Awkward Situation: Restaurant Etiquette
If this were you, what would you do?
We were out for dinner Friday night, at a new Chinese restaurant we’d read rave reviews about. It was classy, elegant, with streamlined decor and square white plates. The neighborhood wasn’t the greatest, but the food made up for it: delicious, super-fast, beautiful.
Our waiter was available, but not pushy. He gave advice honestly, not in that way where you know they are just saying it. We liked him, we liked the food, we were very satisfied.
The check came: $28-something. We paid in cash (two twenties), and they brought us back change: a $10 bill a $1 bill and change.
We had no other cash to tip with.
We went up to the counter, asked if we could get the $10 broken, and they said no. I don’t remember why now. So what could we do?
$2 is a very small tip, and $10 is ridiculously high. I mean, the food was good and we liked our waiter, but $10 on a $28 meal?
Before I tell you what we decided, tell me: what would you do?
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4 Responses to “Awkward Situation: Restaurant Etiquette”
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Why the heck couldn’t they give you change for a $10 bill?
If it were just between $2 or $10, I’d leave the $2 just because … really, how hard is it to open up a cash register? That would annoy me, regardless of their reasoning.
I probably would have just handed the $10 back to the waiter, and asked for $3 in change. If that wasn’t an option, and I absolutely had to decide between the $2 and $10, I’d probably also leave the $2… but feel really, really guilty about it.
So here I am: confession time. I really couldn’t think what to do, and (honestly?) I can’t think of why I didn’t blame them for not breaking our $10. That was really, really weird. They put us in an odd spot.
I feel embarrassed just remembering this, but: I wrote a check out for $5 and left the TO blank. I figured the waiter could either give it to the restaurant, who could give him the moola or he could write his own name in. I also wrote a little “sorry–out of cash!” note. Isn’t that the tackiest thing you’ve ever heard?
It hasn’t been cashed yet…
When I was a waitress, it was not uncommon for one of the customers to ask me to make change for him. I didn’t think much of it; if that ever happens again, you probably could ask your server to make change.