Now that is good news! Will read it like I did your first book and your blog…I am hooked! Keep up the great work! Eating out has never been the same since reading your blogs!
Awww, no limited run by “The Waiter”? I managed to snag a Waiter Rant before they were printed with your name, I’m just waiting for it to become a collector’s item. 😀
That’s good to hear since I liked your first book. But November 2nd? That’s so long to wait! Do you happen to have an advance uncorrected proof copy lying around I could buy/borrow in the meantime?
Congratulations! Can’t wait to read it!
Is having a second book more exciting than the first, because you’ve proven you’re good/marketable/liked enough that the public will buy #2?
Congrats Steve! I look forward to it! Did you ever nab any Ren Faire performers and pass-the-hat artists? As one myself, I can tell you that few things can thin an audience faster than mentioning we don’t get paid much (if at all) for the entertainment.
I am more than happy to pre-order, but would like to know what link you suggest for doing so. I want you to get the biggest cut possible. Any preference for which fine book retailer I should pre-order from?
I just found your blog and I’m reading through it from the beginning, and I had a waiter question for you. What is the etiquette for the waiter when one person in a party orders another drink, who has obviously already had a few but isn’t incapacitated, and someone else in the party says no, in all seriousness they’ve had enough, and says it to both the waiter and the person ordering? Do you side with the sober person or the drunk guy who wants another drink?
Your blog is really interesting. I love seeing the behind-the-scenes of other industries; I have experience in retail and other ‘service’ industries and I love how everyone has their pet peeves and crazy customer stories irregardless of what field you’re in.
Can I ask a pre-book question? I’m sure this question is answered in the book, but I can’t wait that long!
What do you tip if you order take-out from a nice restaurant? I usually pay with debit, so the debit machine asks me to select a tip amount. Selecting $0 seems rude in my opinion. But the server didn’t provide a service, they just handed me my paper bag full of food. Should I tip a little? The usual amount? Or nothing at all?
In regards to Holly’s question about tipping “to go” orders.
All houses are different in their procedures with take-outs.
Sometime the Host/Hostess puts your “to-go” order ready. Sometimes they have a seperate section of the house of this is what they are there for.
It is very time consuming to put that order together, wrap it put, make dressing on the side, so your salad downs’t get soggy, go the other side of the house to cut and box your desert, make sure napkins, butter, crackers, silverware, napkins, etc, in the meantime our host needs to watch the front, take cash, and seat people at the same time.
Yes, you could toss him a buck or two. He went to a lot of work to get your order together. If I am serving and have to do a “to go” order, all of this work is taking time from my customers in the dining room, that are waiting for me to take care of them. I am negletting them who are going to give me a tip to put your “to go” order ready. Most of the time I do all this work, and very seldom receive anything. Just some food for thought.
I am not whining or complaining, I am just stating what is going on. You asked,
Lulu, if you have to neglect your tables to take care of a to-go order, then you aren’t a very good server. That’s like saying you have to neglect tables 1-4 in order to take care of table 5. Which doesn’t make sense at all; you balance your time between all the tables, right? Well, putting together a take-out order isn’t much different than taking care of a table, and it’s part if your regular duties, so you balance your time between those two tasks. You don’t NEGLECT one in order to do the other. Besides, most restaurants tell take-out customers to wait 30-45 minutes before picking up their order. That’s plenty of time to put together the bag without neglecting your tables.
That said, I do agree that you should tip for take-out orders. The only part of your post that I disagreed with is the part about having to “neglect” customers in order to put together a take-out order.
once, in casually asking buddies, “what does being rich mean?” one of them responded “never having to leave a tip” and i thought that sounded contradictory – if you can afford it why not do it To Insure Proper Service
as in “too big too fail” i guess there is a “too rich to tip”
then along comes tiger woods and it is revealed he is getting all these women and doesn’t pay a dime – from what i understand the payments actually made were all subsequently paid as hush money !
well, assuming that my understanding is correct, then there are service providers who will apparently do things “gratis” if the patron is a big enough deal
i don’t know if the book addresses NOT tipping and the consequences but it is an interesting concept
anyway i’ll have to read it to find out – pleased as always to enjoy
Hi Steve, I’ve just finished reading Waiter Rant and about 90% of your blog archives and just wanted to say with great gusto you are fantastic. I love your attitude about everything, from what you’ve written your outlook on the world very much resembles my own. Thanks for keeping me thoroughly entertained at work for 3 full weeks! I look forward to Keep the Change. Congratulations on your success and I hope it keeps coming!
Hey Steve i cant wait to read the new book. It will probably give me all the power i need to survive another december where i work!!! You are truly awesome. And on a side note tip for to-go orders always!!
Marvelous! I just recently finished your first book and everything about it was so fantastic.
It definitely made me evaluate how I act while I’m out at a restaurant. And I definitely kicked one of my friends in the shin the other week when we were out to lunch and she asked to be moved to a different table.
Hi Steve!
I wrote a book about the service industry which I am self-publishing and should be out at the end of May…and I decided I needed to read your book and visit your site because I have heard so much about it. I am ashamed to say that I just now read it but I LOVED IT. Thought it was extremely well-written and true to life and thoroughly enjoyed it. Really liking the blog as well. Would love to e-mail you but I am not able to off of your site for some reason.
I have a website up with a chapter from my book at http://www.katyfranklin.com
If anyone is interested, please check it out and let me know what you think!
Hey there – got your book in a discount bin a few weeks back in the town of Peterborough, ON.
A chain bookstore – Chapters – had it next to a couple of other books I’d been looking for..the ‘wish list’ of books that I carry in my daytimer- I could not believe my luck in getting it. And yeah, it was deeply discounted – but my promise is to buy the next book of yours at full price!
I have been in this business for years, from waiter/bartender/manager/chef to catering genius(hehehe)and next to Bourdain’s books, really have never read anything that caught the experience of the waiter observing his lot in life the way your book did. In your observations and the articulating of your experience I was caught by how lonely that life was and is – and how well your voice nailed it. I was really taken by the universality of that. Yeah. Wherever you go – there you are!
Nice little book, Steve – I have it on the coffee table of the bed and breakfast I run, challenging guests to read a chapter – and see the waiting game from the other side.
OMG, just finished the first 60 pages of WaiterRant…caught myself laughing out loud. For anyone who has ever had the “displeasure” that serving food often provides, I’m sure that others have laughed aloud in empathy as well. Looking forward to your next book 🙂
Cool – hope the book does well and we’ll now read you more frequently here 🙂
Kudos, dude! Your loyal fans have watched via the blog slog through this.
yay! really excited, for you and for me, since my birthday is in November!
Congrats to you! Big achievement! I can’t wait to devour this one like I did the first one.
Congratulations Steve.
Looking forward to it. 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS!! xoxo 🙂
Now that is good news! Will read it like I did your first book and your blog…I am hooked! Keep up the great work! Eating out has never been the same since reading your blogs!
Awww, no limited run by “The Waiter”? I managed to snag a Waiter Rant before they were printed with your name, I’m just waiting for it to become a collector’s item. 😀
Congratulations. I hope it will be another success. Also, this is coming the day before my birthday, now I know what to ask people to get me.
That’s good to hear since I liked your first book. But November 2nd? That’s so long to wait! Do you happen to have an advance uncorrected proof copy lying around I could buy/borrow in the meantime?
Wow!
Seriously? November 2nd?
That’s my birthday.
I’ll be 26.
Congrats, man!
I Will pick it up as soon as it comes out.
Finally!
Outstanding news, Steve. I’ll be sure to pick up a copy sooner or later.
Wonderful! Congratulations. I’ll be pre-ordering today. Love your writing.
Doesn’t it feel cool to be DONE?!
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
Congratulations! Can’t wait to read it!
Is having a second book more exciting than the first, because you’ve proven you’re good/marketable/liked enough that the public will buy #2?
Any idea on the release date in England?
Do you happen to know when/if it will be released in Australia?
Congratulations! Looking forward to November, but how about just a little excerpt? Please?
Your story (as in you, yourself) is very inspiring!
Congrats Steve! I look forward to it! Did you ever nab any Ren Faire performers and pass-the-hat artists? As one myself, I can tell you that few things can thin an audience faster than mentioning we don’t get paid much (if at all) for the entertainment.
Congrats on the new book, really looking forward to picking up a copy and devouring it as fast as I did your first.
Congratulations, can’t wait to read it!
Hi Steve – only discovered your blog two months but am definitely looking forward to reading both your books! Congratulations!
warpedsubconscious.blogspot.com/
congratulations!
I am more than happy to pre-order, but would like to know what link you suggest for doing so. I want you to get the biggest cut possible. Any preference for which fine book retailer I should pre-order from?
Can’t wait to read the Vegas chapter. 🙂
I just found your blog and I’m reading through it from the beginning, and I had a waiter question for you. What is the etiquette for the waiter when one person in a party orders another drink, who has obviously already had a few but isn’t incapacitated, and someone else in the party says no, in all seriousness they’ve had enough, and says it to both the waiter and the person ordering? Do you side with the sober person or the drunk guy who wants another drink?
Your blog is really interesting. I love seeing the behind-the-scenes of other industries; I have experience in retail and other ‘service’ industries and I love how everyone has their pet peeves and crazy customer stories irregardless of what field you’re in.
I won’t even read the back cover, I’m buying. Waiter Rant is my favourite book! A chance to read new material is a chance I won’t pass up.
Congratulations on finishing/publishing!
So looking forward to reading it.
Love your writing
Do we still need to buy the book if the perfect tip to leave on all occasions is illustrated on the cover?
$1.67
Thanks for that!
Can I ask a pre-book question? I’m sure this question is answered in the book, but I can’t wait that long!
What do you tip if you order take-out from a nice restaurant? I usually pay with debit, so the debit machine asks me to select a tip amount. Selecting $0 seems rude in my opinion. But the server didn’t provide a service, they just handed me my paper bag full of food. Should I tip a little? The usual amount? Or nothing at all?
Can’t wait to read it! 😀
Is the description on the cover referring to you?
Were you ever a clueless tipper Steve?
Congratulations!! I cant wait to read it. Your last book has been circulating amongst my friends! They all love it!
In regards to Holly’s question about tipping “to go” orders.
All houses are different in their procedures with take-outs.
Sometime the Host/Hostess puts your “to-go” order ready. Sometimes they have a seperate section of the house of this is what they are there for.
It is very time consuming to put that order together, wrap it put, make dressing on the side, so your salad downs’t get soggy, go the other side of the house to cut and box your desert, make sure napkins, butter, crackers, silverware, napkins, etc, in the meantime our host needs to watch the front, take cash, and seat people at the same time.
Yes, you could toss him a buck or two. He went to a lot of work to get your order together. If I am serving and have to do a “to go” order, all of this work is taking time from my customers in the dining room, that are waiting for me to take care of them. I am negletting them who are going to give me a tip to put your “to go” order ready. Most of the time I do all this work, and very seldom receive anything. Just some food for thought.
I am not whining or complaining, I am just stating what is going on. You asked,
Lulu, if you have to neglect your tables to take care of a to-go order, then you aren’t a very good server. That’s like saying you have to neglect tables 1-4 in order to take care of table 5. Which doesn’t make sense at all; you balance your time between all the tables, right? Well, putting together a take-out order isn’t much different than taking care of a table, and it’s part if your regular duties, so you balance your time between those two tasks. You don’t NEGLECT one in order to do the other. Besides, most restaurants tell take-out customers to wait 30-45 minutes before picking up their order. That’s plenty of time to put together the bag without neglecting your tables.
That said, I do agree that you should tip for take-out orders. The only part of your post that I disagreed with is the part about having to “neglect” customers in order to put together a take-out order.
this is soooo exciting.
once, in casually asking buddies, “what does being rich mean?” one of them responded “never having to leave a tip” and i thought that sounded contradictory – if you can afford it why not do it To Insure Proper Service
as in “too big too fail” i guess there is a “too rich to tip”
then along comes tiger woods and it is revealed he is getting all these women and doesn’t pay a dime – from what i understand the payments actually made were all subsequently paid as hush money !
well, assuming that my understanding is correct, then there are service providers who will apparently do things “gratis” if the patron is a big enough deal
i don’t know if the book addresses NOT tipping and the consequences but it is an interesting concept
anyway i’ll have to read it to find out – pleased as always to enjoy
frankD
Congratulations. Can’t wait to read it. 🙂
YAAAAAY!!! Can’t wait to read it!!
Woooooooo! Congratulations, Steve. Bet you breathed a big sigh of relief when that manuscript got turned in.
nice…..
Love your blog!
Check out my commentary about BAD TIPPERS! http://www.npr.org/internedition/spring10/?p=432 🙂
heh…and it;s two days before my birthday….
Dude,
Where’s the link to pre-order?
That’s my birthday!!
Be nice when tipping Canadiums, that’s all we ask.
Exciting!
Hi Steve, I’ve just finished reading Waiter Rant and about 90% of your blog archives and just wanted to say with great gusto you are fantastic. I love your attitude about everything, from what you’ve written your outlook on the world very much resembles my own. Thanks for keeping me thoroughly entertained at work for 3 full weeks! I look forward to Keep the Change. Congratulations on your success and I hope it keeps coming!
Hey Steve i cant wait to read the new book. It will probably give me all the power i need to survive another december where i work!!! You are truly awesome. And on a side note tip for to-go orders always!!
Congrats on the new book!
– The Bellman
http://www.bellmanbaggage.com/
Marvelous! I just recently finished your first book and everything about it was so fantastic.
It definitely made me evaluate how I act while I’m out at a restaurant. And I definitely kicked one of my friends in the shin the other week when we were out to lunch and she asked to be moved to a different table.
Kudos! Can’t wait for the new read!
Hi Steve!
I wrote a book about the service industry which I am self-publishing and should be out at the end of May…and I decided I needed to read your book and visit your site because I have heard so much about it. I am ashamed to say that I just now read it but I LOVED IT. Thought it was extremely well-written and true to life and thoroughly enjoyed it. Really liking the blog as well. Would love to e-mail you but I am not able to off of your site for some reason.
I have a website up with a chapter from my book at http://www.katyfranklin.com
If anyone is interested, please check it out and let me know what you think!
Congratulations, Steve! I just recently discovered your work and read “Waiter Rant” last week. I am so looking forward to your next book!
Congrats Steve! Glenn and I can’t wait to read it.
Hey there – got your book in a discount bin a few weeks back in the town of Peterborough, ON.
A chain bookstore – Chapters – had it next to a couple of other books I’d been looking for..the ‘wish list’ of books that I carry in my daytimer- I could not believe my luck in getting it. And yeah, it was deeply discounted – but my promise is to buy the next book of yours at full price!
I have been in this business for years, from waiter/bartender/manager/chef to catering genius(hehehe)and next to Bourdain’s books, really have never read anything that caught the experience of the waiter observing his lot in life the way your book did. In your observations and the articulating of your experience I was caught by how lonely that life was and is – and how well your voice nailed it. I was really taken by the universality of that. Yeah. Wherever you go – there you are!
Nice little book, Steve – I have it on the coffee table of the bed and breakfast I run, challenging guests to read a chapter – and see the waiting game from the other side.
Urs
Everyone should have to work as a waiter at some point in your life.
I get at least one clueless tipper a shift, but there are always tells
http://www.mattunedited.com/2010/05/tells-that-youre-bad-tipper.html
STEVE, My pastor does preach on tipping enough. and debts in the lords prayer refers to sins you have committed. g
Good stuff, being reading your blog for years, really god stuff over the years, I will be on the lookout for the new book.
OMG, just finished the first 60 pages of WaiterRant…caught myself laughing out loud. For anyone who has ever had the “displeasure” that serving food often provides, I’m sure that others have laughed aloud in empathy as well. Looking forward to your next book 🙂
Just read your book – very enjoyable read. My husband I were hiding it from each other so we could be the one to read it.
HOpe you’re enjoying life! All the best –
Everyone, I just read an advance uncorrected proof copy of “Keep The Change”. It’s great! You won’t be disappointed!