LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- Humberto A. Taveras put his money where his mouth is and ended up arrested, accused of leaving an inadequate tip at a restaurant.
Taveras, 41, faces a misdemeanor charge of theft of services after he and his fellow diners argued with Soprano's Italian and American Grill managers over the legality of requiring an 18 percent tip for large parties.
"They chased us down like a bunch of criminals," Taveras said. "It killed our weekend."
Taveras and eight others had pizza at the restaurant in this resort village Sunday night. He said they weren't completely satisfied with the food and left a tip of under 10 percent. Taveras said they also were not told of a mandatory 18 percent gratuity for parties of six or more and did not see notice of it on their menus.
Restaurant owner Joe Soprano said all the menus have the notice, and the waitress informed the group. He said he did not choose to pursue charges because of the money, but because Taveras' group was obnoxious.
"It's unfortunate it has come to this, but this guy was rude and abrasive. They practically threw food at us," Soprano said.
Taveras plans to fight the charge. The arrest raises the issue of whether the gratuities that restaurants automatically tack on for serving large groups are legally enforceable debts.
Heh... 11111 posts
Edited, Mon Sep 13 11:32:19 2004 by Jophiel
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
Well, sheesh, the restauranter is named Soprano. Don't mess with "dat guy"..."he's a good fella"...
There is no fifth star.
There is no fifth star.
What's bred in the bone will not out of the flesh.
If it's a mandatory 18% for large parties, shouldn't that be included in the bill? I've experienced this sort of thing before(gratuities, not being chased by some psychotic Italian dude), and every time this issue has arisen, the tip is put directly into the bill.
I don't agree with the practice; it goes against the concept of tips.
I don't agree with the practice; it goes against the concept of tips.
He may have simply not put the money down to include the 18% on the bill. Or told the waitress he was only paying the base bill. Since the checks have the mandatory gratutity broken out, it'd be easy to bicker over.
I've never worked as waitstaff before but, according to folks on the radio this morning, the main point behind the mandatory 15-18% is to reflect the fact that a large table takes up a disproportional amount of the waitstaff's time. It's harder to tend to a table of twelve than it is three tables of four. Again, I've never done it, so you tell me if it's true.
I'm not sure where the "legality" issue comes into it. If it's marked on the menu, you have the right to pay it and stay or the right to refuse to pay it and leave before you order and committ yourself to the bill. It's not as if you don't know the terms before ordering that first Coke. Taveras says it wasn't marked but I've never been in a place that didn't have a remark on the bottom of the menu about large parties.
Edited, Mon Sep 13 11:49:16 2004 by Jophiel
I've never worked as waitstaff before but, according to folks on the radio this morning, the main point behind the mandatory 15-18% is to reflect the fact that a large table takes up a disproportional amount of the waitstaff's time. It's harder to tend to a table of twelve than it is three tables of four. Again, I've never done it, so you tell me if it's true.
I'm not sure where the "legality" issue comes into it. If it's marked on the menu, you have the right to pay it and stay or the right to refuse to pay it and leave before you order and committ yourself to the bill. It's not as if you don't know the terms before ordering that first Coke. Taveras says it wasn't marked but I've never been in a place that didn't have a remark on the bottom of the menu about large parties.
Edited, Mon Sep 13 11:49:16 2004 by Jophiel
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
I waited tables and tended bar for almost 15 years. Whenever we had a manditory tip for a large party, it was explained to the guests and then added to the check. Very rarely did people complain.
Usually, the reasoning for adding the tip to large parties is because while you're taking care of said party, you have little to no time for regular tables and your chances of making money are slim. Most servers (in the US) make 2.13 an hour. Tips are all they have.
*edit: heh, Joph posted before I got mine finished. Not feeling good today and typing slow.
Edited, Mon Sep 13 11:48:45 2004 by Nadenu
Usually, the reasoning for adding the tip to large parties is because while you're taking care of said party, you have little to no time for regular tables and your chances of making money are slim. Most servers (in the US) make 2.13 an hour. Tips are all they have.
*edit: heh, Joph posted before I got mine finished. Not feeling good today and typing slow.
Edited, Mon Sep 13 11:48:45 2004 by Nadenu
Quote:
If it's a mandatory 18% for large parties, shouldn't that be included in the bill?
Chances are, it was. However, unless paying with a credit card, the waitress takes what she is left with.
I, in 6 years of waiting tables in restaurants with such policies, never added a forcred gratuity line to a check, and I was only given less than 15% 1 time. Of course, the only pizzas any of the places I worked at ever served were a bit more dainty than your standard Pizza Hut fare and a single bottle of wine could make most total checks at Pizza Hut for a party of six look like a stiffed gratuity. :)
EDIT:
Quote:
Most servers (in the US) make 2.13 an hour. Tips are all they have.
Edited, Mon Sep 13 11:51:10 2004 by MoebiusLord
You were lucky, Moe. The most I ever made was 4 an hour, and that was tending bar. 
Quote:
You were lucky, Moe. The most I ever made was 4 an hour, and that was tending bar.
Meh, I went through almost a year where I never saw a paycheck. It's a ***** when you're "claiming" almost 5 bills a night.
Yeah, Moe even did some time at The French Laundry...the best restaurant in the Western Hemisphere.
He gets MUCH respect from me for that.
He gets MUCH respect from me for that.
Quote:
He said they weren't completely satisfied with the food and left a tip of under 10 percent.
So, they under-tipped because they didn't like the food? Did they realize that tips go to the waitress and not the chef?
I do not think 'tip' means what they think it means.
This is apparently the world's smallest violin.
It looks like Dubya has been taking lessons on it. Probably playing for the innocent victims of the Iraq war.
It looks like Dubya has been taking lessons on it. Probably playing for the innocent victims of the Iraq war.
publiusvarus wrote:
we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.
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