Secrets of the Restaurant Critics
The professionals who eat for a living reveal the tricks of their trade
What about wine? If the wine doesn't taste good, say, "I'm not sure the wine is supposed to taste like this. Would you mind tasting it?" Often, the restaurant will replace it and sell that bottle by the glass.
What's considered an appropriate tip now? At a fine restaurant with good service, think 20 percent to 25 percent. If the service is just adequate, 15 percent. If you leave 10 percent, you're making it clear you weren't happy. (That's if you had to ask five times for water and never got it.)
Should you ever give a zero percent tip? We've never done it because we believe everyone needs to earn a living and we try to give the waitperson the benefit of the doubt. However, if a customer gets truly awful service and does everything in her power to turn things around and things are still not resolved, it may be warranted. Elaine Tait, former critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, says that once, after she received atrocious service, she wrote, "Somewhere out there in [Philadelphia], there's a waiter wondering whether or not I forgot to leave him a tip. I didn't."
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