Restaurant Tips

I like SF Chronicle Food Critic Michael Bauer. Now I like him even more because he not only answered my restaurant tip question but he used it in his food blog.

My question was about restaurants automatically charging a gratuity onto the bill for a large dinner group. If the service is bad, do we have to pay the included tip? Most restaurants will make sure the service is good or allow for a lower tip if the service is extremly poor. But, according to a consultant Michael Bauer contacted, large parties have an implied contract.

"...I talked to restaurant consultant Frank Klein, who confirmed what I suspected: If the charge is printed on the menu, there's an implied contract. "By sitting down to eat, you're agreeing to pay," he explained. Klein says that when he goes to restaurant, he tells them before he sits down that he doesn't want to be bound by the service charge. Instead, he tips on the quality of the service (which is often more than 20 percent)."

There are many who made comments to Michael's post. Check it out.