JoelF wrote:No room service, no restaurant table service, due to pandemic restrictions.
jellob1976 wrote:And if that math is true, I think there will have to be a reckoning for the restaurant industry. I can't see middle of the road restaurants making a go of it. For me personally, I think "eating out" will mean takeout for the family; and visiting nicer/more unusual places when the wife and I get an occasional date night.
*For now, I'm going to refrain from naming restaurants. I don't think it's fair to criticize in light of pandemic, labor shortages, etc.
in an email, our annoying credit card company wrote: Hi there,
I noticed a 36% tip on your recent HOWARD ST. INN bill.
While some are tipping a little extra these days to support businesses and workers they love, I want to make sure this tip is correct.
ronnie_suburban wrote:I think this email we received at work from our credit card company is an unfortunate function of the current era . . .in an email, our annoying credit card company wrote: Hi there,
I noticed a 36% tip on your recent HOWARD ST. INN bill.
While some are tipping a little extra these days to support businesses and workers they love, I want to make sure this tip is correct.
I'd never seen anything like this. The total amount of the tip was $10. Wow, just wow.
bweiny wrote:This anecdote adds to the list of reasons I virtually always tip in cash. At least give the staff the opportunity to avoid having to pay taxes on it.
Lightfoot is expected to say businesses where patrons participate in indoor, leisure activities — including restaurants, bars and gyms — will have to check if people are fully vaccinated starting in 2022, WTTW’s Paris Schutz said in a tweet. There may also be a negative testing requirement that could be used for workers or patrons who are not fully vaccinated, Schutz said.
New 'Alfresco' tax at downtown Arlington Heights restaurants to begin Feb. 1
Chicago’s family-owned restaurants find a secret weapon during inflationary times: Parental wisdom
Message to the restaurant industry: Sympathy is giving way to frustration and customers are feeling gouged.
After all, the derivation of the word “restaurant” comes from the French verb restaurer, translatable as “to restore oneself.” Bars and restaurants are supposed to offer balm and recovery after a long day’s toil. And most of us care far more about how we are treated, not in the places where everybody knows our name but in the establishments where no one does.
Our advice is to phase out the digital menus that need to be pinched or expanded on smartphones, the igloos and yurts for outdoor dining during Chicago’s frigid winters, the deceptive service charges sneaked into bills that wind up going to restaurant owners rather than workers. And, please, stop shoving devices in our faces that start the tip options at 20% and go up from there.
Above all, customers hate the rise of what economists call “price partitioning,” where the true price of a meal is hidden by breaking it into little pieces. That cursed notion is behind paying for bread that used to be free and the 3% surcharge several restaurant chains in Chicago are now adding to checks without giving that money to their tipped staff. This stressful, anti-consumer practice should cease. Menu prices should be honest. And it’s not enough to say customers can request the surcharge’s removal: Restaurants are taking advantage of our reluctance to look cheap in front of family or friends.
Post-pandemic, inflation-strapped consumers are realigning which businesses they support, and as difficult conditions continue to pressure restaurants, the industry needs to remember to put its loyal customers first.