Comment by threemux
2 years ago
It's especially jarring to see a story like this with Red Lobster as its subject.
I'm curious if anyone who has a negative reaction to this article has actually been to a Red Lobster in the last 10 years. They serve poor quality food for similar prices as other sit-down restaurants. You're as likely to get poor service as you are anywhere else (maybe more so), but you'll still have to tip the same amount and spend the same amount of time there. There is no value proposition and certainly no cause for mourning or hagiographies.
> but you'll still have to tip the same amount
Nitpick: You'll have to tip the same amount as another restaurant with bad service. If it's awful enough, that works out to about a 20% discount on the meal.
People who don't know how to tip bad for bad service (most of us!) are why tipping is bad. When you get a bill you should have a discussion about service quality with everyone and then decide what to tip (if you are solo is can be just you but still think). If you don't do that then you failed to use your tipping power.
We see eye to eye on this. I'm not a stingy tipper and I don't look for reasons to save a buck. I'm also suuuuper understanding about problems that aren't the waitstaff's fault: if the restaurant is packed but there are only 2 waiters and they're running themselves ragged, I'll do right by them. I delivered pizza when I was a kid and I feel a kinship with people trying to get food to a table.
If it's a normal night and I see our waiter playing with their phone or chatting with the bartender while I unsuccessfully try to wave them down for a drink refill, I'll remember that when I'm paying the bill.
> in the last 10 years.
From the article:
> In 2014, amid flagging sales and pressure from investors, Darden sold Red Lobster for $2.1 billion to Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco private-equity firm.
Yeah looking back I don't know why I qualified it - it was bad before then too.