9 Nasty Truths About Your Favorite Foods
Famous Death Row Last Meals
Photo: GettyImages
While I can't vouch for official policy at all of the many Japanese steakhouses across the country, Kanpai Japanese Steak and Seafood House in Winston-Salem made headlines last week when it banned a bad tipper from ever eating there again.
"We can't keep continuing to serve her anymore because the servers and chefs are not willing to serve her," manager Michael Lam told a local television station.
Monica Covington clearly wasn't leaving bad tips because she was so dissatisfied with her experience at Kanpai. According to reports, she's dined there multiple times, and seems to be intent on remaining a customer. After she was refused service, she collected hundreds of signatures on a petition accusing the restaurant of unfairly standing between her and her teppanyaki.
Like many bad tippers, Covington apparently assumed it was her right to forgo tipping. But she forgot that restaurants also have the right to turn her away.
It's a right that's not exercised too frequently, partly because restaurant owners risk raising the specter of a civil rights violation. (It didn't go unnoticed in Winston-Salem -- a city with a long history of fractured race relations -- that Covington was black.) In my experience as a server, the only guests I've seen ejected from restaurants are those who've publicly engaged in illegal activities. Managers will typically usher out patrons who use drugs, have sex or hit someone in the dining room – all of which happen in even the finest establishments.
But perhaps it's time to shoo away bad tippers with the same vehemence. If restaurant owners can't find money in their budgets to pay servers a decent wage, shouldn't they require guests to pick up the slack? Or at least make the most notorious offenders feel unwelcome? A restaurant isn't a public place like a school, where everyone's guaranteed admission no matter how badly they behave. Kudos to Kanpai for remembering that.
SLIDESHOW: Tattoos That Go Way Beyond Your Average Tramp Stamp
Rodents Run Amok at Upstate New York Walmart
PHOTOS: Most And Least Christian States In America
What Happened When Alex Kenjeev Paid His Student Loan in Cash
America's 10 Highest-Paid CEOs of 2011 (and How They Earned It)
VIDEO, PHOTOS: Man Who Chewed Off Victim's Face ID'd
What's a Realistic Retirement Age?
Carrie Underwood's Grunge Rock Past: 'I Was All About Pearl Jam'
America's 10 Best National Parks
I'm A Successful Entrepreneur But Might Get Deported
Farmers Hit the Jackpot in Kansas Oil Boom
Yale Student Killed In Crash Days After Graduating
Mary J. Blige, Charity Lawsuit: Singer's Foundation Sued for Failing to Repay $250K Loan
Beyonce 60-Pound Weight Loss: Queen B Flaunts New Figure During Comeback Concert Series
LOOK: Inside Honduras' Deadly Prisons
Editorial: Despite shaky 48 fps Hobbit preview, high frame rates will take off
PHOTOS: Nicole Scherzinger Almost Reveals Too Much
Will You Be My Facebook Friend? No.
'Cannibal' Attack: Naked Man Shot Dead In Miami 'As He Chewed Victim's Face' (VIDEO, PICTURES)
Eight-Year-Old Upset After Teacher Gave Her The Biggest 'Catastrophe' Award
NSFW PHOTOS: A Little Too Much Of A Rear View
VIDEO: 'The Guy Was Tearing Him To Pieces With His Mouth'
Boy Locked In Filthy Coal Bunker Every Night For A Year
Blood Found In Missing Girl's Bedroom
FREE FALLING
Another Deadly Northern Italian Earthquake
MSNBC Host Says He's 'Uncomfortable' Calling Soldiers Killed In Action 'Heroes'
PHOTOS: Americans Honor Troops On Memorial Day Weekend
Police Arrest Parents Of Six Children Killed In Derby House Fire
60 Recipes For Pie Lovers
Travel + Leisure: PHOTOS: America's Worst-Dressed People
NYPD May Search Landfill For Etan Patz's Body
3-05-2010 @7:02AM uncle buck said... DUKE got it right. Thanks to Obama, those uppity (more appropriate than "sirly" which, of course, DUKE mispelled) black folks will want to ride in the front of the bus, go to public schools, and vote in elections. Spoken more like an "Imperial Wizard" than a "Duke".
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:03AM Lynda said... You seem to have left a few things out of your story- like the other side!
Why did she not tip at Kappai? Were the waitstaff rude to her? Did the service suck? Both things are perfectly acceptable reasons not to tip someone. I have only stiffed the tip in restaurants for those reasons, otherwise,. I tip.
Tips, lady,mean to ensure prompt service. That means if the service and/or attitude sucks, then you have the right not to tip them.;
Kappai better not open a restaurant in NYC- they'd be out of business for that stunt.
Reply
3-05-2010 @8:32AM Serge said... As usual is the never ending debate over tipping vs not tipping etc. I have been in the servie industry by choice for well over 40 yrs now. I can see both sides of the debate. If the servie is bad then don't and say so to management. If the service is good then 15% to me is acceptable. If the server has gone out of the way to be attentive without being attentive and in ones face then give the extra. What I find ironic is when a hotel advertises "Kids Eat Free" and the group comes in with 4 Adults and 8 kids and runs the shorts off the server and leave the table area like Hurricane Katrina has just gone thru - the Kids meals come out to $30 and the adults eat maybe $16 worth of food and then leaves the server $5....No offense but that sucks - especially when it involves Friday nights and weekends when most places are the busiest. As I said after being in the business for over 40yrs now I am always grateful for anything I get and figure I walk out with more than I came in with. If you can afford to go out ot eat once in awhile even 10% to me is acceptable and appreciated. I may be in the minority here as one in the business. Unfortunately the 'Entitlement" attitude is strong on both sides of the debate. Btw I'm Eastern European so maybe I see things alot differently than most folks.
3-05-2010 @9:29AM weeboys2 said... You missed the point. She was a repeat customer. If the service was not good,why would she be going back? She was making a jerky statment,that statement being,I know it is custom in the U.S. to tip servers,but I'm not going to do it. And the restaurants answer was O.K.,no problem,we don't want you here. No body is required to eat in a restaurant,for most of us, in this econom,y we only wish we could afford to go to a restaurant. And if we can't afford to tip the server a respectible 15-20%,we stay home and open up a can of soup.
3-05-2010 @8:33PM ken said... I read the whole story. Not bad food or service, she just didn't feel the need to tip.
3-05-2010 @7:03AM will said... Only time I don't tip is if I get bad service and to which I will address the manager tell him or her why. Other wise I try to tip 20-30 %.
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:11AM kelley said... I am a server and have been for many years, I agree that the owners have the right to refuse service. I will have those who say that the company needs to come up with the money to pay the server more should know that certian things are set in place in restuants, bars etc. that when a servers wage and the amount of tips they make do not add up to minumum wage the restuaunt pays the difference. A server in general has to claim 10% of their sales on taxes as tips earned even if they did not make that amount and that is to protect them and the company they work for. So for those who feel that because someone takes a job as a server that they should recieve great service and not tip in return, that is your right, but just remember it is that server who will end up paying in the long run. The tips outs, the taxes and all and you get to go home and sleep on a full stomach served to you by a server that you probally ran back and forth and treated like a maid. Just a little food for thought.....next time leave anything its better than nothing but just once put yourself in their shoes. Its not so easy
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:14AM Frequent Diner said... They should also ban bad servers! I have had some who didn't deserve the $2.35/hr minimum base let alone the tip!
Reply
3-05-2010 @11:53AM jes said... One of the comments about 15% tip being way 20 years ago rubbed me the wrong way. Who sets these amounts the patron or waitstaff? Probably not. I worked in service for over 40 years I still feel that 15 to 20% for good service is appropriate. 25% for above average or diners with children is also appropriate. But I know that some restaurants also make the servers pay a percentage of thieir tips to the busboys, bartenders, and kitchen staff. Having been on both side of the line I feel every establihment should by law pay a full wage to the wait staff as they are the face of buisness and can make or break a place.
Reply
3-12-2010 @11:03AM Gail Morrow said... The Restaurant can easily solve this problem with adding 15% gratuity right into the bill! DONE! Most Restaurants where I call home, live by this rule. In South Beach, we have a lot of tourist, who have no clue, or simply do not tip (they do not tip in their country). You would never have any servers working here if you did not add the 15% gratuity right into the bill!
Problem Solved! How Easy is that?
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:17AM bigwhitedog said... In case you all forgot tipping is voluntary and the amount should be determined by the quality of the service you receive. If restaurants become like governments that tax us according to their desire and decide how much you have to tip than they can keep their food and I for one will eat at home.
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:22AM Charles said... Good, stay there!
3-05-2010 @7:25AM ajax said... Well, the whole idea of tipping is outdated. Employers rely on customers tipping their workers so they won't have to pay them a fair wage. Servers work hard and deserve to be paid well by their employers. Plumbers, mechanics, police, teachers, etc do not have to rely on tips to make a living, so why is it people in service-related jobs have to resort to this legal form of begging. Come on America, pay your workers a good wage. They've earned it!
Reply
3-06-2010 @2:39AM Melinda said... I don't think that everyone is privy to the fact that servers only get paid between $2.50 and $3.00 and hour. We rely on tips to make a decent hourly wage. We work very hard and it not only out in the dining area but behind the scenes as well so that we may insure a pleasant dining experience. It is really sad that someone would take advantage of this fact and forgo tipping just because they are cheap or didn't consider their own budget. How embarrassing that this woman actually brought other in with and didn't tip. Can you imagine what they thought. Hopefully, someday our pay can at least be brought up to minimum wage so that maybe if something like this happens we at least get some of the money which should have left as gratuity. It is hard business and not everyone one can be a server, I challenge that this lady who is not tipping take a week and try it so see can see what it is like.
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:19AM JRC said... I am usually a good tipper and leave a bigger tip than most. If the server is cute then extra is left :-) just joking. However, I have also eaten at places where the service was so poor I left a small tip, but still left something. A few times I was approached in the parking lot about the size of the tip and told the server what I felt was wrong, poor attitude of server, not showing interest in us, not seeing coffee or drinks needed refreshing etc. I feel places need to figure the tip into the bill after seeing if the customer is satisfied with the service.
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:28AM Charlie said... Maybe they should ban lousy servers as well. Charlie
3-05-2010 @7:29AM Charlie Stull said... How about banning poor servers??? What law says you have to leave a tip at all??
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:46AM mjsjr52 said... Add a fixed gratuity to the bill- harder to do for smaller parties granted- the customers who see it and accept and pay it wil be your customers, the ones that don't and leave- well, the probability is they weren't worth keeping anyway.
Let the customers choose..
Reply
3-05-2010 @8:39AM jake said... I am at least a 20 percent tipper, but I'll tell you this. Why doesnt anybody ever bring up the fact that the owners could pay more to the servers. Why should the people pay top dollar for the meal and then also pay anothe 20 percent just to go out and eat.. A server should get a decent tip if they do their JOB. Servers who think they can do things half assed and still get 20 are in for a surprise with me. Personally I thinkl that 20 percent is too high that is one fifth of the cost of the meal. I still tip the max to good servers, but if they are bad they get tipped accordingly.
I would like to know when the tip became mandatory. Instead of wages going up the tips go up.Like I said i tip the customary 20 but I dont go out to eat as much as I used to.
Reply
3-05-2010 @7:29AM Alice said... My husband and I are cooking more and more at home since most restaurants are becoming too cheap and are hiring waiters just to give them jobs for tax reasons. The $100 or more we will spend at a restaurant will buy us some nice wine and perhaps a good steak to enjoy here in our dining room. Our last visit to a restaurant was very disapointing since they had hired an Obama type man who had no idea how to serve us. For example, he would place our food on the table not observing the correct side to do so and did not let my husband taste the wine before pouring. We did not leave a tip since it was the resuarants fault for hiring an inexperienced waiter.
Reply