Taking young children out to eat at a restaurant is an expensive — and sometimes messy — prospect for parents. One waiter also claims it’s actually a costly experience for the restaurant’s staff — and that the parents should be willing to dish out bigger tips to make up for it.
Writing for SeattlePI.com, one restaurant server explains that four youngsters ordering off the kids’ menu is obviously going to be a smaller tab than four adults. This translates into a smaller tip for the staff, even though they are doing at least as much work as they would when serving a table of grown-ups.
“For the effort of serving children, the monetary return just isn’t there,” he writes.
And then there’s the fact that kids are sometimes messy:
“But of course they are!” you say, but toys strewn about are a different story than marinara sauce. Like most restaurants, mine offers a children’s menu that doubles with intellectual mysteries to keep their attention. Unfortunately, 10 minutes into dining, its bleached white surface has turned into the foundation for Mount “I should be eating this food for nutrients and sustenance, but instead I’m going to pile it high, stabilizing the creation with Crayolas every inch.”
The server sums it up by saying that, if you’re going to bring messy brats to his restaurant, you should be willing to help foot the bill for the mess.
“Dining out with children is a luxury, but what diners must understand is that the buck (being cleanup) is being passed onto the staff, you the parent being fully aware of what that cleansing will take,” he writes. “Reward it.”
Restaurant server: I’m never happy about serving a child [SeattlePI.com]
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Give me a break. I worked in customer service for a long time, so I understand it sucks, but I’m getting really sick of all of these stupid articles where wait staff complain about how much more they deserve to be tipped. Just stop complaining.
Man, I used to work in food service and there are plenty of adults out there that are just as messy, or more so, than kids. And what about the idiots who like to mess with the waiter/busboy by doing weird things with their dishes and the condiments? Or who put the tip in change in the bottom of the half-full glass they’ve mixed the dregs of their sodas in?
While little kids CAN be messy, if people teach their kids manners and take them out when they get out of control, they’re no more a problem than any other diner.
I absolutely agree. If I make the server’s job harder through my own fault, I tip higher. Did I ask for extra sauces three times? Another $ on the tip. Did I spill my drink and mess the place up? My bad! I’ll take responsibility for it and increase my tip accordingly.
Tipping should be proportional to the service delivered. If the server goes out of their way to deliver spectacular service, the tip is higher. If my own actions require a higher level of service, then the tip will reflect that.
I agree to a certain point. I’m not a big fan of tipping in general, however if my kid makes a mess on the floor or otherwise puts more work on the wait and bussing staff, then I tip more.
I do my best to keep the table clean, going so far as to stack my dishes and napkins as they get used so it’s easier on them. But sometimes, spills and messes beyond my ability to clean do happen in the course of a toddler learning to feed himself and learning table manners for public places. That’s when I have to throw a little extra cash their way.
The “small bill” argument doesn’t fly with me though. The tip is a percentage and that’s that. You got a problem with me ordering a kids meal for my kid? Take it up with the management and ask them to stop offering kids meals.
Waiters at restaurants where bratty kids come in should get better jobs?
“Writing for SeattlePI.com, one restaurant server explains that four youngsters ordering off the kids’ menu is obviously going to be a smaller tab than four adults. This translates into a smaller tip for the staff, even though they are doing at least as much work as they would when serving a table of grown-ups.”
Yet somehow, the opposite doesn’t apply when the waiter brings you a $500 bottle of wine that takes just as much work as bringing a $5 bottle of Perrier, where you’re now expected to tip based on the tab rather than the service. Classic waitstaff hypocrisy.
You know, it would be nice if people just treated waiters and restaurants with good manners and respect. Just because they are bringing you food doesn’t mean they are beneath you. It doesn’t mean you (or your kids) should be pigs and make a huge mess just because you don’t have to clean it up yourself. Did your kid make a mess, drop sticky stuff or sauce on the floor, throw things, etc.? Do you tolerate that at home? If not, why let them do it when they are out. Would you let them act that way at someone else’s home? Restaurants aren’t a place where you just let all manners go out the window. Besides the staff there are other customers there. I don’t want to sit by a table of kids who are throwing food around. Yes, kids drop things and a certain amount of mess is reasonable but some people let their kids do whatever they want and ignore them to the annoyance of surrounding customers and workers. When your kids takes to fingerpainting ketchup all over the table and you let it dry there, maybe you should tip a little more since it’s going to take a LOT more time to scrap that off the table than it would to clean up after adults.
The service industry must remember, they are paid for their service. If they do a good job and not have an attitude about serving me or my precious snowflakes. If they cop that “oh my God I must serve little people” attitude, the will get a tip to match. SERVICE INDUSTRY.
I avoid bratty waiters expecting mega-tips for not refilling my tea and forgetting my salad and not bringing me a knife until the dessert course by ordering “to go”. No delivery tip, no waiter tip.
I swear, every waiter story that comes out on this site with these kinds of “suggestions” makes me tip less and less.
I always tip a higher percentage when I have to take my toddler to a restaurant (usually around 25% unless she’s being particularly naughty), mostly because she tends to drop things on the floor or dribble her drink or whatever, and the waiters are usually really nice about bringing me a little bowl of croutons or something to keep her busy if I don’t have extra snacks in my bag that day. I know she’s a hassle eating out (that’s why we usually get take-out), and I hate to be a bother to the wait staff without at least a little recompense.
People lose all sense when taking children into restaurants – like waitstaff are supposed to babysit and clean up after them. Some parents just don’t give a damn because they don’t see it as their problem. They feel that if they’re paying for dinner they shouldn’t have to worry about any mess or problems their kids cause. Everyone’s seen it – especially at buffets, where children stick their fingers in food and just generally pig the place up while the parents are totally oblivious. As a former waitress, I remember a lot of evenings spending quite a long time cleaning up booths and tables after a family of kids, only to receive a dollar or two as a tip. I sure could have used that time earning tips on other customers. Hey, if you’re going to have them, do us all a favor and teach them to be human beings!
Good article. But do you tink Mrs. “fake-breast-wannabe-reality-TV-MILF-middle-aged-overtanned-mom” is going to give you an extra tip?
Do you really think that she thinks her kids are bratty? Why, they are perfect little snowflakes. Just ask the Kardasian’s.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Do I get paid more when I’m brought poor quality steel to weld at work? No. Do you make more when you serve a large party who has gratuity added to their check and they still tip you well? Yes. STFU and do your job. If you don’t want to serve kids go work at an upscale place or a 21+ bar.
Whenever I take my kids out to eat, I always tip double the percentage I would when it is just my husband and myself. Unless, of course, the service is horrible….then they get half, because it means I have to put up with my kids being fussy and whiny that their food isn’t here before they finish coloring their menu or or or….
And I talk to the manager.
in a “fine” restaurant – no kids – they could care less about atmosphere, etc
People should not take their children out to eat until they can behave properly. I was not taken out to eat until I was 3, by which time I had been trained to sit at the table quietly and eat food with utensils. I had no issues eating soup with a spoon without spilling it.
NICE!
Itissounfortunateyouhatechildrenyouwereachildonceyourselfifyoudonotlikeyourjobwhydontyouchangeitchildrenareourfuturejointhevillageandcontributeiwonderwhatyoureallyhavetosayaboutcustomersofvaryingracesyourcrappyattitudeismostlikelythereasonyouhavesomuchtimetocomplainyesmyspacebarfelloffmykeyboardsogetoveritidid
It is so unfortunate you hate children you were a child once yourself if you do not like your job why dont you change it children are our future join the village and contribute i wonder what you really have to say about customers of varying races your crappy attitude is most likely the reason you have so much time to complain yes my space bar fell off my keyboard so get over it i did
All I know is I was in the tip/ restaurant / bar business for around 12 years and there were many days when I would have to step back and think to myself, ” Geez, what a bunch of greedy little bitches we are” . Seriously. I think back to the shit we would talk over the smallest things and how much money I was making for really not doing all that much (especially the 8 years of bartending extortion I was fortunate enough to enjoy). I look back on those days as my spoiled brat days. I was an asshole, and most the people I worked with were too. It was fun.
I am the parent of a two year old. He is messy and sometimes a brat. I tip VERY WELL when we go out to eat, b/c I used to be a server and I know how much of a pain it is to clean up after him! I completely agree with this server.
Don’t like the wage’s / tips you receive?
Get another job & stop pissing & moaning.
Your additional tip is that it is being calculated off a total including $6 for a small bowl of mac and cheese or a PB&J sandwich.
This is why tipping a flat percentage on the bill is stupid. You should tip on the amount of work the waiter does. $x per plate brought, $x per drink brought.
Why should I tip more on a lobster tail than a hotdog? The waiter still just carried a plate to my table.
by that logic you should also tip more if someone in your party only orders a hamburger instead of the fillet since the server will get tipped less for the same work.
oh and if you order an appitizer like buffalo wings or nachos, tip more cause those are messy foods.
your crap tables balance out with your good tables to make up your average. All us servers had to deal with it, you will too.
“The age of your children is a key factor in how quickly you are served in a restaurant. We once had a waiter in Canada who said, ‘Could I get you your check?’ and we answered, ‘How about the menu first?’â€
Erma Bombeck (1927-1996)
I’m pretty sure that this waiter would consider any child who dared to breathe in his presence a brat.
How about posting articles by people who aren’t so horribly bitter and biased? Is that too much to ask? I know plenty of servers who don’t act like over-entitled dicks or question the actions of the people who pay part of their salaries.
What I’ve noticed, is that some parents, and I stress SOME, feel that they have to parents all the time. Since they are paying for their meals, that this somehow absolves them from having to continue to be parents while dining. This also happens in other retail establishments. I think they actually take perverse pleasure is seeing how the server deals with their unruly children.
Well I got a spanking if I really misbehaved when I was younger. If you don’t approve of spankings, then you best be parenting your children so other people don’t have too.
Ah the blessed restaurant crop dusting!
This is how I tip. By the hour. It takes my family and I ~1 hour to eat. if the waiter is good, they get a “mid level” salary. If they are outstanding they get a “executive” salary. If they are piss poor they get a “trench work” salary. There are in-between salaries too. Docking pay for tardiness etc.
If the waiter is a douche AT ALL, they really have to work to get out of the “trenches”. I am not here for the waiter (even though it seems most act this way), the waiter is here for me.
An example, I spilt my water on the table, if the waiter runs over with a towel, that is “executive”, if they take their time, and I have to go find them after a minute or two, that is “trench”. I do not care if the waiter is busy. If they are too busy, they need to explain to their boss (like any other profession) that they cannot handle their work load. Or they need to work harder/more efficiently.
I am not trying to turn anyone to my thinking, this is how I pay. Not by price of food, but by time spent, and quality of time in the restaurant.
I have just about had it with these restaurant servers. So what if 4 orders from the children’s menu costs less than the regular menu? You don’t see patrons demanding refunds for your watered down soda, overpriced beer and mandatory gratuity on large groups.
Whiner! It’s not like he’s not already making at least the minimum wage since he’s in Washington state…
He took a job as a server knowing children would be served at the restaurant and yet he is complaining? It’s not our place as parents to balance anything out or make anything up to him. It’s up to him to find a better paying job if the one he has isn’t working out for him.
And, if my child made a big mess, I might leave a bigger tip, but chances are, it’s the bus people who pick it up. Are they getting paid more to clean that table up if I leave a bigger tip? I am guessing not.
What about people like me who leave almost no mess. I wipe gunk up, pile the plates up, pull the silverware into a pile. Should we get to tip LESS b/c you don’t have to do as much to clean up?
It balances out. Some people are neat, some messy, and some in between. Unless you are willing to take a lower tip from the super neat, you can’t expect more of a tip from the messy.
Just a few ideas for parents: DON’T allow your children to deliberately make messes in public places. It’s easier than you’d think; leaving w/o the meal once or twice (but paying, and tipping as if you’ve had it–you’re trying to set an example here!) is enough to get it through their heads. If you don’t allow them to have toys when you invite guests to your dinner-table, why would you let them bring toys into the restaurant? Seriously? Having them help clean/clear their place at the table; they can carefully stack empty plates and silverware shows that YES someone has to clean this up. Introduce them to their server by name at the start of the meal–have them thank their server at the end. Explain tipping, and why it’s important. Start small–just a trip for something little. We started with hot chocolate. Then we went on to something easy to snack and clean up. I started this with my four kids around the time the eldest was about two, and it made my life so much easier. I know it sounds young, but the expectations were set at the beginning–this was presented as normal behavior–and they accepted it very easily. Servers went from uneasy, unwilling attitudes to wanting to help us as much as possible. My kids got so much positive reinforcement for their good behavior, it was almost ridiculous (how much free dessert CAN they pack in?!) It made us return customers, and welcome wherever we went. And ALWAYS tip much more with children than you would with adults. Even if they are the very best-behaved children, they DO require more attention and service. Parents should know that!