Wow. A lot of opinion and a lot of aggression in this thread. I took the time to read through the whole thing, and I have to say - there are some real misconceptions flying around here, at least with regards to 'typical' format restaurants (with tip, and no pun intended). I've seen that at least one person has pointed out that tipping waiters is not the only way they will make minimum wage (the law requires that management make up the difference if tips aren't enough), so no need to go there. However, I will suggest that those of you that insist tipping is the only way to make restaurants work read the blog of Jay Porter, part owner of the Linkery - a restaurant in San Diego that ran for 7 years with a 'no tips allowed' policy. The relevant entry:

http://jayporter.com/dispatches/obse...rt-1-overview/

I did my time in the service industry, and my brother spent far longer in the industry, working as everything from publican to manager of F&B at a large tourist destination hotel. He worked his way from busboy to front waiter at a 4-diamond restaurant, and everything he and I both saw in the industry is well presented in Jay's blog. I'd suggest folks take the time to read it with an open mind, it's quite illuminating.


daniel