Holiday Season Wrap-Up

The “holiday celebratory season” for the StingyTipper household (when the waistline expands and the bank balance contracts) is a long one, stretching from mid-November with ST’s spouse’s birthday, through Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years, to both of ST’s sons’ birthdays at the MLK holiday, to the end of January when StingyTipper turns another year older.  (Thank goodness friends hold an at-home Super Bowl party in February—by then we’re broke!)  Along the way there are many opportunities to dine out, enjoying the company of family and friends over a multitude of meals at various eating and drinking venues.  Here is a partial list of some of the area’s dining establishments (meeting the criteria for inclusion in the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. review rating system*) where StingyTipper and entourage enjoyed the holidays: 

The Bleeding Deacon on Chippewa, The Stable in Benton Park, the Buffalo Brewing Company by the SLU campus, Joey B’s on the Hill, Lafayette Fire Company No.1 in Lafayette Park, and Pi Pizzeria in the Delmar Loop area.   

Maybe StingyTipper was just in a generous holiday mood, but most of the service staff at these establishments received gratuities that may have ruined StingyTipper’s reputation for being “overly frugal” (translate: stingy) in the tipping department.  ST was particularly impressed with the service at The Bleeding Deacon where a young lady (who looks amazingly like Taylor Swift) twice earned a S.E.R.V.I.C.E. review score of 21--and thus a 21% gratuity on both visits.  (ST’s companions stated that “just because she looks like Taylor Swift is no reason to lose your objectivity!”)   At Buffalo Brewing Company (yes, it’s a locally owned establishment—I checked), though the overall service was not up to par with what was given as a gratuity, the waiter worked so darn hard in the room packed with pre-game SLU basketball fans that ST felt compelled to stretch into leaving a “Gracious” tip rather than a “Not-too-stingy” one.  

StingyTipper was not impressed, however, with the waiter at The Stable who made the choice to watch the action on the big screen TV rather than deliver our food to us hot—he earned a score that translated into a 14% tip.  Nor was ST overjoyed with the servers at Joey B’s who, admittedly working a very busy room, chose to cram our delectable pizza onto an overly crowded table replete with dirty dishes from prior courses.  ST’s recollection is that a 12% tip was the most honest reflection of the service that particular night.

 We especially enjoyed the service at Pi Pizzeria where we got “two for the price of one”—a server-in-training worked our table alongside the main waiter for double-duty (yet not over-bearing) attention.  Unfortunately, we had to deduct from the gratuity because of the Comfort* factor:  our table was up against a church pew used for seating and kept coming off its wall anchor, thereby giving us a “rock the boat” dining experience.  As ST’s son commented: “What’s up with that?”  At Lafayette Fire Company No. 1, the staff all seemed to be in such a good humor that it became infectious tableside.  While StingyTipper became concerned that the waitress was pushing boundaries by getting “overly friendly” with our table, she backed off in the nick of time to preserve a still solid 16% tip.     

Like that song from the (original) Alfie movie (first sung by Cher, coincidently), you might be asking yourself:  “What’s it all about, StingyTipper?”  What have you learned or gained (besides a few pounds) through your holiday season dining excursion in St. Louis?  First of all, ST learned--yet again--how hard dining service personnel work for their living.  StingyTipper was reinforced in the belief that waiters and waitresses should never be taken for granted or overlooked; for without them, obviously, the restaurant industry would not exist nor could the dining public’s appetite for good food and service be satiated. StingyTipper also became convinced more than ever of the need for the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. rating system.  There are some tremendous servers working out there in our area’s eating and drinking establishments, and hopefully the rating system will reinforce the concept of providing them “Gracious” gratuities in a deliberative, discriminating and discerning manner.  Just as importantly, there are many individuals in the service industry who need to improve upon their service delivery—“get their act together” as ST’s son would say.  StingyTipper is equally hopeful that the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. rating system will raise the quality bar for these folks as well, so that they can truly maximize their remuneration potential in the noble profession of providing dining service.       

                              7-10   =    Tip Same %   = "Stingy"

                              11-14 =  Tip 15%          = "Not-too-Stingy"                  

                             15-21 =  Tip Same %    = "Gracious" 

                                      

                          Holiday Season Rankings 

                                          The Bleading Decon      = 21% (twice)

                                          Pi Pizzeria                      = 18%

                                          Buffalo Brewing Co.      = 18%                

                                          Lafayette Fire Co.          = 16%

                                          The Stable                      = 14%

                                          Joey B's                           = 12%

                                       

                         Gratuity Scoring Guidelines  

StingyTipper Preamble

StingyTipper is a St. Louis-based rating service (and a product—see the StingyTipper S.E.R.V.I.C.E. Rating System) designed to empower the “average” diner who struggles with the perpetual dilemma of “How Much Should I Leave for a Tip on this Meal?”.  It seeks to make the “art” of gratuity-giving more rational and logical and less stress-producing, helping to complement the entire dining experience.   The focus of StingyTipper is on the service experience, not on food critique per se, providing a pathway for making informed, intelligent decisions about tipping service staff in dining and drinking establishments.  If you have never experienced the dilemma of tipping appropriately, then this site is not for you.  

Some people (i.e., my family and so-called friends) have accused the StingyTipper of being “overly frugal”—or stingy! Thus, the name.  But I prefer to consider myself an aficionado of the 3-D approach to tipping: Deliberative, Discriminating and Discerning. The goal of StingerTipper is to raise the bar on the quality of service provided by wait staff throughout the dining/drinking establishments of St. Louis, so that they not only receive the gratuity they rightfully deserve, but the dining public is also treated to truly quality service.

Currently, there are only three criteria for being included in a StingyTipper review of service: 

• It has to be a St. Louis locally owned and operated establishment, not a national chain.

• It has to be compliant with the newly passed no-smoking ordinances (i.e., will not include places with exemptions).

• It has to serve both food and alcoholic beverages (ST enjoys a brew or glass of wine with a meal!).

As a person in the “service industry” myself with a focus on quality assurance, I have great admiration and respect for people who wait on people -- “they’re the luckiest people in the world”! That’s because, through their commitment to quality service delivery, they have the potential to control both the amount of remuneration they receive for their service and the level of happiness and satisfaction experienced by those they serve. What a job!   

My definition of success for the StingyTipper is threefold:

1) That the people who stumble upon this site will find it useful in their discernment  process of determining where to go to eat or drink among the many fine establishments in the St. Louis area.  And….that they will feel more at ease with the whole tipping dilemma.

2) That those who make their livelihood serving others their sustenance will be inspired to provide the best possible service they can and, therefore, will be handsomely compensated through appropriate gratuities.  

3) That your tipping habits might transform from being stingy (please, no one wants that moniker!) to being 3-D focused: Deliberative, Discriminating and Discerning.   

Disclaimers:

StingyTipper clearly acknowledges that an unsatisfactory service experience does not mean that the place where it was delivered is a bad eating/drinking establishment.   One can have excellent food and lousy service--and vise-versa, of course.  Obviously, it’s the combination of the two—food and service—that make for a special  dine-out experience. StingyTipper is only concerned with the service portion of this equation, leaving the food critique to the food connoisseurs.  

StingyTipper recognizes that one person’s bad experience with service is another person’s commendable experience.  Everything is relative to the situation: the server to whom you were assigned, the timing of your visit, the mood of the diners, what’s happening in the kitchen with the chef, the physical layout of the restaurant, how crowded the establishment is during your visit, etc. Even the weather can predispose the outcome of a service experience. StingyTipper openly and readily acknowledges all of this. But StingyTipper does not pretend to be all-knowing or all-seeing. ST is just an “average jo” who has had the good fortune to dine out (often at employers’ expense) in hundreds of restaurants across the country--and in Ireland--and who has thus developed very strong opinions about service. StingyTipper was conceived as a way to put a framework around those opinions so they could be delivered not in a random way, but in a thoughtful, intentional and humorous manner that hopefully will enrich and enliven one’s total dining experience.

A final word: If you don’t like my opinions, this web site is not for you--but try not to be too stingy.  It’s a tough world out there!

StingyTipper's Tip of the Week

Remember to provide a gratuity only on the total minus the tax. 

DON'T TIP THE TAX!

StingyTipper's First Review

LoRusso's Cucina 

LoRusso’s Cucina on Watson Road in South St. Louis has always been one of StingyTipper’s favorite dining establishments. So it was the first choice in selecting a place to celebrate ST’s milestone birthday.  LoRusso’s is also the first restaurant ST has used to launch the StingyTipper S.E.R.V.I.C.E. rating system.*

I am pleased to announce that, based on the service rendered and the applied rating system scoring, a full 18% gratuity was deserved and duly provided for Candice and her service team.  The service was flawless throughout the dining experience, with 18 out of a possible 21 points being earned by the wait staff.  (See below for a full scoring break-down.)  As appropriate, the staff flowed seamlessly among the diners, being neither overly obvious nor obtrusive.  Particularly noteworthy was the complimentary photo taken by Candice of StingyTipper and ST’s dining companions, as well as the special and sincere corrective overtures that Candice made to a diner in our party of eight who was not especially pleased with her particular meal. 

True to form, some of StingyTipper’s dining companions (critics all!) expressed their belief that ST was being “too frugal” in the gratuity department—after all, hadn’t the service been declared “flawless.”  But from ST’s perspective (taking a 3-D approach—deliberative, discriminating and discerning—to service delivery review), “flawless” is the basic standard that sets the threshold for gratuity amounts above 18%.  And though the service was perfectly fine and quite acceptable, it was not commendable across all scoring dimensions.  For a fairly quiet Sunday evening without a lot of patrons to serve, the service experience was exactly what it should have been, i.e., without reproach.  You can call StingyTipper old fashioned if you’d like, but service has to be extraordinary in all seven dimensions of the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. rating system* in order for this ol’ stingy person to let loose of more than 18% for a gratuity.

(*See the StingyTipper Rating System post for a full explanation of the rating system and the ST philosophy on service)  

Based on this one particular dining experience, StingyTipper recommends that you be a “gracious” tipper when dining at LoRusso’s Cucina.  

Happy dining.   And don’t be too stingy—it’s a tough enough world out there!

- StingyTipper

Scoring Key

1 = Unsatisfactory    2 = Satisfactory    3 = Commendable

LoRusso's S.E.R.V.I.C.E. SCORE

Salutation                     =  2

Equity                            =  2

Responsiveness            =  3

Value                             =  3

Informed                       =  3

Comfort                         =  3

Experience                     =  2

Total Score                   = 18

Gratuity Scoring Guidelines



                   "Stingy"                        7-10 = Tip Same %          

                   "Not-too-Stingy"      11-14 = Tip 15%               

                   "Gracious"                   15-21 = Tip Same %

              

The StingyTipper Rating System: How does it work?

For those of you who are new to StingyTipper, here are some details about how the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. rating system works.

Rate your experience with service at a dining establishment using the follow criteria, based on a seven item acronym formed from the word SERVICE.

Each of the seven variables is to be rated on a scale from one (1) to three (3):

1 - unsatisfactory

2 - satisfactory

3 - commendable

Scoring:  Add up the scores for each variable and arrive at a total score, from a low of 7 to a high of 21.

Leave a gratuity based on the following table: 

Total Scores                Percent Gratuity

    



7-10                                % that corresponds with the score = “Stingy”

                                          (This is the only “power” you have to send a message about unsatisfactory service)

11-15                              15% = “Not-Too-Stingy”

(What used to be considered an appropriate gratuity)

16-21                              % that corresponds with the score = “Gracious”

                                         (Yes, even above 18%; commendable service should be rewarded and incentivized)

S.E.R.V.I.C.E.

Salutation:

Rating___

Are you greeted warmly/sincerely by the host and your server?  Are you made to feel welcome?   Are you informed about where to place your coat and belongings?  If you made reservations, were they honored with no more than a 15 minute delay (with an apology for the delay)?  Does where you’re seated (hopefully not right outside bathrooms or the kitchen) bespeak of the establishment’s greeting of you, and do they accommodate, if possible, a request for change of seating?  Were you made to feel special just because you were there?

Pet Peeves:  When the server says: “Hi, I’m Eric, and I’m taking care of you tonight” when you know he could care less about taking care of you or anyone else.  Or…the host(ess) fails to provide menus for you to read and the server gets in a huff because you’re not ready to order.

Equity:

Rating___

Is your dining party being treated equally compared to other diners?  Do you feel respected, that the staff believes that your needs are as important as those around you?   Are you and your needs being overlooked while others are being waited upon and “cared” for?   Does every other table have an assigned server but your group seems to have a rotating cadre of “helpers.” 

Pet Peeves: When everyone else has bread and butter service but the server doesn’t bring any to my table.  Or…all the other tables have their candles lit, but my party has to sit there in the shadows or request that our candle be lit.  Or…there are no set-ups, napkins or water service at your places while everyone else is enjoying the “basics.”

Responsiveness:

Rating___

Does the wait staff respond to your requests on the first ask, or do you have to repeat your request one or more times?  Do you feel like the server is ignoring you or forgetting you?  Does the server return to your table to check on your satisfaction; or do you have to “flag” down your server to get him or her to respond to your needs?  Are the “basics” –replenishing water, offering to bring another round of beverages, checking the accuracy of the orders—being attended to?  Do you ever wonder if your server has left the premises? (I’ve had that happen!) Did your food arrive cold because the server was busy checking out the scores on TV (Also true story) 

Pet Peeves: You have gotten to the end of your meal and the server finally brings what you asked for some time ago and sunnyly proclaims:  “There you are!”  Or…the server smells of cigarette smoke after finally attending to your table after a considerable absence. 

Value:

Rating___

Regardless of the menu prices for food and drink (assuming you selected this place and knew what you were getting into), do you feel like you got your money’s worth? Are you comfortable that you spent the amount of money you did, or do you wish you could have spent less for what you got?  Was there a sense of fairness or “balance” between what you received and what you paid in return?

Pet Peeves:  Departing a restaurant having spent more than you thought you should and still feeling hungry (thereby prompting a run to the store for a bag of “Krunchers”!) Needing to add up the total check again and again in your mind to avoid thinking “I paid that much for that!?”

Informed:

Rating___

Are servers thoroughly familiar with what’s being served by the dining establishment?  Are they informed and knowledgeable about the specials of the day? Can he/she address any questions you have about what you’re ordering?  Do they inform you of the establishment’s policies impacting cost (e.g., splitting plates, substitutions, corkage fees, cover charge, set tipping for large parties, etc.)?  Does the wait staff seem to know what they’re doing or is there a general sense of “cluelessness” among the servers?  Were your unique requests (hold the mayo and onions!) transferred back to the kitchen staff?

Pet Peeves:  The server is clearly stumped by a question you have and either bluffs his/her way through an answer (which turns out to be incorrect,) or leaves your table altogether to check with someone else. Or…You are served the wrong plate of food, particularly if it wasn’t even ordered by anyone at your table!

Comfort:

Rating___

Things your server cannot control: Do you feel comfortable with the arrangement of tables?  Is the lighting to your liking?  Is the heating or cooling satisfactory to meet your comfort needs?   Is the noise level acceptable?   (Don’t take it out on the server, take it up with the management)

Things your server can control: Does the server attempt to address any of the above issues within their scope of authority? Does your server make you feel uncomfortable with too-friendly, “over-familiar” conversation and lack of boundaries in their interactions with you?  Were you made to feel rushed through your meal to turn tables to accommodate other diners?   

Pet Peeves:  The tables are so close together you feel like you’re dining with another group.  (I’ve actually refused to be seated in a setting where I knew I’d be staring into the eyes of someone other than my spouse’s.)   Or…seating is so tight the wait staff has to ask you to move to serve others.  Or…your dining companion talks more to the wait staff than to you.   Or…your server was so “over-friendly” that your dining companion (or you!) begins to flirt with him/her!   Or...Your server attempts to cram more plates on to your table without first removing dishes from prior courses.

Experience (overall)

Rating___

Did you come away from your overall dining experience feeling happy and satisfied, particularly as it relates to the service experience?  Did you say to yourself or your dining companions: “Let’s come back to this place!”?    Will you tell your friends about the positive experience you had at the dining establishment.  Will you remember your server (positively!) after the dining experience?  Do you feel yourself compelled to not be a Stingy Tipper? 

Pet Peeves: Leaving a dining establishment disappointed because you were looking forward to it based on recommendations from others.  Feeling a dining outing was unsatisfactory, not because of the quality of the food, but because of the service experience.

____ Total S.E.R.V.I.C.E. Rating Score

StingyTipper Service Rating System

stingytipper@gmail.com

StingyTipper's Birthday!

SingyTipper's Birthday is this Sunday! StingyTipper will be celebrating at LoRusso's off The Hill. First official review to follow.

Welcome to StingyTipper

What is StingyTipper? 

Stingy Tipper provides rating services for bars and restaurants in the St. Louis area.

Mission:

To provide Saint Louis consumers an accurate and systematic way of evaluating service and thus providing appropriate tips to servers, waiters and waitresses.

What we do: 

Stingy Tipper visits local bars and restaurants and rates service, atmosphere and the overall restaurant and bar experience.

While the quality of food does factor into this review Stingy Tipper is not a food critic site. Rather a site that rates the complete dining experience with a focus on overall service.

Where can you find us? 

http://stingytipper.blogspot.com/


stingytipper@gmail.com


http://twitter.com/StingyTipper


Facebook (search StingyTipper)


In person at local bars and restaurants!