Bringing down the cost of restaurant bills

[Granny square]

I know. It just seemed a pretty huge over reaction. If I post a question or idea I would never think I had to give every thought possible and the history behind it. Sometimes you would just get a resulting idea.

Commenting that the idea sucks is fair enough but acting like someone is a big old stinking liar because they didn't give the whole story isn't cool in my book. If that make sense at all!

 

[disney1990]

This is the most important thing to take away from this thread!! blech!

Where my daughter works, lemons are thorough washed. Servers wear gloves when they cut the lemons. I have no fear of putting them in my water.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Where my daughter works, lemons are thorough washed. Servers wear gloves when they cut the lemons. I have no fear of putting them in my water.

Must be a a rarity as the prevalence of manhandled lemons is so common they have done documentaries and it was featured in Readers digest under "things your server won't tell you"

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Where my daughter works, lemons are thorough washed. Servers wear gloves when they cut the lemons. I have no fear of putting them in my water.

Additionally it is not when the lemons are cut that the bacteria are picked up but rather most restaurants store them as garnishes for the bar and so staff just picks them out with bar hands as they pass. I do not care for lemony water so it does not effect me other than I pluck them out of my water regardless but it seems that most on here were unaware of the current findings of bacteria. Eat them if you want or don't but those are the findings.

 

[threeboysmom]

I know. It just seemed a pretty huge over reaction. If I post a question or idea I would never think I had to give every thought possible and the history behind it. Sometimes you would just get a resulting idea.

Commenting that the idea sucks is fair enough but acting like someone is a big old stinking liar because they didn't give the whole story isn't cool in my book. If that make sense at all!

Granny... Granny... Granny...



Don't you know by now that that is the way of the DIS? There are certain people here that will stalk you, they will search you and read every single post you've ever made to find things to trip you up on, they will DEMAND that you give them every past detail of your life history.

I have seen this over and over again. It's happened to me in the past, and it most certainly will happen in the future.

God forbid you EVER post with an anonymous name because there are people that will diligently shed blood, sweat, and tears to figure out which DIS'er you REALLY are!

There are just some people on here that don't have anything better to do than live their lives here on the DIS boards. Which is great - I love the DIS - been here for more than 10 years, but come on people, sometimes you need to just GET A LIFE and move on. Hate to say it, but the DIS isn't ALL THAT!

 

[eliza61]

I know. It just seemed a pretty huge over reaction. If I post a question or idea I would never think I had to give every thought possible and the history behind it. Sometimes you would just get a resulting idea.

Commenting that the idea sucks is fair enough but acting like someone is a big old stinking liar because they didn't give the whole story isn't cool in my book. If that make sense at all!

Perfectly so on that note,


Op my intention was not to say you were lying at all, I actually thought the first post was perfectly clear, so it did seem to me anyway that after most folks said we thought that was a bit tacky (making your own lemonade) you changed the reasoning. I was in no way trying to say you were lying.

 

[jackie101]

I would never do this. To me it looks cheap and tacky. Just my personal feeling

 

[Granny square]

Well said eliza1!

 

[JennyLynn21]

I usually order water with lemon. And sometimes sneak a few sips of my Husbands pop.

One way we save is I am not a big eater really. So I usually order a side salad then steal some of my husbands. Or sometimes I ask if it is ok if I order from the children's menu, since the portions are smaller. 9 times out of 10 they say it is okay. I just see no point in wasting food and don't care for leftovers. Sometimes if we want to go to a nice resturant we go at lunch time, they usually have some of the same menu items and smaller portion and price. When my mom & I go out we usually split a meal.

p.s. I see no problem with bringing crystal light packets. I was a waitress before and saw people doing this every now and then and it didn't bother me one bit!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, so it didn't bother you when a customer now and then ordered a glass of water which required the same amount of work from you and the rest of the staff but which didn't get added to the check and so wasn't calculated into your tip.

Do you think you would have had a different opinion if several diners at one table did this, as it appears in the OP's post # 72?

 

[Granny square]

So now people shouldn't order water at all? That is crazee talk.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So now people shouldn't order water at all? That is crazee talk.

What? If you're referring to my post just above yours, I didn't say any such thing. I'm simply trying to clarify what the previous poster said. I never s implied nobody should order free water; I can't be responsible for what readers infer.

It costs the restaurant minimally less to supply a glass (or glasses) of tap water to a customer than to supply flavored beverages.
Servers, bussers, dishwashers, etc., do exactly the same amount of work from start to finish for that glass of water as they do for the menu drinks.
The restaurant brings in revenue, and ideally ultimately Danes a profit, on the menu drinks.
The restaurant loses money on the glass(es) of no-charge tap water. In addition to the wages, there's the cost of materials, utilities, taxes...

So restaurants sell flavored drinks, and servers serve flavored drinks, and the price of the flavored drinks becomes part of the check; the check total is the basis for calculating the tip, and in 40 states restaurant servers are legally paid less than half the minimum wage because they're expected to garner enough in tips to get them to at least minimum wage.
Ordering a glass of water and drinking it as is is a cost of doing business for the restaurant.
Ordering a glass of water and doctoring it with one's own flavoring deprives the restaurant of revenue (that they would have taken in if the patron had ordered a drink from the menu) and the server of tip income.

 

[North of Mouse]

This might of been mentioned but family never buys softdrinks at restaurants anymore. I buy the single-serve crystal light lemonade from Dollar Tree (they are $1 for a 10 pack) and we all get water and add our lemonade. The price of our bills have gone down alot because of this. Even at Chili's/houlihans a soda is $3 and then with tax and tip, almost $4 extra per person.

I agree that sodas are much too expensive at restaurants, and it's also the biggest *money maker* they have

But, as others have said, it seems just so tacky to bring your own *sodas* and add it to their glass of water. I could never do that at TS restaurants, although I could understand if someone wanted to do it at CS.

My DH & I never order sodas because we would rather drink water, so that's what we do, and of course in the process we also save on our bill

On a similar note, I have heard of people bringing their own tea bags and just ordering a cup of hot water, but--------I've also heard of restaurants charging for the *hot water* Really can't say I would blame them

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I read the first 6 pages or so, then I read the last few (skipped the migraine section) but am I the only person who was taught that you don't tip on drinks? Before anyone takes a stake to hang me, I do tip on the whole bill, but many, many people I know do not.

I order water with lemon due to trying to keep my fat intake and sugar down. I tend to order an appetizer as my entree and will order a dessert once in a while. I tip at about 20% or more depending on the service.

I guess most people do not because even though they think we are a bad table - 2 sitting in a booth due to my back injury, we usually end up being the table they really wanted. The majority of our waitstaff come back and thank us. I don't usually see them doing it to other tables.

For the record I find it tacky. If I had to add something do to my health I would ask and make sure it was okay and I would tip based on the increase of the bill, just like we do when we order water, which is most of the time.

Okay this was longer than I really wanted it but I think it is a two-fold situation as the establishment loses out and so does the wait staff unless you compensate for it, which I guess takes the budget out of this whole thread.

 

[disneychrista]

am I the only person who was taught that you don't tip on drinks?

No you are not the only one but I do not believe this is the accepted practice anymore.

 

[Granny square]

No you are not the only one but I do not believe this is the accepted practice anymore.

I agree. I'm 50, and I haven't heard anyone under 70 (lol the generation before me) suggest such a thing. When I was serving it was about half and half I'd guess.

 

[kandb]

OP here, for the last time because IMO this thread is getting beyond ridiculous. I did not change my story because alot of people on the dis think that bringing a sweetner into a restaurant was tacky. To be 100% honest, I could car less what people on the dis think is "tacky", I don't think it's tacky and that's all that really matters. Again, I started bringing sweetners because I cannot drink caffeine and realized how much it saves on the restaurant bill, so I thought I would share with others who might not think this is "tacky" and might think it's a good idea. My husband uses them when we go out and my mother now uses them, and yes, even some of my co-workers. If you think it is tacky, please don't use them. I still don't see it costing the restaurant anything, if someone orders water the restaurant doesn't make money on a beverage anyway. I am not breaking the law, I am not stealing anything and I and my family are good guests in a restaurant, we keep our children quiet, we are respectful to the restaurant staff and we tip good.

 

[kaytieeldr]

OP here, for the last time because IMO this thread is getting beyond ridiculous. I did not change my story because alot of people on the dis think that bringing a sweetner into a restaurant was tacky. To be 100% honest, I could car less what people on the dis think is "tacky", I don't think it's tacky and that's all that really matters. Again, I started bringing sweetners because I cannot drink caffeine and realized how much it saves on the restaurant bill, so I thought I would share with others who might not think this is "tacky" and might think it's a good idea. My husband uses them when we go out and my mother now uses them, and yes, even some of my co-workers. If you think it is tacky, please don't use them. I still don't see it costing the restaurant anything, if someone orders water the restaurant doesn't make money on a beverage anyway. I am not breaking the law, I am not stealing anything and I and my family are good guests in a restaurant, we keep our children quiet, we are respectful to the restaurant staff and we tip good.

Right, the restaurant doesn't make any money when a patron orders tap water. They actually lose a little money. I've explained that, several times.

When the patron brings their own flavoring - not (just) sweetener to the restaurant and adds it to that water while the restaurant sells a variety of soft drinks, they're then not just costing that restaurant that little bit of money/cost of doing business, they're also depriving that restaurant of revenue.

It's great that you say you tip well, but that's not indicated as one of the original goals:

This might of been mentioned but family never buys softdrinks at restaurants anymore. I buy the single-serve crystal light lemonade from Dollar Tree (they are $1 for a 10 pack) and we all get water and add our lemonade. The price of our bills have gone down alot because of this. Even at Chili's/houlihans a soda is $3 and then with tax and tip, almost $4 extra per person.

Sweeteners would be sugar, Equal, saccharine, Truvia... Crystal Light isn't a sweetener. It's a powdered soft drink. And Chili's does offer at least one decaffeinated/artificially sweetened soft drink, so claiming you bring your own because most restaurants [you patronize] can't/won't provide a drink that suits your needs seems more like an attempt to justify your actions than anything.

 

[disneychrista]

When the patron brings their own flavoring - not (just) sweetener to the restaurant and adds it to that water while the restaurant sells a variety of soft drinks, they're then not just costing that restaurant that little bit of money/cost of doing business, they're also depriving that restaurant of revenue.

This is the part I am not getting.

Person A - orders water, drinks water

Person B - orders water, adds flavor, drinks flavored water

How does what person B does, cost the restaurant any more money than person A. Both ordered and received water?

You seem to be under the impression that if Person B did not add flavor to the water they would purchase a soft drink. There is nothing to indicate that this is true. And in fact, my guess, is that they would still only order water.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If they just order water, that's a cost of doing business. The restaurant accepts that.
When they order water and turn it into a soft drink - something the restaurant sells - they're negatively affecting the restaurant's revenue.
Bringing your own Crystal Light is identical to bringing your own preferred brand/version of soda that the restaurant doesn't sell. Or your own salad, or soup, or appetizer, or what's next? Bringing your own entrée to save money or because you don't eat ____?