This is an actual check from Nello’s restaurant in New York City. $47,221.09! Goddamn! Talk about living large.

Of course everybody’s wondering who got to keep that $7328.20 tip! (Did you notice it was calculated pre-tax?) As a former waiter I knew no single server got to keep all that scratch. If they tried they’d risk a post shift knifing in a back alley. So, to get the skinny, I called Nello’s and talked to the actual waiter who served those well heeled customers.

The waiter was very circumspect and didn’t want to talk about his patrons. No problem. I wouldn’t either. But he told me that tips are pooled at Nello’s and that night’s glorious take was divided up among fifteen employees – waiters, food runners, bartenders, bus people and a maitre’d. In a pool house it’s common to divvy up the tips according to a percentage formula. And while the waiter at Nello’s wouldn’t tell me what that formula was, it’s obvious that everyone had a nice pay day! Congratualtions guys!

Can I get a job there? Please?

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