I won't tip more or less than I ever have. It's between 15% and 20% depending on the service, regardless of the quality or pricing of the food. Most restaurants are now paying their employees more than they were a year ago, because of this shortage. The employees who left in protest, did the right thing. They have earned better pay, they should've been getting better pay in the first place. So thanks to Covid-19, the industry is finally starting to realize what the employees have always known: the people who deal directly with the customers are the #1 most important people in the store. Even moreso than the customers themselves.
A customer can be the best most awesome excellent regular high-tipping low-maintenance customer in the entire world. But if the service sucks, that customer will cease to be a customer.
Waiters, bartenders, hosts, all the front end people, those are the ones who should get paid the most. And that amount should reflect the value the owner has on his entire business. Servers shouldn't NEED tips to survive, but this country for some reason mandates it and even has laws revolving around hospitality workers who get tips. Some countries don't have any such thing, the whole concept of tipping a waiter is mindboggling to them.
We need to practice patience, within reason. If you want to be served your meal by 5:30 and it's a Friday Night and Rocky and the Rollers are playing in the town square, then get there by 4:30 and be prepared to either wait to be seated, or be served early. Either of these things can happen, so just accept it, if you choose to dine out in a popular spot on the most popular night of the month.
If you're just going to Darrel's on a random early Wednesday afternoon, you might be served within 20 minutes of sitting down, with no waiting for a table at all.
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