Uploads from tlanephoto, tagged restaurant, with geodata

"Reggio's", Mishawaka, IN - July, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:29:13 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Meatball Sammich and Coke $10.43-

This was actually a VERY good sammich!
Large flavorfull meatballs, really good bread, the whole sammich toasted in the oven, with green pepper, onion and Marinara sauce. A good zesty flavor, a REAL meal.
I asked for extra sauce and pepperoncinis, which were provided.

Now the bad news-
The potato chips were broken, little pieces like they were from the bottom of a bulk box of chips.
A fly would NOT leave me and my food alone- I literally had to shoo this fly away my entire lunch, it became a real problem. I also had to get up from my lunch (knowing that I would be leaving my food exposed to the fly!) to walk to the bar and ask for my Coke to be re-filled.

A VERY good sammich, but as I have said before, Reggio's has good food but you have to tolerate lacking or even BAD service.

"Red Robin", Mishawaka, IN - July, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:15:33 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

I decided to have "The Great Burger Blow-Out" to see which one of the BETTER burger places in my area have the best burgers.

Red Robin was my first stop.
I ordered their Bacon Cheeseburger which their menu claims to be "the best Bacon Cheeseburger in the known universe!"
Well, I can't say because I didn't get their Bacon Cheeseburger I received the "Red Robin Gourmet Burger" instead (pictured).

"Red Robin", Mishawaka, IN - July, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:15:24 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

"Red Robin", Mishawaka, IN - July, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:16:04 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Bacon Cheeseburger (NOT!), Coke $13.14-

I decided to have "The Great Burger Blow-Out" to see which one of the BETTER burger places in my area have the best burgers.
Red Robin was my first stop.

I ordered their Bacon Cheeseburger which their menu claims to be "the best Bacon Cheeseburger in the known universe!"
Well, I can't say, because I didn't get their Bacon Cheeseburger I received the "Red Robin Gourmet Burger" instead (pictured).

About 3 or 4 bites in to the burger I remembered it was supposed to have bacon on it, I even asked the waitress to bring the menu back so I could be sure I hadn't made a mistake. Yep, I ordered the BACON cheeseburger which their menu shows as having 4 long strips of bacon hanging out of the bun- there was NO bacon on the burger I received and photographed.
Because I am conducting "The Great Burger Blow-Out" and this was to be Red Robin's entry, I had to make sure I had not made a mistake and ordered the wrong thing. My picture doesn't lie, no bacon just cheese and ketchup on top of the burger, pickles onion and mustard on the bottom.
When I mentioned this to the manager (who figured-out what I was doing) he actually asked to see the photo I shot for proof!...as the cooks and the waitress were SURE I had received a Bacon Cheeseburger. I guess my word as a customer was not good enough, O.K. here's the picture!!!
I was charged for the more expensive Bacon Cheeseburger ( the manager did offer to take $2 off my bill after I said something to him about the problem- AND showed him the photo!)
The burger I received wasn't bad- but it wasn't what I ordered either.
It took 16 minutes from "front door-to food".

Their french fries are the big meaty "steakhouse" type and mine were cooked freshly ( I ordered them without seasoning, this is a trick I do to help ensure freshly made fries).
I could tell I was eating fries because they were warm and crispy on the outside and hot and mushy/meaty(?) on the inside. But they sure didn't have ANY potato flavor!
The fries were just tastless! Basically nothing more than dipping sticks for the ketchup.

All 6 T.V.'s had the same outdated sports (spawts!) footage showing. No media diversity here.
I have always felt that Red Robin is more about flash and decor than actual cooking and eating. There's a phony, corporate-marketing pall that hangs in the air. The waitress also seemed a touch too hurried to vacate my table so she could flip it for the next customer.

So, they got my order wrong- they would have over-charged me had I not caught the mistake and the manager wanted to see photographic proof that I received the wrong menu item- well, here it is!

"Fazoli's", Mishawaka, IN - July, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 21:40:12 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

"Ultimate Sampler" and Coke- $ 9.86

I don't usually bother with fast food chains because, well, NOBODY expects much anyway.
But, when it's REALLY BAD (they are rarely REALLY GOOD) I have to alert humanity.

I literally asked the manager "Can you even fathom how BAD pizza must be for me to NOT finish eating it?"
Not eating an entire slice of pizza is like stopping because the sex is so bad, or leaving a movie because it's so bad, or leaving in the middle of the fireworks show because it sucks SO BADLY!

First- the pizza was burned.
Second- it was tough as a roof shingle.
Third- the only flavor it had was of the grease.

The manager assured me the pizza was made freshly ( I don't believe her, especially at 9:30 PM)
and offered to make me another slice. I declined- If they can't make it good the first time why will they be able to get right in another 15 minutes???

The pasta was about what I expected. My biggest complaint here is they are always stingy with the sauce. At $9.00 a plate for $1.00 worth of noodles you would think they would be accommodating with the sauce so at least the meal would have SOME flavor.

I also (as an upright-walking, semi-intelligent human being) was insulted by the blaring marketing-hype-gibberish that covers every area of the drink cup- because obviously SOMEONE in the Fazoli's Corp. thinks this will "work" on their customers eliciting more sales and or loyalty.

"Chili's", Mishawaka, IN - July, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:54:43 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

"Philly Cheese Steak with Cheese SAUCE", $9.95-
"Chicken, Bacon, Avocado Quesadilla", $9.95-

I haven't been in a Chili's for about 6 years. I can't help but think of the comedy "Waiting" whenever I see a Chili's-Friday's-Houlihan's-Shenanigan's-Applebee's. I came in today because I had a buy-one-get-one coupon for a free meal.
My waitress was stiff and unfriendly- not rude exactly, just no personality, no charm.
I ordered the "Philly Cheese Steak" and asked that the "Cheese Sauce" be put on the side- I am sure that "Cheese Sauce" is mostly oil or fat.
The "Philly Cheese Steak" was dry, the steak was tough and gristley with no real flavor.
(see accompanying close-up photo of gristle/fat)

The "Chicken, Bacon, Avocado Quesadilla" was O.K., but again, the flavor was lacking. I probably wouldn't order it again.

Throughout the entire meal a screaming child 2 tables away kept bothering everybody on my side of the restuarant and the management did nothing. I mentioned this to manager "Kelly" and her only response was "Well, there's only so much we can do"- BUT YOU DID NOTHING!
YOUR CUSTOMERS' "DINING EXPERIENCE" WAS RUINED BY ANOTHER SCREAMING, YELLING CUSTOMER AND MANAGEMENT DID NOTHING!!!

However, the food was served on FANCY RECTANGLE PLATES!!!!

50% off a bad meal is still a bad meal.

"Chili's", Mishawaka, IN - July, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:54:42 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

"Philly Cheese Steak with Cheese SAUCE", $9.95-

My waitress was stiff and unfriendly- not rude exactly, just no personality, no charm.
I ordered the "Philly Cheese Steak" and asked that the "Cheese Sauce" be put on the side- I am sure that "Cheese Sauce" is mostly oil or fat.
The "Philly Cheese Steak" was dry, the steak was tough and gristley with no real flavor.
(see accompanying close-up photo of gristle/fat)
Yum, yum- this was the "steak" on my "Philly Cheese Steak" at Chili's!!!

"SUBZILLA", "Jersey Mikes", Mishawaka, IN - June, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:50:26 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

#13 "The Original Italian", chips, Coke $ 8.27 (special of the day)-

The meat was even thicker in the middle of the sub!!!
This was like 5 times the meat you get at "Sub-Wretch" for about $1.00 more!!!

I have nicknamed this monster, this beast-of-sub, this sub-of-a-bitch, "SUBZILLA"!!!
I COULDN'T EAT IT ALL!!!
And this is only their REGULAR, THEY HAVE ONE BIGGER THAN THIS!!!
$8.27 for this and chips and a Coke!!!- You can't even get this at Subway!

Provolone, ham, prosciuttini, cappacuolo, salami and pepperoni, hot cherry giardiniera, lot's o' lettuce, tomaters, pickles, onion, spices, vinegar and oil- damn, what a good sammich!
AWESOME SAMMMMMICH!!!

"Reggio's", Mishawaka, IN - June, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:50:26 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Spaghetti with meat sauce, "Giuseppe Salad" and Coke- $9.90

The service has always been the weak point at Reggio's- and the smoking!
Reggio's is now "smoke free", but the service is still lacking. They try to let one waitress serve the entire restaurant during the lunch shift and it just doesn't work. I've also had some VERY rude service here in the past and it has kept me away for long periods of time.

Having said this, the food is very good! The "Giuseppe Salad" is almost a meal in itself with lots of cheese , salami, and a great dressing. The salad brings me back.
The spaghetti sauce is also VERY good- almost as good as Capozio's in Benton Harbor!
Come for the food - try to tolerate the "servers" and tip accordingly.

"SUBZILLA" (cross section), "Jersey Mikes", Mishawaka, IN - June, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:50:26 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

#13 "The Original Italian", chips, Coke $ 8.27 (special of the day)-

Are you frickin' kiddin' me!!!???
The meat was even thicker in the middle of the sub!!!
This was like 5 times the meat you get at "Sub-Wretch" for about $1.00 more!!!

I have nicknamed this monster, this beast-of-sub, this sub-of-a-bitch, "SUBZILLA"!!!
I COULDN'T EAT IT ALL!!!
And this is only their REGULAR, THEY HAVE ONE BIGGER THAN THIS!!!
$8.27 for this and chips and a Coke!!!- You can't even get this at Subway!

Provolone, ham, prosciuttini, cappacuolo, salami and pepperoni, hot cherry giardiniera, lot's o' lettuce, tomaters, pickles, onion, spices, vinegar and oil- damn, what a good sammich!
AWESOME SAMMMMMICH!!!

"Reggio's", Mishawaka, IN - June, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:50:26 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Spaghetti with meat sauce, "Giuseppe Salad" and Coke- $9.90

The service has always been the weak point at Reggio's- and the smoking!
Reggio's is now "smoke free", but the service is still lacking. They try to let one waitress serve the entire restaurant during the lunch shift and it just doesn't work. I've also had some VERY rude service here in the past and it has kept me away for long periods of time.

Having said this, the food is very good! The "Giuseppe Salad" is almost a meal in itself with lots of cheese , salami, and a great dressing. The salad brings me back.
The spaghetti sauce is also VERY good - rich, dark and savory- you can tell it's been simmered for a long time!- Almost as good as Capozio's in Benton Harbor!
Come for the food - try to tolerate the "servers" and tip accordingly.

"Mancino's Italian Eatery", South Bend, IN - June, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:47:46 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

"Monday Special- Ham and Cheese with Salami added, Coke, chips and a pickle: $6.10 - including tax!!!

Because Subway won't honor their June $2.00 "Cold Cut Combo" or "Black Forest Ham" deal
I went somewhere else instead.
Driving past Mancino's I noticed a sign : "$5.00 Grinders, 8 Inch!"
Their Monday deal also included a free drink! But, I didn't want just a Ham and Cheese sammich, so the guy says "For .60 cents more I can put salami on your grinder, add red peppers onion and green pepper and it's almost the same as our "Sicilian".
I got basically the same sammich I wanted, a Coke, chips and a pickle for $6.10 including tax!!!
Their employee went out of his way to take care of me, so Mancino's got my money and Subway did not!
THAT is how you succeed in business!!!

Oh, and it was a pretty good sammich!

******************UPDATE: Sept, 2012- I returned to this restaurant a few weeks after this and asked for the same deal again. The guy working behind the counter refused to make it for me and I have not been back since.

"Steak And Shake", Mishawaka, IN - May, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:30:39 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

"Country Skillet", "A hearty breakfast of shredded hash browns topped with a buttermilk biscuit, sausage patty, sausage gravy, cheddar cheese and two eggs."(from the menu)- $5.99

Not horrible, but I probably won't order it again. Greazey, the hash browns are in the form of a stiff, frozen patty- not fluffy crispy like in the picture. Very heavy, greazey and disappointing.

"Barnaby's", Mishawaka, IN - May, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:30:34 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Italian Beef sammmich and Coke, $9.00-

Not what you get in downtown Chicago, but pretty good!
Lots O' beef, good Au Jus (gravy, for you Chicagoans), good fries.
One complaint, they don't have giardiniera!
Overall, I really like Barnaby's and I will be back for more!

******************UPDATE:Nov, 2012- One of the bartenders here at Barnaby's has always had a surly, snippy way of letting people know she is displeased when you don't leave her a tip for every little thing. She got an attitude with me about something and I was PO'ed enough to seek out the manager on duty and tell him about it. He told me they have had MANY complaints about this female bartender in the past but the owner lets her stay. I have not been eating at Barnaby's very much lately.

"Jersey Mikes", Mishawaka, IN - June, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:33:47 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

"#13- The Italian", chips and Coke $10.20-

Gooooood sammich!

"Red Robin", Mishawaka, IN - May, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Thu, 31 May 2012 21:02:00 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Sammich $9.79-

This was actually free for my birthday.
A pretty good sammich although about 1/4 of the bun had no chicken breast.
The "crispy onion straws" were stringy, tough and greazy.
The fries are O.K., but for fresh-cooked steak fries nothing to get excited about.
Red Robin won't ever be my favorite- looking at the chain-drive burger broiler thats spits patties down a chute to be picked-up and placed on buns assembley line-style, the place just looks like a dressed-up, overpriced Burger King.

See the accompanying Red Robin photo for menu comparison.

"Red Robin", Mishawaka, IN - May, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Thu, 31 May 2012 21:02:35 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Sammich $9.79-

I don't usually bother with this, because we all know you never get what you see on the menu, but this is just too glaring to pass up! This photo is from the Red Robin website.
See the accompanying real-world photo I took of my sammich vs the huge, perfect sammich with the larger-than-bun chicken breast and feng shui condiment artistry.
I get so sick of this.

CLOSED!--"Lakeshore Grill", Simonton Lake, Elkhart, IN - May, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Sat, 12 May 2012 17:52:33 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

Pollock-All you can eat, Seasoned Fries, Cole Slaw and Coke- $11.37

First time here. Kind of a low-brow atmosphere and clientele. Large T.V.'s, wall to wall "spwawts" and very telling display of garish über-patriotism during "The Star Spangled Banner"
Semi-nice view of Simonton Lake.

The deep-fried Pollock was much better than I expected! The fish was light and flakey- not at all greazy.
The fries were heavily seasoned and battered (I don't like either) but edible. I wish the waitress had informed me about the fries. The cole slaw was good enough.
I consider this a pretty good deal All-You-Can-Eat for $8.99.

******************UPDATE: Dec, 2012- I went back here a few days ago and the place was closed down. I asked some guy who was there doing some construction what was goin on and he said it is going to re-open as "The Flippin' Cow Burger Joint" soon.

"Gino's East Frozen Pizza" - May, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:46:11 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

I bought this pizza last night and I opened it up to find this tiny, little joke inside!
The box is like 50% empty space with the pizza shrink-wrapped onto a larger piece of cardboard so the tiny, little pizza doesn't rattle around in the big, empty box!!!
What a rip-off!!!

Also, the website listed on the box- www.nostalgicfoods.com, does not exist!

Rules for Restaurants - April, 2012

nobody@flickr.com (tlanephoto) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:16:20 -0700

tlanephoto posted a photo:

I eat out a lot, and I have noticed many restaurants don’t take care of their customer's very well-
I’m here to help!

#1- There is only one REAL boss and I am not benevolent, compassionate or forgiving- I am selfish, demanding and fickle. I AM THE CUSTOMER!
I am here to please my needs, not the needs of your corporation, your shareholders, you personally, your manger, your waitresses or your hostess!
I want what I want and if you can’t/won’t deliver- your new competitor will!
Without ME – the customer – your restaurant (and your job) won’t exist. Period.

#2- I have many, many and new choices everyday- I have the sole power in the decision making process when it comes to choosing a restaurant. When you are out driving, count the number of restaurants you see during the course of a week- I do.

#3- If I choose to give your restaurant the opportunity to serve me- first thing, your hostess (if you have one) should (must!) ask me where I would like to sit. I don’t like the new trend towards automatically seating single individuals in the bar area (which I always veto), or way in the back next to kitchen and all its noise and foot traffic. My happiness is your only concern, so ask where I would like to sit.

#4- I really don’t care what is your waitresses name, this will not make her seem “more human” to me or help assure a tip.
And stop the sales pitch! I hate it when the waitress doesn’t even let me open the menu before starting with the suggestive selling spiel- including the “assumption” that I want something other than water to drink.
When you train your workers to push the "suggestive sell" items what I hear is "Look, you cheap bastard, I don't think you're spending enough money here! So how 'bout I push your feeble little mind into spending more money by using some 1st year psychology tactics that will increase the restaurants sales and thus my tip percentage, you cheap bastard, you!"
Restaurants are training their waitresses to rattle off a script that they think will increase sales and speed-up the dinning experience so they can “flip” your table faster. This does not benefit me, the customer, so thus, it is bad. Bring me a menu, a glass of water and listen to what I want.

#4.1- Do NOT allow/suggest your servers to sit down at my table – like we’re friends or relating to each other on some level other than servant and guest. Unless I am in a Hooters or some place similar I HATE that – especially when it’s some greasy faced punk kid named "Skippy, Blaine or Conner ".

#5 – Yes, I keep using the term waitress, the feminine pronoun, I don’t like other men bringing me food. I do not tip male “waitresses” – I don’t care if they are working for a living I don’t want them here bringing me food and asking if I need anything. I don’t care if you think this is old fashioned, Neanderthal, politically incorrect or whatever. Women bring Men food - Men hunt the food, Women prepare and serve it. Twenty years of P.C. contamination cannot undo half a million years of Darwinian evolution and the resulting hard wired instincts. Hire cute, friendly waitresses that are competent and pleasing to the eye - and maybe I will come back and spend more money at your restaurant.

#6- I do not like, nor am I impressed by “Oh, so eclectic!”, tortuously improbable food combinations- like “Tuscan Glazed Chicken Stir Fry with Vietnamese Baby Cabbage Sprouts topped with Jamaican Crème Brule” or whatever. I also don’t like the ” Oh, so modern” practice of the cooks not cutting the food to appropriate size, you see this a lot with salads – where a person is served large chunks of vegetables that have to be cut down to size by the customer before they can be eaten. I think the “huge chunks” idea is supposed to be evidence of how natural, fresh and close to being ” just hand picked ” are the vegetables or fruit. Offer good food that I can recognize and don’t have to finish prepping myself at the table and maybe I will become a loyal customer.

#7- Fast Foods Pay Attention! Serve what you advertise!
We, the customers, all know you spend tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars with ad agencies, photographers and re-touch artists to make your product look presentable, hopefully even appealing. But, when I see your ads all over the T.V., billboards along the roads, giant posters in your restaurants showing perfect, glistening, warm and comforting food delights, versus the sorry, smashed, dried out corpse-of-a-burger I usually get served it still pisses me off. Remember that great scene in the film ”Falling Down”? As far as I’m concerned this practice is false advertising.

#7.2- Fast Foods: I absolutely HATE starch coated French Fries! I love French Fries, but there are many times I leave them on my tray and they go into the garbage- HOW can you screw-up French Fries?!?! Here’s how- about the early 1990′s some chemist in some corporate food lab discovered that if you coat good, old American French Fries with starch you get something that is like a cross between a Pringles potato chip and a French Fry, something that will stay crisp and hot for a longer period of time under the restaurants warming lights, but it destroys the flavor and texture of the Fry. So, some restaurants ( some BIG ones! ), would rather serve you a bland, but crispy, thing with an unnaturally long shelf life which cuts down on their food costs (less waste) even though it doesn’t taste good- betting that most of the American public will just consume it with out question. Don’t believe it? Here is an excerpt from “Process for making a starch coated potato product”- United States Patent 5059435:

“A process for preparing frozen coated potato products is disclosed. Raw potatoes are washed, cut blanched, and partially dehydrated. The cut potatoes are then coated with an aqueous starch slurry. The, modified aqueous starch slurry is comprised of a combination of modified ungelatinized potato starch ungelatinized corn starch, rice flour and other optional ingredients. The coated potato strips are par fried in oil, then frozen. The frozen strips are prepared for consumption by either finish frying in hot oil, or heating in an oven. The starch coating enhances the holding quality of the ready to consume product. It also improves the acceptability of the finished product by increasing the crispiness of the outer surface”

The next time you get French Fries look closely- is there something that looks like batter on them that the restaurant calls “seasoned”?, are there little globules on the fries that look like blisters?- they ARE blisters, blisters of “modified aqueous starch slurry comprised of a combination of modified ungelatinized potato starch, ungelatinized corn starch”, YUM YUM!

#8- ” You don’t sell the steak – you sell the sizzle!”
Wrong, wrong and wrong! There are plenty of restaurants that think following Kramer's advice is smart, but I disagree. My favorite restaurant looks like Aunt Mable decorated it with $50.00 worth of garage sale brick-a-brack, I didn't drive down here because I am so impressed by your Marketing Depts current definition of “coolness, style or the cutting edge”. Fix me some good food the right way or I will tell everybody I know how bad you suck! No matter how much indirect lighting, monkey-art or muted paint tones you have in your building.

#9- Price: I don’t mind paying for good value, but I will not be chumped into overpaying because you say so. I went in to a seafood restaurant in Pensacola recently and looking at the menu I saw everything was ala carte, I asked the waiter “What do you do to a baked potato to make it worth $4.00?” , he looked at me with complete loss and said ” I don’t know, I guess we bake it”. I said ” Tell your boss I’m not stupid enough to pay $4.00 for a baked potato”, and I walked out. By the way, there was only one other customer in this place at 5:30 p.m.

#10- Tipping!!! I could wear out my keyboard on this subject. The following is from a CNN article on tipping, it’s just too good to resist:
“It turned out that countries with the most extroverted and neurotic citizens (the United States leads in both categories) tipped the largest amounts and to the greatest number of professions. “Extroverts are outgoing, dominating, social people — and tipping is an incentive for the server to pay you attention. Neurotics are prone to guilt and generalized anxiety — maybe they tip more because of guilt over status differences between themselves and the server”.
Amen. I am so sick of seeing tip jars where they do not belong- and YES I am deciding where they do and DO NOT belong! – ice cream stores ,burger counters ,gas stations ,photo labs , thrift stores- it’s obscenely ridiculous. I can’t believe the business owners allow this panhandling in their stores- with cute, little signs like “College Student Fund” , “Gas Money”, “Tips Please”- this is off-putting and annoying to most customers, although most don’t have the brass to say anything (see above). Restaurant owners love “tipping” because they can get away with not paying their help. Payroll is the biggest expense in any business.
I also hate this advent of a fill-in the tip amount line on debit/credit receipts. This is SO presumptuous on the restaurant owners part- maybe the service was BAD, maybe the waitress who gave the bad service is standing there staring at the customer while they sign the debit/credit receipt, making the customer feel obligated to tip- this is not a tip, this is social extortion- and I do not bow to the pressure! If I want to write a big, fat zero on the “tip” line, I will. I was in a pretty good restaurant about a week ago and after my meal while I was paying with my card, the cashier asked me if I wanted to leave a tip right in front of my waitress who was standing three feet away I was so pissed-off about this that I took the moment to “educate” her- I told her “you never ask the customer for a tip!” She said “well, I have to put it in the machine before I run your card” I replied ” I don’t care about your machine, it is very “bad form” and rude to ask a customer for a tip!” I will no longer patronize that establishment. I’ve even been in buffet type restaurants where they ask up front while you are paying if you want to put a tip on your bill -before the customers even sit down and take one bite!!!

And this brings to mind "THE BITCH!!!"-
This is the waitress that has been working at the restaurant so long (or is so horribly damaged emotionally) that she she thinks she can get away with a surely attitude and still save her tip at the end of the meal by smiling only when she brings the bill...WRONG, WRONG, AND EXTRA WRONG!!!
I love these types because not only do I stiff them with no tip, I also complain to management and often get a free meal while the BITCH gets a write-up or even fired!
So, keep it up BITCH - I LOVE free food!!!

The social convention of "tipping" has become a type of soft-arm extortion.
Watch almost any T.V. show or Hollyweird movie where food service is the subject and invariably the dialog will follow something along these lines- "if you don't "tip" you will get bad service", "That dirty S.O.B. stiffed me!" (the "tip" is no longer optional, it is a requirement- or ELSE!), "Don't be rude/complain/"stiff" people that handle your food or we will spit on it/drop it on the floor/sneeze on it or worse!
By the way there are more and more news stories where assholes that do these things in restaurants are GOING TO JAIL!!!
There has emerged a social paradigm where the servents are presented as the masters by way of tip extortion and threat of food contamination. As many Hollweird types and thier ilk worked in food service before "they made it big" it is easy to see how this attitude pervades Hollyweird.
The cure for this sickness is outright rebellion. The restaurant owners tacitly condone this behavior because then they don't have to pay their waitresses, busboys and bartenders a fair wage! But, if enough people stand-up to this aberrance and instead complain about and boycott service busnesses that don't value their customers then the natural order of balance may be restored where the customer is the boss and the servents work hard and earnestly to keep their jobs!
Tipping is something extra for those times that the waitress does an extraordinarily good job and I choose to reward her. The argument that we, the customers, won’t get good service without “tipping” is B.S. - If your waitress, bartender or bellhop does not give me good service I will take my business elsewhere, eventually the owner/manager WILL get the message and do something to save their business.
Problem of tipping solved.

There you go, some basic rules for restaurants (any business, really), if followed and you have a good product you should be successful – if NOT followed, you eventually will lose all of your money and fail.