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 %
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