tommy

i don't think anyone has suggested otherwise, and in fact we all agree on this point. although "entitled" is a strong word.

i still cannot determine what you mean. the tip area would have to be separate from the bill area by necessity, since the customer fills it in.

oh really? welcome to egullet. how did you hear about us?

oddly enough, my noodle was canoodled in a restaurant years back. that was interesting. but that's for another thread. since we're on the solo diner thread, i will say that i've never solo-canoodled in a restaurant though.

i've had take-out from Mela. it didn't come across as notable, but in all fairness i wasn't dining at the restaurant...and it was superbowl sunday, so i was a bit pre-occupied. do you know anything about it? from what i've seen, it's a pretty restaurant.

wait a minute. you mean to tell me that all of those pretty young ladies at the bars all through the years actually didn't want to talk to me? damn. i had always assumed they were there for the taking. actually, many times i've witnessed a guy starting to chat up a woman who would obviously prefer to be enjoying her meal. don't guys take hints? are we all that stupid? on and on and on they'll go. cringe-worthy. "Soooo, do ya come here often...?"

well, disgusting was a strong word. it was probably more facsinating than anything. and yes, it was just like fishy liver. who knew?

it was, interesting. very strong, that's for sure. this was at Esca in NYC. one of batali's restaurants.

it would seem that we are no longer discussing the tipping issue. however, nowhere did i suggest that the restaurants make a mistake regarding the tipping issue.

had rhubarb with monkfish liver recently. the sweetness of the rhubard nicely offset the utter disgustingness of the liver.

it's all relative. i've never heard of cedar knolls, so to me, it's in PA.

oh yeah. and trust, mrs. tommy will feel the same way you do in 4.5 hours when i have to get up for work. she'll say "you're just a laugh riot this morning, i hope you enjoyed the internet all night." oh yeah, i'll be a pleasure. i should say right now, please disregard anything i post before 11 am EST tomorrow. i'm sure to be in a realllly crappy mood.

where those guys in the Bryds at some point? i swear that anyone who ever mattered played in the Byrds.

Actually that is all I was trying to do no excuses. do it right or don't do it.

LOL! i just spit beer out of my mouth...and it's, like 1 am. but that's another thread... edit/full disclosure: what are you people on about? f*cking hell, i'm too busy at work to follow this stuff, and when i get home, i too freakin tired to follow this stuff. i need to set aside a dedicated "egullet day." not the usual 23 hour egullet day that i've been celebrating, but rather a full 24 hour egullet day. what da? who da? when da? why da? where da? how da? jeesh i'm stupid. somebody buy me a dictionary for my birthday. and some of those encylopedias and stuff.

ngatti, with all due respect, i think that you are stating reasons/excuses why one thing or another might happen in a restaurant. it's clear to me that you are familiar with the industry, and i'm looking forward to hearing more from you regarding this. people like me, and possibly rosie, although i won't speak for her because she is completely capable of doing so on her own, don't buy "shit happens" as an excuse. especially if it comes across as policy. i'm not sure about the rest of the readership here, but speaking for myself, i can say that "shit happens" in *not* an excuse in my line of business. if you can't handle it, if you screw up, you're out. fired. looking for another job, if not another career. it's no wonder so many restaurants go under. shit happens in every business that i'm aware of. only those who acknowledge and remedy their shortcomings survive. the rest wonder why they went under. and i do like your mindset, as it seems you're customer oriented.

it's about 3 yrs late. in fact, when we spoke to joe, you and lowell were with us, in mo-town. he's since moved, and now the restaurant is reeeally far away. but i'll make it back. if not scrubbing pots, in some respect.

the chef is joe, right? he offered to have me work in his kitchen for a day when mrs. tommy approched him about it as birthday present. i never took him up on it, but regret missing the experience.

indeed it does. equilibrium. it also, from what i read, has to do with the fact that the process never actually stops. that is, it doesn't ever really reach a static equilibrium, so the flow in and out of the meat continues on and on. pretty neat. alton brown, from the tv food network, has a good explanation of it. click me

"down" good or "down" bad? i liked it my one time there. i appreciate good, honest, family run places, even if the owners is a bit a of a lunatic! the one thing i recall, however, is a salmon sashimi dish that was just overpowered with a sauce. but i'm a purist when it comes to sashimi.

i'll take that into consideration.

right.

they leave the tip area blank in case you want to add more. actually, more correctly, they leave it blank because it is the customer's responsibility to fill out and sign the "contract." again, perhaps servers are at fault, but you'd be hard pressed to give me an example of a restaurant whose policy it is to attempt to screw the occasional table of 6, giving all of the screw-reward to the server. it just doesn't make sense. in a perfect world, the server would remind that table upon the presentation of the bill: "an 18% gratuity has been included per restaurant policy. you can feel free to simply sign, or even leave a little extra because, well, because i'm so darned cute."

la carbonaia in ho-ho-kus. la scala in hoboken, although people have hit-or-miss experiences there.

i have a hard time believing that. it only benefits the server, while it could destroy a restaurant's repuation. edit: where is it written that when a restaurant includes a service charge that it can't be assessed on the total of the bill and the tax? would you recalculate the service charge if you noticed this was they case? would you bring it up to the manager? would you not return because of it?