Rock Bottom Brewery: Great Beer, Good Food and Self-Help Tipping
I recently killed an afternoon after work at the Rock Bottom Brewery at Ballston Commons, one of my favorite places to sit and enjoy a brew. Rock Bottom has a wonderful collection of beers brewed on premises by a master brewer. The food is good, although limited for vegetarians, which puts a bit of a damper on things. I am always satisfied with the nachos, though. Even if the selection is not great, what is there is excellent.
At my most recent visit, however, I paid my $12 tab with a ten and a five and waited about 15 minutes, reading the City Paper, and never got my change. Granted, I had planned to leave the change as a tip for the waitress, but there is still a social contract between a server and customer that had been broken. I at least wanted the option to leave the tip rather than having her assume that I didn’t want my change.
Is this weird? I am not a bad tipper and left her the money in the end but she seemed really offended when I asked for my change, as if I had asked to return the plate of onion rings for a refund after eating them.
When did tipping become compulsory? I am a big believer in rewarding good service, but part of that good service should include not assuming that the change is yours to keep.
One thing I’ve noticed recently is that sometimes, if the check is, say, $12.75 and I leave a $20, the server will bring back $7. Now, I know it’s only coins, but I could just as easily take the quarter and leave two singles, which is still more than 15%.
Since when do you cross the river Wayan? You must have taken a twelve hour flight to get there.
Wow – see what happens when you just scroll down….sorry about that Carl.
I agree that a tip or the amount of it should not be guaranteed. It’s unfortunate, though that the reverse is waiters/waitresses who are deserving of a good tip are stiffed because of people who aren’t appreciative or aware of tipping etiquette (ie. some Europeans).