Tip-out

October 16, 2006 4:08 PM

Tipfilter: I work as a line cook at a restaurant in Canada, and I'm curious as to what is normal in regards to server tip-out to kitchen staff.

Right now, the policy is 0.5% of the gross sales for the servers, and they claim they usually give us a full percent of their gross sales. This has led to some conflicts though, as an example a large party recently tipped $1000 on their credit card, and gave each server 200$ cash... kitchen staff ended up with 70$ to split 9 ways.

Most of the time, I don't really care, and I would care less if this was above-average, but some of my more experienced colleagues claim this isn't a very good setup.

posted by glip to grab bag (13 comments total)

When I was a server we tipped the kitchen 10% of our tips, some places servers don't tip out the kitchen at all.
posted by Packy_1962 at 4:21 PM on October 16, 2006

It's been a while, but I think we tipped out at 2% or so of gross sales. I know it wasn't based on our tips (for the obvious reasons that servers would lie about them).

I'm definately positive it was more than .5 % though.
posted by KirTakat at 4:47 PM on October 16, 2006

It varies from place to place. I never liked having to tip out the kitchen staff, not because they didn't earn it, but I felt that the owners were using us to supplement payroll.
posted by lobstah at 4:49 PM on October 16, 2006

Yeah, in my experience (I work as a sort of consultant for the liquor industry in Canada), there is no norm and this is always a contentious issue.

I always prefer the gross sales model to the percentage of server tips, though, as there are too many ways for the wait staff to screw the kitchen using the latter. Also, while you would end up with examples like glip's, a poor server would not directly affect the kitchen's tips.
posted by converge at 4:53 PM on October 16, 2006

The unwritten tipping rule in Canada/US is a scam so restaurant owners can get away with paying employees less. I worked in a bar kitchen for years without any kind of tipout. I never get mad at wait staff for bitching about poor tips, but I did get really mad at the owners who were still paying them minimum wage *because they'll make enough from tips*.
posted by Popular Ethics at 5:04 PM on October 16, 2006

I've encountered a variety, but 10% of tips to kitchen seemed pretty standard. (At least during meals; late-night and swing shifts were another matter, but its usually C-team scrubs in both halves of the houses then, so who really cares?) While that is standard, however, I've seen several places that tip the kitchen 0%, while I know of a couple - especially where the cooks are part of the experience (hibachi, sushi, table-side preparations (desert flambe, for instance) - that tipped even more to the kitchen. So really it depends on management more than anything else. Generally, if its a food-oriented (especially if chef owner/operator-ed) place, kitchen tips tend to be good. If the chef has relatively little power, kitchen tips tend to be low, since its front-house management that ends up running the show. I find its also a pretty good measure of how much the management cares about its food, and often will ask the hostest how much they tip the kitchen if I'm considering a place. 0 kitchen tip often means a "owner's late on his boat payment, get those pigs to the the trough"-dining experience.

So, um, it depends? Good place? 10%. 10% is good. If you're not making 10% and if - big if - you're dynamite on the line, you could be and should look elsewhere.

there are too many ways for the wait staff to screw the kitchen using the latter.

Believe me when I tell you that there are FAR more ways for the kitchen to screw the server than the reverse; servers who engage in this kind of behavior do so only at their extreme peril and usually get taught pretty quickly not to fuck around.
posted by ChasFile at 5:12 PM on October 16, 2006

hostest

Perhaps the most painful typo of my life. Not even joking.
posted by ChasFile at 5:15 PM on October 16, 2006

In my restaurant life, line cooks didn't get tipped at all. But then, they had regular salaries and a different taxation policy (i.e. not getting taxed as if they were in a position to receive tips).
posted by frogan at 6:01 PM on October 16, 2006

At the lower-to-middle class family restaurant I work at servers tip out 3% of their sales, split amongst all the kitchen staff (Cooks, prep, dish), with the cooks guaranteed an hourly minimum rate.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:58 PM on October 16, 2006

the one time i worked at a restaurant, the kitchen staff did not get a share of the tips ... the busboys got a percentage, but it's anyone's guess whether all the waitrons were honest about that ...

The unwritten tipping rule in Canada/US is a scam so restaurant owners can get away with paying employees less.

Believe me when I tell you that there are FAR more ways for the kitchen to screw the server than the reverse

both of these statements are true
posted by pyramid termite at 7:06 PM on October 16, 2006

Our kitchen was partially salaried, partially not, but our tips never went to them. They got a higher base salary than we did, though, but we still took home more than they did.
posted by dflemingdotorg at 7:15 PM on October 16, 2006

As a line cook in Minneapolis, it's unheard of for the kitchen staff to get tipped. Frankly, I think it's a bad idea, like lobstah said: you're using FOH to supplement BOH payroll. It just creates tension and unnecessary problems. Just pay your cooks a decent hourly wage and limit tip-outs to FOH staff.
posted by BradNelson at 7:34 PM on October 16, 2006

hostest

Perhaps the most painful typo of my life. Not even joking.

Does she have the mostess?
posted by chrismear at 12:24 AM on October 17, 2006