is keeping all of it
The United States is the only nation in the world where it’s acceptable to pay food service workers less than everyone else and expect the customers to subsidize it out of their own pockets. I tip, I always tip. But the system we have is BULLSHIT! Pay waitstaff a living wage and tack it onto your food prices. But restaurants won’t do it. They won’t do it because under the current system where folks with less money can afford to buy food whether they tip or not. So the restaurant gets their ends no matter what, but the waiter gets screwed…
Zoe,
If you work, create a business plan apply and get accepted for a business loan you can create a Restaurant that employs whatever payment methods you like.
The idea of labor dictating how business is run via Government intervention is Communism. Instead of being lazy and talk about what you wish would happen, take some initiative an create.
Sadly America is heavily infected with youth that share your short sighted mindset, and the rest of us would rather have the potential to be great on our own rather than controlled mediocrity from the Government.
What awful places have you people worked at where the servers don’t get their credit card tips or have to SPLIT tips with other servers?! tipping out those that support you (bartenders, bussers, etc.) is normal, but sharing tips? You need to find a new job.
Also, if your tips don’t add up to minimum wage, your place of business is required to make up the difference. So at the very least you do get minimum wage… for a minimum wage job.
The service industry is a prime example of getting out of it what you put in to it. You want better tips? Be a better employee, build relationships with customers, and learn the business to pick the best company to work for.
All that said, this article is total garbage.
By saying “Dump out your whole wallet….and if you can’t afford to do so, maybe just stay home” the writer assumes that everyone in his audience has a wallet stuffed with mucho dinero, like in the ridiculously staged image that acompanies it.
Not so, Boston…people of modest and limited means like to be able to afford to to eat out, too…and they are willing to tip a little more than they normally would. But nobody is going to suddenly “dump out” their wallet, even in these terrible times. A lot of people are suddenly finding that there’s little or nothing in those wallets. Newsflash: “Worst unemployment rate in history!” Has this effete snob even heard about it?
Never ASSUME…it makes an ASS out of U and ME. But mostly U…
I understand the writer to be over exaggerating, with purpose, when stating that tipping should be at 100%. Please don’t take things so literally. If one cannot afford to tip generously at 30%, 50% or even more, maybe one should consider that the cost of a meal from a non-fast-food restaurant could be made at home for 10% of the restaurant price paid….maybe even less! Shocker! If saving money is important, yes, stay home.
Stick the anti-Communist rants up your wazoo, and knock off the repeat copy-and-paste already, you spamming asshole. Whack this guy, Sam and Vince! he’s pissing all over your site with impunity.
So many pearl clutching babies in the comments. Probably the same ones who were screaming about “opening up the economy” when they contribute absolutely nothing from their shitty ranch home in Old Brooklyn.
What the fuck are you babbling about? Which side are you on, anyway? You need to grow a Brain. Old Brooklyn? That’s a city neighborhood, you asswipe. You must mean those shitty split-levels on cul-de-sacs in Strongsville. Wake the fuck up or shut the fuck up.
Wow, it’s pretty astonishing how many people are willing to fight to the death for their right to under tip the wait staff. I’m sorry, but the Constitution does not enshrine within it your inalienable right to go to restaurants and bars. If you can’t afford to tip well, stay home and save your cash until you can.
Maybe 5% of houses in Old Brooklyn are Ranches you asshat
Wow, it’s pretty astonishing how many people are willing to fight to the death for their right to tell you that you need to ridiculously over tip. I’m sorry, but the Constitution does not enshrine within it your inalienable right to tell anyone else what to do. If it that important to you, you should just go to bars and restaurants and just give your money to the staff without even ordering anything you pompous ass.
Both you and Daniel can suck some junk till your lips catch fire.
“Wow, it’s pretty astonishing how many people are willing to fight to the death for their right to under tip the wait staff.”
Not sure anyone is talking about under-tiping based upon traditional levels. What is apparent though is someone (not really sure who they think they are) is attempting to dictate to the rest of us what is acceptable. Being told what to do and insinuating that if you dont, you’re scum always is always sure to go over well!
A couple things, I think that if you have the slightest bit of a brain/conscience you know that these times have been particularity tough on some that derive a significant portion of their income from tips and if you get anything above bad service, you should consider upping your tip if you can.
That being said, there are people out there who are going to go out to eat, get haircuts – whatever – that have also been financially impacted and might have a rough time going beyond normal tipping or any for that matter. To tell these people they’re scum and should stay home is absurd – It ranks right up there with knobs telling these affected servers they should get better jobs. Silly.
If you are going to have a problem, its with people that are demanding, get good service and still cant figure out how to leave a decent tip. And keep in mind they most likely had this problem long before the virus and will have it long after this is under control. No article will change these people.
So to the ‘holier than thou’ blogger and those who agree, check yourself and have a look at the big picture before you go all ‘dictator’ on the rest of us
Hey, Civ…I wasn’t comparing the houses, but the people in them, and their politics and their mindsets. I’m a lefty geezer West Sider, but I have family in those little boxes out in Plastic…er…Strongsville. I’ve been to holiday gatherings and birthday parties, where people would unashamedly ask me: “So what do you think of our (n-word) President”? Always ask the man who’s been there, because he’s usually the man who knows.
This is the most obnoxiously written article I’ve ever read. Who the hell would suggest people stay home in a collapsing economy if they can’t tip 100%?
Moron.
You really don’t get it, do you, asshole? PEOPLE, not houses. Houses are not racists, the people in them are. And then you’re actually stupid enough to write that Cleveland is “primarily roaches and abandoned houses.” Pass that pipe over to me, bro, I can use a hit right about now. Ever hear of the words “white flight” you moron? That’s what has made Strongsville what it is…and is not…all these years…racial prejudice and fear. Why the hell do you think idiots like Sarah Palin (remember her?) have made it a stop on their travels every four years?
I live in fantasy land? Really? So where the fuck do YOU hang your hat, shit-for-brains? Grew up in a ticky-tack suburb, follwed by 36 years in Chicago, and 28 more as City of Cleveland resident…Ward 17…if you must know. I don’t apologize for one goddam keystroke of what I said, and if you don’t like it, you can kiss my wrinkled old city ass.
“Cleveland (primarily roaches and abandoned houses)”…what planet do you live on? Probably a nice shiny white one, right? Step away from the keyboard and get out of your bubble.
Try going to Tremont…Ohio City…Gordon Square…Little Italy…Edgewater…larchmere…West Park…Kamm’s Corners. Plenty of homeowners with higher-than average incomes…not that many abandoned houses…don’t know about the number of roaches.
When you’re down to firing back with platitudes and trite stereotypes…you’re getting low on ammo. Don’t be such a gavone . Wake up and wise up, stupe…
Wow…6 AM…you really do get up early to spam this board every day, don’t you? Why reply once, when three replies will do? What a moronic Rethuglican wingnut asshat you really are, and it shows.
This is your JOB, isn’t it? Why don’t you get up from your chair and get a REAL LIFE JOB? I hear the supermarkets are hiring almost anybody. Then you could get sick and slwly wheeze to death and this board would be a much better place. It’s pretty obvious that Sam and Vince aren’t going to clean their house anythime soon..
And if you hate Cleveland so much, why the fuck are you still here? Plenty of empty planes going in every direction. Smaller, newer places, and whiter ones. Perfect for the likes of you.
A lot of people were furloughed during this mess. What makes servers so special? Go tip your doctor or nurse 100% of your hospital bill. Maybe they saved your life.
Funny how so many of your posts keep disappearing, but mine don’t.
But still you keep on pissing into the wind , anyhoo.
Aren’t you tired of being wet and smelly yet?
Hurt? Yeah, I’m hurt. My sides ache…from snickering at your replies.
You’re the one who started babbling about ranches in Old Brooklyn.
What the fuck does all that have to do with tipping and eating out?
You need to get back on track…your training wheels came off.
Maybe Sam and Vince agree with my viewpoints and not yours, and do it on their own. Ever stop to consider that possiblity, smart boy?
You still haven’t explained to me what your replies have to do with the original topic on this thread. Instead, you turn it into a pissing contest, like a little pisher in the schoolyard.
You’ve gone from Old Brooklyn to Strongsville to demographics to
denigratingCleveland to bragging about your job and income, to ad hominem snarking about me. Still haven’t said anything about the idiots who want a 100% tip.
What a waste of time and keystrokes this has become…both mine and yours.
Perhaps we are even on the same team, and maybe we should save our time and anger and energy for the more important things…like defeating the one who allowed all this to happen by ignoring the situation andcosting tens of thousands of lives.
The one whose incomptence caused this dumpster fire to spread to the whole city. The one whose ignorance caused the lockdown and the subsequent ecomomic shutdown. If not for him, we wouldn’t have to be talking about re-opening and tipping in the first place. Save your skills as a keyboard warrior for what really matters over the next five months.
Bottom line: This conversation is over. Last word is yours. And I’m sure you will avail yourself of one last opportunity. Have at it.
“Perhaps we are even on the same team, “
So I will again ask you to re-read a snippet from MY original post which was a response to you laying in to someone that went by ‘Brain’ which I can happly assure you, was not me…
……
“I get your point and Brain is more than likely a professional ‘A’ whole but avoid making silly comparisons.”
…….
Brain said something about Old Brooklyn (were I ween to school as a kid) and then you went all ‘Strongsville’ and how all suburban houses are plastic.
At which point presented some factual in formation about the value of Strongsville houses vs Old Brooklyn houses. Then you headed down the suburbans are ALL racists because I met ONE ass at a party.
I made a comparison about crime and the schools as well and mentioned it’s nothing personal is just factual.
At which point I said, so there are no racists in Cleveland but everyone in the suburbs is a racist. Yuu declined to direct respond to that.
Like I said, I don’t hate Cleveland – there are part of it that I absolutely love.
But you (and I as well) need to be honest in what were saying and I can guarantee you that there are racists in the suburbs – I personally know a couple.
At the same time, you cant with an honest face say there are no racists in Cleveland – As I also know a few from there. Who has more who has less – who cares, they’re crap sacks no matter where they come from.
Take it slow, have a good safe weekend
I’m sure we will find stuff to not agree on (and hell, maybe stuff we do agree on!) next week.
BTW: back to the subject at hand I usually tip ‘pretty well’ and in cash because I understand that that is a big part of the people that depend on tips income. Out twice – $27 haircut $20 tip. Dinner $75 bill – $35 tip even with the cold food.
Sorry, no way am I giving a %100 tip unless I get Lewinsky’d. (He said jokingly)
Okay, dude…it was all a misunderstanding…I mistook you for that idiot who went by “Brain”. Easy enough to do. Ten weeks of house arrest has not been good for me, head-wise. I’m a geezer and smoked for many years and if I get sick, I go bye-bye. Looks like summer is almost here and I can finally get out of jail free.
Yeah, there are racists, racists everywhere. At Strongsville birthday parties and in Cleveland hoods, on both sides of the river. I’ve lived in bigger and even more bigoted towns, but this is still one of the bigotest. Makes me nauseous to see some of the racist hater crap that the trolls spew here, now that the PD boards are gone. And that is what I save my “flags” for.
I’m not a native, but I’ve been here almost half my life, and it’s a love-hate relationship I have with this town, same as where I grew up. But I married a fifth-generation Cleveland die-hard, and she’s why I came and why I stayed, despite all the negatives. As Frank says, it is what it is. And now it’s time for me to take a knee.
No worries about tipping of any amount, because I’m not going to ANY restaaurants for a LONG time to come. Maybe in August or September, if things get better. I can wait it out for as long as it takes to be safe.
And I think the majority of Americans feel as I do. Which means that even if there’s no second lockdown in the months to come, a lot of restaurants are gonna go down, as casualties of this war. Sad.
Peace and stay safe!