In all my years in the restaurant business, I never really worked the front of the house. I was always in the kitchen, slaving away over a hot stove, making delicious whatevers for the masses. Every once in a while, you’d hear about a server getting a $100 tip on a relatively small bill, but nothing too over the top.
When I got out to eat, because of my years in the biz, I tend to be a pretty robust tipper. I tend to tip in the 25% – 30% range, more often then not. I guess depending on the size of the bill, that could get up there. especially if you’re eating at some place like The Lost Kitchen or Primo.
But over the weekend, in a post on their Facebook page, Portland Irish pub RiRa posted a photo of a once in a lifetime tip for one server named Samantha. to look at what was ordered, it was a pretty simple meal. A couple sandwiches and a beer for lunch, preceded by some Irish nachos.
Imagine the surprise of the server when she cashed out that slip and saw a tip for A THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! I don’t use all caps or exclamation points very often, but how often does someone get a grand for a tip on a $55 lunch?! When it does, it often makes national news. Will this? Who knows. But I thought it was awesome.
Once, I worked in a burrito shop where we split the tips at the end of lunch every day, and I made $26. That felt pretty epic. I can’t imagine what a grand feels like. I gotta wonder though…. I wonder if they pool tips in a place like that. did Samantha get that big tip and have to split it?
Often it’s a team effort in the restaurant business anyhow, so likely everybody got a taste. But still, that kind of generosity tends to make everyone’s day who’s anywhere near that kind of positivity. Hopefully, this financial bandit does this kind of thing all the time. That would definitely make the national news, haha.