Just to add a data point, encountered this in Maui at an upscale Japanese/Filipino place called Macadangdang.
Note the hilighted part.
It was vacation, so I was in no mood to debate management (or, frankly, do a lot of math) so I just settled on some roundish number between 15-20% and called it a day.
But I probably opted to round down rather than up in this case.
okay, stop me if you’ve heard this story before (like you have any way to do this, right?):
Over 30 years ago, co-workers and I had lunch in a small Polish place in the East Village, NYC. It had been there for years and the owner/waitress was a hoot, known to be one of those cranky older folk (like I am now) who will tell you off at the drop of a hat. At any rate, the menu had peirogi with several different fillings. Of course, sour cream was extra & so was apple sauce, but each filling you may want had its own price as well. I’m making up the actual prices since I don’t remember them, but you’ll get the idea here:
Me: “why is cheese filled $3, cabbage $3, potato $3, meat $3.50 & a combo $4? I get that meat is more expensive, but why would a combo be more than any of them”.
Her: “Because I want to… don’t be a pain in my ass”.
I pretty much think this is relevant to the topic. It’s all about the business owner. You want to eat there, you accept his/her business model, as absurd as it may be. Has everyone seen “The Menu” yet? (that’s right folks - I edited my previous senior moment mistitling the movie)
Is this a movie? tv show? Where can one see it?
Movie. HBO Max.
Christine’s? Little Poland? KK?
The Menu?
Are you in fact thinking of ‘The Menu’? (Ralph Fiennes as a high end chef of a VERY exclusive restaurant?)
If so, then yes, and I just loved it. I believe there’s a thread of it here:
and another over on HO .
Quintessential NYC experience
I was at a market type place yesterday that also sells prepared foods. They had an iPad at checkout with the typical tip percentages.
At this rate we’ll have tipping options at Stater Bros soon.
Maybe I’m an A-hole but I don’t tip at markets, counter service or if you own the business. Those are my hard no’s. Charge what you need to to run your business properly.
Senior moments are more frequent these days. No wonder I couldn’t find the thread 
Yes, “The Menu”.
No, none of those places. Since you’re not old enough to have senior moments, you’re also not old enough to remember some of the long gone Polish restaurants in that neighborhood. Of course, I had trouble remembering the name, but it came to me (with some Googling help). It was Odessa on Ave A.
I had a Christine’s bumper sticker on my car when we lived in Rome in the 80s.
I was sad last time I went to NYC and it was gone. Best perogies I’ve had. Some of the best babka, too, though wherever they got it from might still be in business.
Very good babka. May be worth a mail order.
The place is owned by Daniel & Alicia. Daniel was a long time poster on all the food boards; sort of our own Rancho Gordo (whose beans are also sold at the store). They’re also friends, so I’m biased.
Oh! Well, that just closed, like, 10 minutes ago. Of course I know Odessa. But it wasn’t Polish (the name’s a clue), which is why I didn’t mention it.
Where’d he go, anyway?
Yeah, sorta. It’s funny, cause I never went next door to the 24 hour restaurant that was a spin off & closed relatively recently. I forgot it was even there. From Eater in 2020:
“… Odessa Restaurant opened on Avenue A back in 1994 as a 24-hour spin-off to the longstanding Odessa Bar and Cafe next door. The bar, which closed in August 2013 [due to rent increases] dates back to 1965…”
I believe that the owner of the Odessa Cafe (the place I went in the '80s & was talking about) fled Poland (as so many did, including my grandparents), but went to Odessa before coming here, moving to the E.Village with other E.European immigrants & opening one of many restaurants in the area that were all (since we were so attuned to geographic specificity back then) referred to as “Polish”.
As an aside, my grandparents told my parents (who told me) that they were “Russian”. The fact that my father’s parents belonged to the Brooklyn Jewish Bialystoker Society organization & are buried in that section of the cemetery didn’t faze my parents in the least. For those not looking at a map, Bialystok is in Poland, although folks from outside the city might have actually been across the current border & in Belarus. Russia did annex the area during some periods, but it was a stretch for anyone living there to think of themselves as Russian.
Daniel doesn’t post much on any of the food boards but is on Facebook.
I think a lot of people from that part of the world (I know a few) refer to themselves as “Russian” when they’re from another part of the former USSR, maybe Ukraine, maybe Lithuania. Just because a lot of Americans - until this past February, at least - couldn’t name any other countries over there.
Oh, maybe I’ll do a little light stalking.
Got charged 20% fee from tock. Another 20% fee assessed at restaurant. Dropped another $20 in cash before realizing we were getting hit with the service fee twice.
$180 in service fees/tips on $400 base god I hate eating out.
on the flip side of this, during a recent visit to hamlet’s kitchen (expensive as it is), they were resolute about returning my $2 in change. chinese restaurants also still seem to in the land of 15% as base level…
