Yes Virginia, higher minimum wage kills jobs...

[Starlight]

We have tips too- in a restaurant if the food & service is good you leave a tip- if it's pants you don't.

We don't even have that. If there was good food and service you give a smile and a compliment to the staff, and if you're feeling really motivated, you leave a nice review online. If it was terrible, you cathartically write a nasty rant for your online review. Although a few restaurants have developed a practice of having a 'tip jar' surreptitiously placed on the counter to take advantage of foreigners who feel an innate and compulsive need to tip.

One of the other practices we have here which I prefer, is you always pay at the counter and never at your table. So when your party feels like leaving you just get up and head towards the door, stopping to pay at the counter on your way out, there's none of this 'wait for the bill to come to your table' nonsense. And you can always pay individually for your meals if you want, unlike some countries (e.g. Australia) where restaurants seem to have a bizarre 'no splitting of the bill' policy.

[Carrikature]

One of the other practices we have here which I prefer, is you always pay at the counter and never at your table. So when your party feels like leaving you just get up and head towards the door, stopping to pay at the counter on your way out, there's none of this 'wait for the bill to come to your table' nonsense. And you can always pay individually for your meals if you want, unlike some countries (e.g. Australia) where restaurants seem to have a bizarre 'no splitting of the bill' policy.

The problem with paying at the counter is that it's usually the same people seating incoming patrons. Everyone is in the way, and it slows everything down.

[Starlight]

The problem with paying at the counter is that it's usually the same people seating incoming patrons. Everyone is in the way, and it slows everything down.

In my experiences having to wait at the table for the bill to be delivered is much slower, and restricts when you feel able to leave. Whereas if you're literally on your feet and at the counter, then it's clear you need immediate service and wait-staff will drop whatever they were doing and come over to the counter to process you immediately.

[Sparko]

We don't even have that. If there was good food and service you give a smile and a compliment to the staff, and if you're feeling really motivated, you leave a nice review online. If it was terrible, you cathartically write a nasty rant for your online review. Although a few restaurants have developed a practice of having a 'tip jar' surreptitiously placed on the counter to take advantage of foreigners who feel an innate and compulsive need to tip.

One of the other practices we have here which I prefer, is you always pay at the counter and never at your table. So when your party feels like leaving you just get up and head towards the door, stopping to pay at the counter on your way out, there's none of this 'wait for the bill to come to your table' nonsense. And you can always pay individually for your meals if you want, unlike some countries (e.g. Australia) where restaurants seem to have a bizarre 'no splitting of the bill' policy.

whether the restaurant brings you your bill, or you pay at a counter are up to the restaurants in the USA. There are plenty of both, although the classier places will always be of the "bring you the bill" variety. Steakhouses, Mexican Restaurants, Family Restaurants etc, will be either. All you can eat buffets generally charge you as you go in.

I kind of like the tipping system in restaurants. It gives you power of approval. If the service is good you can leave a tip, but if it is bad, you can either not leave a tip, or leave a noticeably small tip to show your displeasure. Once at a Pizza Hut, the waitress was rude and lazy and obviously hated waiting on us. I left her a penny. She followed me out and threw it at me and yelled, "what the hell is this?" and I told her, "that is me telling you that you are a lousy waitress."

[Mountain Man]

I kind of like the tipping system in restaurants. It gives you power of approval. If the service is good you can leave a tip, but if it is bad, you can either not leave a tip, or leave a noticeably small tip to show your displeasure. Once at a Pizza Hut, the waitress was rude and lazy and obviously hated waiting on us. I left her a penny. She followed me out and threw it at me and yelled, "what the hell is this?" and I told her, "that is me telling you that you are a lousy waitress."

My wife and I once went to a Pizza Hut about 15-minutes before closing time, and the staff was visibly frustrated they wouldn't be going home early. The good news is they brought us our food in record time. The bad news is the waitress ran a vacuum around us while we ate and never refilled our drinks. When the cashier asked the customary "How was everything?", we were honest, and she knocked 20% off the bill.

[Mountain Man]

In my experiences having to wait at the table for the bill to be delivered is much slower, and restricts when you feel able to leave. Whereas if you're literally on your feet and at the counter, then it's clear you need immediate service and wait-staff will drop whatever they were doing and come over to the counter to process you immediately.

It's a cultural thing. On a recent trip to Montreal, my coworkers and I noted how much more leisurely the restaurants were. It was sometimes 30-minutes or more before a waiter appeared to take your order, and none of the locals thought this was the least unusual. At the conclusion of the meal, you would be offered coffee and allowed to drink it at your leisure. A simple restaurant outing could take several hours, but that's consistent with the more laid back attitude of French-Canadian culture.

[Sparko]

My wife and I once went to a Pizza Hut about 15-minutes before closing time, and the staff was visibly frustrated they wouldn't be going home early. The good news is they brought us our food in record time. The bad news is the waitress ran a vacuum around us while we ate and never refilled our drinks. When the cashier asked the customary "How was everything?", we were honest, and she knocked 20% off the bill.

at a local steakhouse, I ordered a medium steak. The brought me well-done. twice. they finally got it right and gave it to me at no cost. At that point I was afraid to eat it. Who knows what that pissed off cook had done to it?

[rogue06]

at a local steakhouse, I ordered a medium steak. The brought me well-done. twice. they finally got it right and gave it to me at no cost. At that point I was afraid to eat it. Who knows what that pissed off cook had done to it?

I got a well done steak after ordering one medium rare at a restaurant where the chef owns the place. The chef/owner apologized saying he had misread the order, cooked another one and said that all of our meals were on the house (except drinks).

[KingsGambit]

Not to go all food-snob, but I don't understand why anybody would order a steak well done.

[rogue06]

Not to go all food-snob, but I don't understand why anybody would order a steak well done.

As a child I hated steak. That was because my mother, otherwise a good cook, insisted on cooking all meat well done. To me it was tough as leather and not very tasty. Years later I had some steak at a cook out and the host cooked it medium and it was like an epiphany.

It was the same way with my brother and roast beef. My brother always ordered it when we ate a cafeteria and one day my mother asked him why he would do that when at home he would only have a couple bites. He matter of fact told her because her's was tough and dry.

The thing that made it bad was if we were eating out and someone ordered anything rare (including non-family) my mother would make a fuss about how could they stand to eat a bloody chunk of raw meat.

[Sparko]

I like my steak medium to medium-rare. Generally closer to medium-rare. But usually when I order medium-rare, it comes out rare, so I order medium, but then that sometimes comes out well done.

[Darth Executor]

As a child I hated steak. That was because my mother, otherwise a good cook, insisted on cooking all meat well done. To me it was tough as leather and not very tasty. Years later I had some steak at a cook out and the host cooked it medium and it was like an epiphany.

It was the same way with my brother and roast beef. My brother always ordered it when we ate a cafeteria and one day my mother asked him why he would do that when at home he would only have a couple bites. He matter of fact told her because her's was tough and dry.

The thing that made it bad was if we were eating out and someone ordered anything rare (including non-family) my mother would make a fuss about how could they stand to eat a bloody chunk of raw meat.

my grandmother always sliced meat thin and hammered it well before cooking it. so the beef was tasty and cooked properly. having to hope the chef finds the perfect balance between serving you boot leather and serving you a bloody carcass is a great reason to just skip steak altogether.

[Mountain Man]

Or learn to cook it yourself.

[rogue06]

my grandmother always sliced meat thin and hammered it well before cooking it. so the beef was tasty and cooked properly. having to hope the chef finds the perfect balance between serving you boot leather and serving you a bloody carcass is a great reason to just skip steak altogether.

Most cooks and chefs understand the differences between rare, medium rare, medium, medium well and well done. Usually at most they are one category off (more often on the cooked more side).

[rogue06]

I like my steak medium to medium-rare. Generally closer to medium-rare. But usually when I order medium-rare, it comes out rare, so I order medium, but then that sometimes comes out well done.

This is what you get for ordering a T-bone at Waffle House.