I would be more interested in hearing from local servers about their RW experiences. Theory is one thing--a good tip in the pocket is something else. People may think they are being generous when the server thinks something quite different (just as a recent study showed that many parents do not realize their own children are obese ...)

That would be great too. Love your new name.

Since we normally tip more in the 20 -25% range (as, I expect, many former servers do), my hope it that our servers always feel properly compensated.
The problem of not having a reference point for the normal cost of the RW items actually made us tip more in the 25 - 30% range just to be sure.

Dahlink, are you implying that servers are simply spoiled, obese children?

Tipping should be on the price of the meal unless the discount is so great as to truly affect the servers income. (As is the case with free meal coupons) In this case, at most of the RW restaurants I went to the discount looked to be around 10%. The difference to a waiter on a 20% tip is about 60 cents. However, if the typical RW patron went out to eat three or four times instead of once or twice a week, the net result to the area's servers was a great week. The servers should share in the promotion just as they share in early bird discounts.

There is a big difference between tipping on a buy one get one free deal and tipping on some marginal deal like restuarant week.

We diners really shouldn't have to concern ourselves with figuring out the right tip on what really amounts to a free bowl of soup.

I still don't understand why some people make over RW so much. I think it gets more hype than it deserves. The only thing it does for me is make it harder to get a reservation.

The whole point of RW is to provide a discounted meal. Extra fees are unreasonable and show that new business is not welcome. A 20% tip on the check is more then fair.

I was talking to some servers from Aldo's last night and they had some interesting comments. One said that they make a ton more money than they would normally, because this time of the year is typically very slow. He also said that the customers are often labor intensive, because they are not seasoned diners. They are gawkers, culinary tourists. He said that they take a lot more attention and want everything explained in detail. "What is a truffle?" "Did Marco Polo really invent macaroni?" "Is owl meat high in cholesterol?"

Owl Meat Gravy has it right. With the exception of Valentines Day and maybe the Super Bowl, these are the winter doldrums for restaurants. Owners participate in Restaurant Week because they welcome the added business when things would otherwise be slow. So while a server might not present as large an individual bill as he/she might otherwise, I'm willing to bet their total sales for the entire night (and, accordingly, their tips) will be higher.

Any servers out there to weigh in on this theory?

And remember, you now have your own entry to do so under.

A longtime server who participated in Restaurant Week:

Alan, where did you come up with 10%? At my restaurant, check averages were only

My impressions of restaurant week:

The theoretical intent of restaurant week, to introduce people to restaurants they would otherwise not try and to perhaps return for the regular menu, simply does not work. What restauranteurs in Philadelphia, New York and Washington (all cities that have participated in restaurant week longer than Baltimore) have found is that Restaurant Week creates a restaurant week culture: people who go restaurant crazy two weeks out of the year, and then do not eat out again until the next restaurant week returns. Consequently, every year, participating restaurants in RW get smaller and smaller every year. General Managers, who’s bonuses are assessed by gross profit, love Restaurant Week. Owners, looking at net, hate Restaurant Week, as RW Menus are designed to break even.

Tipping:

Although it is traditional to tip servers on savings, in practice, this almost never happens. In the case of restaurant week, where I served about 300 people, it happened maybe 3 times. I had high hopes for this year, as Elizabeth Large told people to tip more than 20%. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that most RW customers read that article. Still, to the 3 customers who did, thank you and good for you for reading Elizabeth Large’s article.

The Truth:

Even though tips are less than during the average week, the fact that you are waiting on 4 times the number of regular customers actually leads to a good week for servers. My week turned out to be about >20% better than usual. Granted, I worked 7 nights, and had to work 4 times harder. Truth of the matter is I actually like Restaurant Week. It’s a change of pace and the customers are about 4 times easier to deal with than regulars. I would like to see more money for all the hard work, and maybe 1 or 2 return visits by the guests that come in during restaurant week, but these things are not going to happen. It is what it is, a dog hard week with an insane amount of generally really nice and easy customers that I will not see again until early August, a slight bump to my income, and a half a week for my legs and my feet to recover.

We went to Ruth Chris (Pier 5) on Friday evening and our server was great. We tipped about 25% because of the good service, it had nothing to do with RW. We did eat the RW menu which to us was a bonus. We also ordered some extras. It was a shame to see some of the servers spending too much time explaining the different cuts of meat. Then only to hear "I will have tap water".

I ate at four RW locations. At three of the four my RW menu choice options were listed or close to listed on the main menu. The price differential was 8-11%. In reality I paid more for the RW menu as I would not normally order dessert. At the fourth restaurant my choice off of the menu was less expensive then the RW menu. At most places a cocktail or wine was also ordered. I know many who took advantage of the week to try new places, if nothing else due to the publicity and all go out once or twice a week normally. They certainly would return if they like a restaurant and would not even if the price was 50% less then normal if they have a poor experience. In any case I do not know of anyone who works on any type of commission (and what is a tip?) that does not share in the discounting of a product. This is the real world and most would be happy with a possible extra sale or client. In any case the result is an increase in income!

I *always* tip on the pre-discount price, whatever it is, RW or no. Tipping on the discounted price is just wrong.

The one time I went out for RW (at the much missed Edward Kim Saffron) I complained to my server that I didn't have the correct prices available when the check came. The restaurant should make it easy to calculate the correct tip. But that's still no excuse for undertipping.

Missy, thank goodness you didn't go to Ruth's Chris on Saturday. ;)

Tipping is still all about the service. RW should not make a difference when it comes to the server. These are upscale resturants. The skill of the severs should not change because RW allows the Applebee's crowd to stick their head into the door. Give me good service and you'll get a good tip. Give me bad service and you'll get the dollar in the water glass tip.

I think that the difference in tip wages on a 'regular' meal vs. a 'restaurant week' meal would be more than made up for by the increase in diners and sheer volume of meals, as Owl Meat Gravy Pointed out. Not to mention the "oh, well then I'll just have another $8 martini since I'm getting a deal on my meal" train of thought.

Being in the marketing world myself, this is a great coup for the Baltimore Restaurant Industry--to give diners a reason to come out and dine in the cold when they would normally be snuggled up on the couch. This most definitely results in incremental revenues AND wages for all involved--otherwise, they wouldn't continue to do it year after year, and add ANOTHER week in the winter as they did in 2007.

The benefits to the restaurant itself, the owners, the Baltimore scene and, yes, the waitstaff, far outweighs the slight reduction (if any) in a per meal tip average. In the end, the net gain will be higher.

Hopefully the owners and managers have worked out individually how to best compensate their servers if there are any discrepancies. I would imagine, after three years of RW in Balt, if it were a raw deal in the end for servers, the restaurants would compensate somehow. Neither of our restaurants visited seemed to be lacking for eager, happy serving staff.

With all of that said, we did go a little above and beyond with our tip. It was, after all, very busy!

Alan, I don't know where you ate, but at my restaurant the Restaurant Week price was less than 40% of the menu price. As for your commission analogy, "I" don't know anyone in another blue collar field who doesn't receive time and a half for overtime, or is told to work overtime at half pay - which is what Restaurant Week is. We're not management, we're labor earning labor wages - and labor is supposed to be compensated for labor.

But, like I said earlier, I’m not complaining. I took my little extra money and was happy with it.

You're not earning wages, you're earning tips. Apples and apple sauce.

How about this: many restaurants have a lunch menu where some items are the identical size as the dinner menu, but at a lower price. By some people's convoluted logic, your should tip the server on the full dinner price. Same work, different income.

This topic makes my head spin all the way around. Don't you try it.

Don't get me started on the outdated reality of tip run restaurants in the USA. Regardless of the clientele, the check average or the night it is essential that I spend time out of my house doing what I enjoy and doing it with integrity. I would not work in any other kind of scenario. Food, rest. accountability to the planet and community and cleanliness top my lists for must haves.
I have alwys believed that tipping should be an extra bonus and incentive for good service and food. I would say that I NEVER make what I think Im worth. Is it up to the consumer to foot that bill? No. Its the company or group to compensate according to skill and return guests.
I was BURNED OUT after two nights on the floor. My husband is a wreck! We're in our 40's for godssake! Our stations remained quite small and the rest, overstaffed. We had to turn and burn to make it work out a little in our favor after a 9 hour shift of staight work. Not worth killing myself over. Give me a night of good ole regulars who know how to go out.

Lisa, it's been years since I last waited a table. I need a translation: "turn and burn." What does that mean, unless I really don't want to know?

Dahlink, "turn and burn:"

shove food down the customers gullet and push them out the door to make way for the next table, over and over again for the course of the evening. It's the only way to make money in a cheap restaurant, or any restaurant during restaurant week. Obviously, turning and burning is frowned upon in nicer, more expensive places. But, related to what Bill said above, don't expect Hampten's service at Applebees prices.

Having worked as a line cook at a restaurant whilst in college (and now with friends in the business), promotions like RW (and most large cities in North America do a variant now) do help with overall revenues, but as others have mentioned, the percentage of diners who are less-than familiar with dining out grows (hopefully it's folks expanding their horizons and trying different cuisines and tastes, and not just going out for something boring). And the server who had the 10-top no-show...I'm so sorry for you and your entire crew. I can't even imagine what a mess that was.

A suggestion for RW diners; tip at least 20% for good service, and if your meal/service was really good, let them know. Believe it or not, they really, really appreciate the compliments. And guess what; your server and the entire restaurant want you to have fun and enjoy your meal.
Really.

Folks, please- if you make a reservation and can't make it, call the restaurant and cancel (even if the restaurant didn't take a credit card number- which many of them are starting to do because too many people no-show). And if you're running a touch late (i.e. traffic, trying to find a parking spot, call the restaurant and let them know). They'll appreciate it, your fellow diner trying to get a last-minute table will appreciate it, and if you try to call back for another reservation at another date/time, the staff will love you even more.

Think about how maddening it is; you're trying to get a table on a Saturday night, and you see empty tables while you're waiting, and it's because some rube made a reservation, and is now blowing it off. The restaurant is in a no-win situation; they want you (as the people standing there waiting for a table) happy, but then, they also want to honour that reservation.

So here's where I'm torn. I try to be a generous tipper, especially for good service. I would plan on tipping a little more than usual for RW due to the cheaper prices, but this seems based on a shaky premise. If my wife and I go out and she orders a salad/soup combo and I order steak, by the RW logic I should tip as if we both ordered steak. I understand that reduces the argument ad absurdum, but it's the same principle: the server has to do the same amount of work for both of us but will be tipped less because the total meal was less expensive than it might have been.