leslie

We celebrated our wedding with a dinner for 6 at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago. The final bill was about $1000 including expensive champagne, and my husband, who is not an American and not used to leaving huge tips, left a tip of around $100, we were probably there about two hours. The waiter and the maitre 'd came chasing after us to ask what was wrong with the service, were we so unhappy, etc. Very embarrassing to happen when you are celebrating your wedding and I didn't feel I could say anything to my new husband but felt bad about the incident. What do you all think.

hmm

hmm. a wedding with 6 people invited? Either you don't have many friends and family or I am missing something here.....

anon

Cheapskate!

15-20% is required for good service...if not more!

charlie tucker

The standard tip in the U.S. is 15% of the bill before taxes, adjusted for the level of service.

here

10% would have been appropriate if there were things about the service that you didn't like. Otherwise, 15%+.

xxx

I think it is terribly unfortunate that you did not take the time to find out what the proper procedure was. You say your husband isn't American, but still he should have checked to find out that tipping in a restaurant of that calibre is easily 20% -- more if you were given great service for a private party.
The restaurant had every right to follow you out and ask what was wrong. They rightly assumed that anyone going to restaurant of that type would have checked out what the normal procedure is. Just the same as if you had appeared in shorts and t-shirts because you hadn't checked out the proper dress.

bianca

The reason why they were so upset is because it is customary to leave at least an 18% tip for parties of 6 or more. Nowadays many restaurants automatically include the tip in the bill for a larger party.

One can't blame your husband if he's not familiar w/tipping customs, and I think it was rather rude and unprofessional of the waitstaff to chase you down. All I can say is, let it go, and now you know for the next time you go out how much to tip if the service was good.

leslie

I am an American and DO know what the proper procedure is. However I still wonder if it is appropriate to chase someone out of the hotel. The U.S. is the ONLY country where tipping of 15 to 20% is appropriate. Also, is tipping of this degree always required to include beverages as well as food...I think there is something to be said for being sensitive to foreigners and not embarrassing them either......

mik

leslie: I'm assuming you ARE an American - why don't you understand the tipping procedures? Tip should have been $150 - $200, depending on service. Very tacky that they ran after you, however - I'd call the manager of the restaurant and complain.

Foodie

I also agree that 15-20% before taxes and alcohol is the norm. I usually do 20% in nice restaurants unless the service is poor. BUT, I find it absurd that they CHASED you out of the restaurant! C'mon. I have waited tables before and sometimes you get a good tip sometimes a bad (sometimes completely jipped) that is part of the business. It would be in bad taste to even ask the patron about the tip unless they left none at all. Yes your husband should have tipped more but the Ritz Carlton should have better manners and be more refined than to question a patron's individual decision on how much to tip and chasing you out the door is WAY over the line!

Susan

To hmm: Leslie did not ask for you to opine on the fact that they held a celebratory dinner for 6! (which BTW many people choose to do for a variety of reasons!!!) Now...wld. you care to comment on the sufficiency or insufficiency of the tip?

15% is 'standard'. However, it was not appropriate for them to "chase after you"! Now, some people believe that you shd. only tip on the untaxed portion of the bill. So, in that case your tip may have been closer to the standard 15% than it appears to be. Anyway, it's past, water under the bridge, so next time if you are happy w/ the service leave 15% & stop worrying about it! BTW, Congratulations on you wedding!!

Al Godon

Hmm. If you complain, so what? Why would the management want a bunch of cheapskates back?

X

Also, the tip amount should not calculated on the total including the "expensive champagne" you got. This should be subtracted off in fine restaurant s and then a separate tip given to your wine steward. Was that done?

lucky

You could get dozens of different answers to this question. It could be argued that for a party of 6 and a bill of this much, that the tip should have been added to the bill. It could be argued that why leave a big additional tip for the difference of an expensive bottle of champagne vs. a cheaper bottle. Given, that your husband is not American, he should not feel badly about the 10% tip. This would be considered a generous tip in Europe, where the service charge is normally included in the bill anyway. Frankly, it would simplfy things here if that was the case.

x

15 to 20 percent should have been what you left on the total bill before tax. Mistakes do happen but to be chased out of the restaurant by the waiter AND the Matre'd I am sure is not O.K.'d by Ritz Carlton standards. I would call and speak directly with the head Food and Beverage Director and/or the General Manager of the hotel and explain the situation.

leslie

First of all, I couldn't say anything to my brand new husband at the moment in front of our friends, or embarrass him about the tip. At least I felt that it was not the right way to begin our wedding night. Of course it didn't work out well the other way as it turned out! Second, from his point of view and the point of view of every other country but the U.S., this tip is very significant, there was no intent to be cheap whatsoever. I guess I am starting to agree that simply adding 18% for parties of six or more is a better practice in general. Thanks folks.

tipper

Uh, maybe "management" wants them back because they spent $1000. (If you need a better reason than that, I suggest you take a course in Business 101.)

No, they shouldn't have chased you outside the restaurant. Yes, your tip wwas too low (unless the service was terrible). Yes, your husband was wrong for not learning local customs. Yes, you're wrong for complaining that "only in America." So what?

I'm a little suspect of anyone who leaves a short tip on his wedding day.

x

"X" above is wrong. It is nice to leave some for the wine steward but to "back out" the expensive wine and do completely separate tips is ridiculous. Now, it is nice to offer a small glass of wine to the steward but not expected. Normally the servers tip the steward at the end of the evening.

Tightwads

I would have chased you out of the restaurant, too, after seeing you consume such a festive meal on such a festive occasion and then only getting $100 -- I would have assumed something had gone terribly wrong and I didn't catch it.

I'm surprised the Ritz didn't tack on the usual "15% service charge for parties of 6 or more" onto your bill to avoid just such nonsense. In catering, it's customary to be extra generous for such occasion, not shave it down to bare-bones.

You should have warned your husband that $150 was bare minimum, $180 was standard, $200. was appropriate, and $250 wouldn't have been unusual in such circumstances.

BTilke

Years ago, we ate at the Biarritz restaurant in NYC and had truly terrible service; food arriving out of order, snooty, incredibly rude wait staff, a bad table despite having made a reservation far in advance, etc. We left a 10% tip and yes, one of the waitresses chased us out and said it was not enough. I told her the service was terrible, she hadn't even earned that much and if she wasn't happy with the tip she could give it back (no chance of that). She glared and said "I'll remember you" (as if we would go back!) and I said "we'll remember you too." End of experience. Normally though, I never tip less than 15% and certainly would leave around 20% for such a big tab. Leslie, curious, since you say you know normal tipping procedures, why didn't you suggest to your husband to leave more? Perhaps they shouldn't have chased you, but you shouldn't have been cheese-parers after such an expensive meal. Call it a draw. I hope your non-American husband now understands tipping procedures for any future meals in U.S. restaurants!