From: aa@iti.org (Aayush Asthana)
Subject: Re: HOW WE TIP IN RESTAURANTS
Organization: Industrial Technology Institute
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 03:59:05 GMT

kalia@next12epsl.wam.umd.edu (Atul Kalia) writes:

>In article <Bxx9rw.3sp@cs.uiuc.edu> gaur@cs.uiuc.edu (Rajeeva Gaur)  
>writes:
>> dreddy@b30.ingr.com (Devender Reddy) writes:
>> 
>> >Hi Netters,
>> 
>from
[.. del .. ]

>> 
>> If I recall correctly, AAA recommends 10-15% of the bill. As I have  
>noticed,

[.. del ..]
>> many Americans follow it too. Well it also depends on the amount.  You  
>don't 
>demands that a certain % of the bil be given away as tip. Point to note  
>here is, what kind of service  we get?? Noone would give ahefty amount for  
>lousy service. And what kind of service do Indians give?? AWFUL!! They
>are rude, cheerless and dull( I know !I know! I am generalising. But isn't  
>it true for most Asians; esp Indians. ) The truth is we Indians aren't  

While it is easy to treat one's own countrymen shabbily, I have seen
a few bright spots that can stand out.  One such place that I would
recommend is the Peacock restaurant in Dearborn, Michigan.  Not only
is the decor great, there is great service from professwional Indian
staff -- very polite ad that creates an ambience.  Another place is
`Mithai' in Westland; the owner is a grad. of a bus. school who has
taken on  the task of treating people well and it works.  While in
the case of Peacock one leaves a tip 20-25 percent, Mithai being a
fast food place does not leave any thing to chance-- there is no tip
required -- the owner does not then have to do anything beyond the
usual Indian thing (as you might call it) but by doing the opposite
the `Indian' stereotype is broken and I like that.

For that matter, waiters/waiters distinguish between those who `look
like they will tip' adn `those who are likely not to' and my
contention is that they probably treat anybody based just on how
they look, the superficial external look of `money'... try it -- go
dressed formally versus like you just woke up (unshaven
whatever,...) and you will get different responses...

>very good at putting up a smiling and courteous front all the time( unlike  
>the americans )

Well, take a case inpoint here in Ann Arbor is a restaurant called
Shehenshah the owner of which treats Indians like dirt but treats
the unsuspecting non-Indian with false charm.  While his prices are
extremely competitive (low) his quality of food and service
definitely match that (even lower, that is).  I have left a 5% tip
and told the gentleman the reason:  when an extra plate is requested
to keep chicken bones in instead of on the table.-) , one does not
expect a `but sir, nobody asks for extra plate' and the last thing
one expects when paying for food is for the guy to walk by ignoring
your table but kissing ass elsewhere.  I believe his Indian
clientele has dropped to maybe 10% and word-of-mouth is important...

>A couple of days ago we were in a Chinese restaureant downtown. We were  
>served by a chinku . He was slow in getting things,rude,unsmiling.In other  
>words; he ruined our evening. We DIDN'T tip him cause we thought we got a  
Well, these restaurants are like Indian restaurants a mix; some
places you get great consistent service but others are choppy... for
instance the last time i ate in Schechuan West (Ann Arbor's finest)
10 min to the advertised closing time, the waitresses sat down at a
adjoining table and stared at us till we became uncomfortable -- and
boy did they expect a tip -- less than 10% and a brief `we don't
On the other hand you eat at Miki the better Japanese restaurant
here and just because you agreed to pay steep prices definitely
seems to change the attitude -- great place though; recommend it to
anybody into sushi...

like to be stared at while eating' should rectify that..

>very shabby treatment from him. That fellow had the audacity of arguing  
>with us over this matter while the manager looked on.

>I think anyone serving someone  else expects a token payment. Thats  
>perfectly fine . But at the same time he has to take care of his  attitude  
>towards his job. Yes! we are ready to tip but is it unfair to ask for   
>decent behaviour in exchange for that?? 

Absolutely, no particular restaurant has consistent employees and
when one notices an aberration it is only fair to bring it up BEFORE
one pays and then ZIP the tip; if you don't say anything, you may
have an argument on your hands later... when someone goes out of
their way to make you feel good let 'em know that too as they are
human.. but in essence you are absolutely correct:  if attitude
problems exist, there is no shame in low tipping -- but let them
know as you are fooling yourself if you tip high even with bad
service just so they change their manner of thinking towards us
Indians...

And it helps to strike up a rapport with good waiters/waitresses as
later they might opt to serve you and not spoil your entire evening
or you could ask them to serve...  of course, everything depends on
how you value your experience:  a couple of extra dollars can go a
long way... towards honestly rewarding effort that makes for a good
time or towards skimping on the tip and stretching the dollar
further into your budget...

>KALIA

And it pays to plan ahead:  and that includes budgets.  If you can't
tip, don't go.  etc etc.

No flames please.

[] Regards,   | Industrial    :      _________ ___________ ___________
Aayush Asthana| Technology    :    /___   ___//___    ___//___    ___/
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian