Twin Cities Restaurant Scene – Is it just me?

I can always pay more for a part timer… no benefits at all.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Highbeeze24 wrote:</div>
I have positions posted for $20+ per hour and don’t even get a sniff from applicants. I have had one position open for a year now and have been unable to fill it.

My two oldest kids make more than that per hour and one is part time. No wonder people aren’t knocking down the door for that job no offense.

No offense taken. This is foodservice. The margins are incredibly tight. This particular position is 6.25 hour daily, M-F, 8 months of the year after summers off and the combined school year holidays. These positions were paying $14-$15 pre COVID. Those days are longs in the past.

Highbeeze24 wrote:

No offense taken. This is foodservice. The margins are incredibly tight. This particular position is 6.25 hour daily, M-F, 8 months of the year after summers off and the combined school year holidays. These positions were paying $14-$15 pre COVID. Those days are longs in the past.

Yeah, that is really too bad. Sounds like a decent gig for someone willing to work and not a terrible wage by any stretch. My first job out of college with a degree I was making 27k per year. Times have definitely changed. I have a buddy who works in the school food service industry and he really likes what he does and gives me school pizza every now and again. If only they still had the taco chalupas I remember! LOL

We recently went high end in Mpls. and visited Spoon and Stable. Expensive but great food, service was ok. The part that irks me is this on the bottom of the menu:
“A 21% Hospitality Charge will be added to dinner checks. Pursuant to Minnesota Statute §177.23, Subd. 9, this charge is not a gratuity for direct employee service.”

After research, I find that this truly is a tip (legal jargon) but try getting away with only leaving the amount on the bill. Just raise the menu prices to what you are charging and don’t hide an additional 21% on my food and drinks.

^That’s crazy.

Charge me the full cost of putting quality food in front of me that compensates the cook, pays for the product, and has enough margins to cover the costs of running a business and owner profit.

I will handle the tip accordingly and independent of things that specific worker cannot control. Last week we tipped a waittress $50 on a $75 tab solely because she was beyond polite and helpful with our girls (coloring sheets, free credits on some game thing, and gave us a heads up about a new park we knew nothing about). I’d give the food that we got a C+, but the service itself was some of the best we have had in recent years.

mark Mason wrote:

We recently went high end in Mpls. and visited Spoon and Stable. Expensive but great food, service was ok. The part that irks me is this on the bottom of the menu:
“A 21% Hospitality Charge will be added to dinner checks. Pursuant to Minnesota Statute §177.23, Subd. 9, this charge is not a gratuity for direct employee service.”

I believe that is also in addition to the 13.525% tax for the honor of dining in downtown Minneapolis. Although Spoon and Stable (and a few others) are worth it imo!

Was the tip listed on the menu or only on the bill?

A little off topic. Both President candidates ran saying they plan to change it so that food service workers would no longer be taxed on their tips. My daughter works at olive garden in Duluth. They are automatically taxed on each bill at 10% rather they receive a 0% tip or a 50% tip. their hourly pay is crazy low. Most food service workers are basically working for their tip $. When she gets taxed at 10% of the bill when the customer leaves less than 10% she is losing $. That just seems wrong to me. With lots of College kids, elderly, and people from Canada ( Which are not use to tipping ) she often gets tipped less than 10% even when she feels like she provided excellent service. not being taxed on her tips would make a huge difference in her total pay.

FT that is terrible! I used to be a bad topper but I’m a very good tipper now. Good service is hard to come by. If you pay cash for the tip instead of doing it on a card I think that helps them too.

I tip those who deserve a tip, and I’ll tip them well. Those who just expect a tip and provide crap service get 5 bucks if that. It sucks but most wait staff jobs are not meant to provide for a home. If you depend on those tips and “live” off them then you should work and act that way. Most servers I see these days don’t do that, more so just act deserving of something they don’t deserve like a spoiled child.

100% agree on the hospitality/service charge in addition to the gratuity BS. It’s dishonest. The price on the menu should be the price, period, then gratuity is at the diner’s discretion. I worked in restaurants for 10 years and I love tipping for good service, but I can’t stomach an extra 20% for the owner because he’s too chicken$hit to ask a realistic price on the menu.

I do call BS on the staffing troubles posted above, for one big reason. They don’t want to hire high school kids any more, and I know because my high schooler has applied all over the damn city. I worked in kitchens from age 13 to 21 and at that time there were kids my age serving, bussing, washing dishes, and cooking. Basically doing everything but managing and mixing drinks. You walk in these restaurants now and it’s a very different workforce. To an extent I think more high school kids are focused on academics and sports, but for the ones who are looking to work, why not give em a shot?

Green Mill is still there Big G. White Horse in downtown St. Cloud is good as well.

FT
So you’re saying the restaurant is taking out 10% of the total bill and the tip? Not just 10% of the tip amount. If this is the case her W2 should show a very large amount of tax paid in to Fed and State. If it doesn’t the establishment is taking the money for themselves.

mxskeeter wrote:

FT
So you’re saying the restaurant is taking out 10% of the total bill and the tip? Not just 10% of the tip amount. If this is the case her W2 should show a very large amount of tax paid in to Fed and State. If it doesn’t the establishment is taking the money for themselves.

No they calculate 10% of all your tabs and add that to your taxable income, then that amount gets taxed at whatever the rate is for gratuity. I’m sure Olive Garden is not stealing from their servers.

Here is a little better info on the service charges. By and large, not too many restaurants are charging this anymore because it’s confusing to the consumer.

Bottom line is it is a tip and you do not have to tip more. Sometimes we have tipped a bit extra if we think the server did a great job.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-restaurant-pros-offer-tips-for-navigating-the-new-world-of-tipping/600192684

Bearcat89 wrote:

I tip those who deserve a tip, and I’ll tip them well. Those who just expect a tip and provide crap service get 5 bucks if that. It sucks but most wait staff jobs are not meant to provide for a home. If you depend on those tips and “live” off them then you should work and act that way. Most servers I see these days don’t do that, more so just act deserving of something they don’t deserve like a spoiled child.

This is me too. I think a lot of servers, bartenders, etc just come to expect it even if its not deserved. I’m not afraid to tip zero if the service is horse manure.

The part about making a living off of it may be more directly related to the type of restaurant. Certainly the tips would be much more substantial at a high end steakhouse or supper club than they would be at Applebee’s (or Olive Garden) because tipping amount is generally correlated with the bill.

Speaking of tipping, those of you who play E Tabs do you tip the bartender or server if you win? I think that is really odd and I have seen people do it. I could understand traditional pulltabs but a machine?

they tip if they win on E tabs around here… pull tabs are enough for me.. never played E tabs

That machine is one of the biggest PITA for a bartender. Your at a bar if you want to play video games do it on your phone and leave the servers to do their job that gets them paid.

Riverrat wrote:

That machine is one of the biggest PITA for a bartender. Your at a bar if you want to play video games do it on your phone and leave the servers to do their job that gets them paid.

No thanks. The bar tenders i know enjoy the e tabs over counting tabs. So they are in complete disagreement with you, but who are they to say. It’s only their job.

Grouse maybe you should try a more country setting. We went Sal’s in Withrow on Saturday and the service was impeccable. It is not fine dining, but it is good Homemade food.

Justin riegel wrote:

Grouse maybe you should try a more country setting. We went Sal’s in Withrow on Saturday and the service was impeccable. It is not fine dining, but it is good Homemade food.

Sals is always great. Even better when it’s volleyball league nights.
Small town places like this will beat any 400 dollar over priced meal every day of the week.

dirtywater wrote:

I do call BS on the staffing troubles posted above, for one big reason. They don’t want to hire high school kids any more, and I know because my high schooler has applied all over the damn city

Not sure where you live, but that is not the case around this area. I know several restaurants that would take a high school kid in a heart beat. Some of them will pay close to 17.00 a hr. to start. Several restaurants are only still open for limited hours due to staffing shortages. I will say that there are far less high school kids working these days than when I was young, but I put this more on the kids and their parents than on business’s. I know a ton of parents who say they don’t feel like their kids need to work while in high school. They say they have their whole life to have to worry about working. Not say I agree with that thought but if the parents can afford to keep their kids from needing to work that is their call.

dirtywater wrote:

No they calculate 10% of all your tabs and add that to your taxable income, then that amount gets taxed at whatever the rate is for gratuity. I’m sure Olive Garden is not stealing from their servers.

I believe this is correct. He pay check has so many lines listing taxes I can not even understand it all. All I know is she says there are days where she is taxed more on her tips than she is making on her tips.

A lot of places wont hire kids unless they have a drivers license. They have to be 16 to operate a manual fryer in the kitchen. Anyone under 18 cannot run drinks out so they are relegated to only being a food runner.

If you like cajun / creole check out Krewe in St. Joseph. Phenomenal food, reasonably priced.

eyefishwalleye wrote:

If you like cajun / creole check out Krewe in St. Joseph. Phenomenal food, reasonably priced.

That’s the place I was asking someone about yesterday but couldn’t remember the name. This person knew st Joe and claimed there wasn’t a Cajun place in town.

I’d try that place!!!!

Don’t confuse withholding with actual tax paid. That 10% extra withheld should be part of a person’s refund depending on their overall income and deductions. Especially true of a part time worker.