In my waitressing days, I would have surely followed some cheapos out the door. Has anyone on this thread ever waited tables? Eating/Dining out is a luxury....do not go out and eat in a sit-down resturant if you are not going to tip 15-20%. I understand your point about whether you get a cheap meal or an expensive meal & then tipping for the meal as opposed to the service. Ok, here's where I'll probably get into trouble with stereotyping....but I waited tables for almost 15 years & am basing my thoughts on actual experiences.
If you come to a resturant where the average bill per person is 25 dollars, but you and your spouse order only one entree & split it, and order waters....or perhaps the cheapest bottle of wine: chances are, you are ALSO going to ask for 3 baskets of bread as well & possibly crackers for your bratty baby, who is going to drop it all over the floor as well as mix up the sugar packets and knock over on of your glasses of water. So, for taking up 2 hours at a table, ordering as cheaply as possible and then tipping 15%....it was YOUUUU people who drove me nuts! I HIGHLY recommend this: if you are not in the greatest shape financially but you desparately need to get out of the house and dine out but you can only afford to split a meal & ask for 3 free baskets of bread....for the love of gAWD tip more than 20%. and be extra nice to your server.
For Foreigners...do your research if you're traveling. I worked at a resturant that had a lamenated printout that said, in 15 different languages!, what the customary tipping policy was in our area. I always Looooved the ones who came in & you could just TELL that they knew but were playing the whole "i'm foreign" card. Ugh.
On the OTHER hand, for the fine folks who came in & ordered a $15 dollar meal & a nicer bottle of wine, I knew that they would take their time sipping the wine. They wouldn't guzzle their water just for the sake of watching me run back and forth to earn my tip. If they brought a child with them and crackers were crumbled all over the floor, they would kindly apologize. If the bill was on the more expensive side, a 15% tip for me was awesome (no less). If you show appreciation for the person who is taking care of your too-lazy-to-cook-at-home a$$, they will *hopefully* treat you like a king or queen and take care of you before you even need to be taken care of.
I always loved it when people from New York/New Jersey would come into my resturant...they were never that nice, but I just KNEW if I took care of business, made sure their drinks were taken care of & made sure the service was perfecto, they'd ALWAYS tip more than 20%.
For the jackass who said to me: Hey, are you allowed to accept tips? Plant your corn early....
I'd say "ohhhhh, you really should have thought to say that AFTER I delivered your meal. You don't even KNOW what happens behind kitchen doors (as I smiled and walked away)" As a sidenote, i NEVER spit in anyone's food or saw any of my coworkers do that. Unfortunately, too many servers DO grab lemons for your water with their barehands without using the tongs provided for sanitation....if I were you, I'd skip asking for lemon.
Alright...rant over. Like I said, I waited tables for 15 years because college was strictly forbidden in my congregation...so I'm pretty passionate about this. If I have a server who grabs my water glass with their hands around the area my mouth goes...they go on my $hitlist. And I always know if there is a mistake in my order if it was the kitchen's fault or the server's fault. Ok, for real, rant over....