Giordano's Restaurant.com Cert ?

[Purseval]

I'm looking at the restaurant.com certificates for Giordano's. For, example, the $25 certificate it states:

Minimum purchase of $35. 18% Gratuity added prior to discount. Valid for Food ONLY. One certificate per table. Valid for this location only.

While it does mention one cert per table it doesn't state "Dine In Only" like most other restaurants do. That's a bit fuzzy. Has anyone used a restaurant.com certificate for pickup or delivery?

 

[Purseval]

Now that it's past opening time for the restaurant I called the one in LBV and asked. The man who answered said it was for dining in only.

 

[sweet maxine]

I have been hesitant to order some of these certificates, as I noticed they all say "18% gratuity added". I'm not sure how cost-effective they are with the gratuity added in automatically, especially if the total is $$$. I'm not in a large group, and I would rather decide how much gratuity to add myself. I've noticed terrible service when the tip is added in from the start. Has this been anyone's experience?

 

[Purseval]

Let's figure it out:

$35 in food + no tip for lousy service = $35

$35 in food - $25 certificate = $10
18% tip = ~$6.30
Certificate at 80% discount = $2
$35 - $18.30 = $16.70 savings for a dinner using certificate + tip vs $35 and no tip

Sounds ok to me.

 

[DOOM1001]

I agree, having a problem with tipping 18% when you're getting $23 taken off your check seems odd.It would take a server plain and simply insulting you for me to have a problem with leaving 18%,I usually tip 20% as long as the person was nice and competent anyways.

 

[sweet maxine]

I agree, having a problem with tipping 18% when you're getting $23 taken off your check seems odd.It would take a server plain and simply insulting you for me to have a problem with leaving 18%,I usually tip 20% as long as the person was nice and competent anyways.

I'm sorry, but I never said that I didn't tip, or had a "problem" with tipping 18%. What I did say is that I am capable of calculating the tip myself. I don't skimp when I have good service. But my experience has been that when I am charged up front a gratuity, I have frequently experienced poor service.

Now, when you figure out the discount on a meal at say, the Garden Grove dinner buffet---which runs ~$32---the tip is ~$17 or so (for three people). Add in the $2 spent on the certificate, and I save about $6 on a dinner for three. I guess that's not bad, but really all I'm getting is the tip covered, which the restaurant has decided for me. In that scenario, no, I don't think the $25 certificate is a deal. It may be for you, but it's not for me.

 

[Purseval]

Now, when you figure out the discount on a meal at say, the Garden Grove dinner buffet---which runs ~$32---the tip is ~$17 or so (for three people). Add in the $2 spent on the certificate, and I save about $6 on a dinner for three. I guess that's not bad, but really all I'm getting is the tip covered, which the restaurant has decided for me. In that scenario, no, I don't think the $25 certificate is a deal. It may be for you, but it's not for me.

In that case you would get a bigger certificate. I assume you're saying it's $32 per person. So.....

$32 * 3 + some sort of cheap $4 appetizer = $100 + no tip for lousy service. Total = $100

$100 - $50 certificate = $50
$18 = tip
$5 for a certificate at the current 80% off

by my calculations that's $27 in savings, not $6 If your meal was actually $32 total the tip would be far less than $17 and your savings would be closer to the first example so correct me if I'm wrong on your dinner scenario.

BTW, even with the required 18% tip on the certificate you can still complain about poor service. The server may still end up getting the tip as per the agreement but that doesn't mean they won't end up getting chewed out or fired for subpar service.

 

[DOOM1001]

I'm sorry, but I never said that I didn't tip, or had a "problem" with tipping 18%. What I did say is that I am capable of calculating the tip myself. I don't skimp when I have good service. But my experience has been that when I am charged up front a gratuity, I have frequently experienced poor service.

Now, when you figure out the discount on a meal at say, the Garden Grove dinner buffet---which runs ~$32---the tip is ~$17 or so (for three people). Add in the $2 spent on the certificate, and I save about $6 on a dinner for three. I guess that's not bad, but really all I'm getting is the tip covered, which the restaurant has decided for me. In that scenario, no, I don't think the $25 certificate is a deal. It may be for you, but it's not for me.

I actually used a Restaurant.com certificate for Garden Grove back in August,it was just two of us with a $25 certificate,after the tax and tip it came out to like $62 even with the certificate,so I see what you mean that it's still comes out pretty expensive,we basically just saved tax and tip,but I look at it as trying a restaurant I probably wouldn't have tried if it wasn't for the certificate,with that said Garden Grove is a restaurant I probably wouldn't go back to,the service was mediocre,the waitress was nice but she dissapeared a couple of times and even worse was that the items in the buffet weren't being replenished.We went about an hour and a half before they closed and the restaurant was pretty empty so the waitress was probably doing closing sidework and replenishing the skirt steak wasn't the highest priority,the rissotto made for you at your request was good though.

 

[PrincessDuck]

They don't know that the tip is being added in already if you don't show them the certificate until the end of the meal......

 

[Purseval]

They don't know that the tip is being added in already if you don't show them the certificate until the end of the meal......

I believe it states on the certificate that you are supposed to show it to them before you order. That's how we've always done it. I'd hate to go into a restaurant thinking I was going to save money then find out at the end of the meal that they no longer honor those certificates And we have had certs go bad in the past but we've always been notified by mail before we had a chance to use them.

 

[doxxie]

I decided against Garden Grove or the like because it required two entrees and was only valid for dinner (at least when I was buying them a month or so ago). After looking at the price it wasn't something that I was willing to spend.

I did buy the Giordano's and I think I bought a lesser one. Like maybe $10 off with a $20 or $25 purchase. There are only 4 of us and two are kids and after looking at the menu prices I thought we would just about come in at that price anyway and then we'd get the discount. So for us I think it will work nicely.

I also found one for a sushi bar at Swan & Dolphin. It starts with a K, can't think of it off hand. I'm thinking we'll do that for a lunch and take the kids pb&j!

Good luck!

 

[DOOM1001]

I also found one for a sushi bar at Swan & Dolphin. It starts with a K, can't think of it off hand. I'm thinking we'll do that for a lunch and take the kids pb&j!

Good luck!

You mean Kimonos at the Swan,if I were more into sushi I would have also picked this one up.I did get one for Bluezoo,Il Mulino,Garden Grove and House of Blues for restaurants at Disney.

 

[gibbersome]

I'm thinking about getting one for Giordano's and House of Blues. Any other recommendations for cheap eats?

I'm hesitating getting ones for Bluezoo, Il Mulino, Garden Grove because the dinner would be quite expensive even with the coupon.

 

[Purseval]

I got one new one, Giordanos. we already had some for O'Charleys, TGI Fridays, Cricketers Arms and a couple of others that we should use before buying more. Our next visit this weekend we'll naturally be staying at the Parc Soleil with a full kitchen but wifey chose it because the water falls out of the ceiling to fill the bathtub

I decided against Garden Grove or the like because it required two entrees and was only valid for dinner (at least when I was buying them a month or so ago). After looking at the price it wasn't something that I was willing to spend.

Yes, it's a good idea to always read the fine print before you decide on a certificate. We skip a lot of them because they don't fit our needs.

 

[gibbersome]

I got one new one, Giordanos. we already had some for O'Charleys, TGI Fridays, Cricketers Arms and a couple of others that we should use before buying more. Our next visit this weekend we'll naturally be staying at the Parc Soleil with a full kitchen but wifey chose it because the water falls out of the ceiling to fill the bathtub

Yes, it's a good idea to always read the fine print before you decide on a certificate. We skip a lot of them because they don't fit our needs.

I may use some of your restaurant choices. How is Cricketer's Arms?

 

[DawnM]

Hey there. We did this one, Giordanos.....and even with the tip added in, we got great service....but the place was somewhat empty. The Giordano's is a great deal and our bill came to about $20 with tip for 5 of us. That is less than McDonald's!

Dawn

I have been hesitant to order some of these certificates, as I noticed they all say "18% gratuity added". I'm not sure how cost-effective they are with the gratuity added in automatically, especially if the total is $$$. I'm not in a large group, and I would rather decide how much gratuity to add myself. I've noticed terrible service when the tip is added in from the start. Has this been anyone's experience?

 

[DawnM]

I got one of these for Garden Grove and most likely will not use it. It was only $2, but I decided it just isn't worth it.....we don't do buffets at Disney anymore because we just aren't big eaters and we prefer to spend where we can at least take our leftovers with us. And a buffet.....where I have to get my own food and sometimes drink.....yeah, tipping 18% is high.

Dawn

I'm sorry, but I never said that I didn't tip, or had a "problem" with tipping 18%. What I did say is that I am capable of calculating the tip myself. I don't skimp when I have good service. But my experience has been that when I am charged up front a gratuity, I have frequently experienced poor service.

Now, when you figure out the discount on a meal at say, the Garden Grove dinner buffet---which runs ~$32---the tip is ~$17 or so (for three people). Add in the $2 spent on the certificate, and I save about $6 on a dinner for three. I guess that's not bad, but really all I'm getting is the tip covered, which the restaurant has decided for me. In that scenario, no, I don't think the $25 certificate is a deal. It may be for you, but it's not for me.

 

[Purseval]

I may use some of your restaurant choices. How is Cricketer's Arms?

It's okay but according to my wife (British Expat) the food is nothing special. I think the fish and chips at Cooke's of Dublin are better but Cricketer's Arms is a better value, especially with the certificate.

If you are going to drink beer and watch UK sports it's a very nice place to hang out for a bit. So overall I'd give it an 8 on atmosphere and a 6 on food. It's way up on the Universal Studios end of International Drive, in the same mall where the Bass Sportsman's warehouse is so it would be a good end to a day at US or after shopping at all of the outlet malls.

 

[gibbersome]

It's okay but according to my wife (British Expat) the food is nothing special. I think the fish and chips at Cooke's of Dublin are better but Cricketer's Arms is a better value, especially with the certificate.

If you are going to drink beer and watch UK sports it's a very nice place to hang out for a bit. So overall I'd give it an 8 on atmosphere and a 6 on food. It's way up on the Universal Studios end of International Drive, in the same mall where the Bass Sportsman's warehouse is so it would be a good end to a day at US or after shopping at all of the outlet malls.

Thank you for the review. The menu looked like a cheap enough option for us! We're not beer drinkers but I do enjoy pub food.

 

[PrincessDuck]

None of the certificates that I have had or used have this on them....I have one for Garden Grove and two for different Giordano's locations. I will use one this trip ant other my next trip.

I believe it states on the certificate that you are supposed to show it to them before you order. That's how we've always done it. I'd hate to go into a restaurant thinking I was going to save money then find out at the end of the meal that they no longer honor those certificates And we have had certs go bad in the past but we've always been notified by mail before we had a chance to use them.