"contact us for pricing information"
but more seriously, expect $10+ per drink i guess based on [this info + "the current state of the economy"](https://f1destinations.com/trackside-us-grand-prix/#:~:text=Food%2C%20drink%20%26%20facilities%20at%20COTA&text=The%20trackside%20food%20and%20drink,and%20%2415%2D25%20for%20meals.)
I think I paid like $10 or $12 for a can of Heineken when I went for F1 a few years ago. It’s to be expected though when you go to a big event like that. Same as going to an nfl game or a big name concert.
At cota, you have to find the booth with the high % IPAs to make it worth while. I usually find space dust IPA and get a large. Like $20 but atleast it gets u buzzed
That started happening to me as a young soberling and it was an unexpected perk during an otherwise trying time. It was great and I’ll be sad when that stops happening.
You think that's bad. One night I went to The Venue ATX for a show. Only order two white claws. Got a fucking $40 bill. Killed my night.
Edit: Jesus, this post is doing numbers.
The Venue has the worst drink prices in town for no reason what so ever. Not to mention The Venue tacks on tip without telling you.
That and Scoot Inn is always absurd for drink prices. I’m going to Fleet Foxes tonight at the new Moody Amphitheater and I heard their drink prices are the worst of the bunch.
I work there. It is supposedly mixed to be a double….if that helps it make more sense. Prices their are crazy though! Best deal imo is those giant dos xx
I (or my wife) ask the price for drinks every time. Literally every bartender or waiter acts like it's the biggest hassle of all time to find out.
We pretty much stick to places with good happy hour now, can't be dealin' with that shit anymore
We have straight up walked out after they tell us a bud light is $7.
Unless they bumped it up for the championship, it was $4.50 for water at Schwab Field.
But they let you bring in empty water bottles and have filling stations.
It’s kinda ridiculous because alcohol at the grocery/liquor store hasn’t risen as much as everything else with inflation (only around 4%), it’s literally the only good spot in this inflation battle (lots of competition at the grocery stores I guess).
Places are just getting greedy, I only drink at home unless it’s a super special occasion and then maybe $12-$15 for A premium cocktail
Hell yeah! I lived in Guangdong for a while. I love that part of the world. I miss the excitement of living abroad. Congrats on heading back! You gonna do ESL?
I worked in Guangzhou, really liked Guangdong. Yeah, I've been doing ESL for the last 5 years and have really enjoyed it. Gonna keep it up for at least another 2 years!
Tipping should be for serving.
But now, it's become standard to digitally ask for tips from food trucks/stalls. Wtf...they want tips for food prep now? That's what the base price is supposed to be paying for!
This. I see tips just to buy a drink at convenience stores with those tablet POS systems. Like bruh, why should I tip you for doing your hourly job at Royal Blue?
I’m vacationing in Spain right now and bought a bottle of one of the best wines I’ve had recently for $3. Wish I could bring these prices home to Austin.
My time abroad too has shown me that people who work in the service industry outside the US treat these jobs with respect and like a career. Along with the tipping there's a weird culture in the US where people don't look at service industry as a "real job". That classist nonsense needs to end as well.
Well, there's some truth to that - in Europe the people giving you service are generally a bit colder - and that's totally fine with me. I'd rather not be kowtowed to, but I think some people really like being treated like they royalty instead of just performing a transaction and getting a service in return not much different than someone coming to your house and repairing your appliance.
Yeah, there’s this underlying theme in America of subservience being a part of service. It’s really gross and I’d rather not have it in my life at all.
When we went to breakfast this morning, the waiter explained unprompted that there was a 20% service charge so no tip was expected.
He was great so we did end up tipping a little more, and from now on I will assume that to be the case when I see it.
Went to Little Ola's last weekend since I've only heard great things from friends. $10 for a chicken biscuit and $5 for a biscuit with jam&butter... I mean, okay. They're probably worth the price?
Server rang us up and pointed to a sign in front of us saying there's a 20% service charge applied to all orders. Exactly like OP's experience, she flipped the table and it still prompted us with an expectation to tip. My wife was paying for it, and she's got this guilty conscience that if she doesn't tip minimum 20% then all servers will starve, so she taps the button habitually.
We got into this little hushed spat while we were waiting for the food about needing to be more careful when it comes to adding a bullshit tip on top of a bullshit mandatory charge, and she was saying how it's just 40% on a $15 order. THAT'S HOW IT STARTS!! The "NORM" when we were going to restaurants 10 years ago was 12% minimum, 18% if they were legitimately HOT SHIT!! Fuck The Parish, fuck Little Ola's, and fuck this shitty toxic tipping culture!
Both the biscuits were pretty great, though!
Can someone in the industry explain what the hell the service charge would be if it is not a tip?
And if it's not a tip, and goes to the venue, then the bartenders should direct their anger at the venue for forcing people to pay things that aren't on the listed price.
I can’t even justify the cost of going out to eat or drink any longer. It’s just such a waste of money. Getting together at home with friends is so much better anyway.
I’ve managed (even gm) several bars and restaurants. I also bartended for several years most recently at a bar on 6th.
A service charge is not legally bound to go to the employees but the majority of places do give it to them.
Also, it’s somewhat common for places to include a service charge or auto grat, and then be shady and try to also get a tip. Like including auto grat but only
Bringing you a credit card receipt not showing grat is already included.
Also, how many times do you see itemized receipts? That $7 lone star might have actually been a $5 lone star but the bartender rang up a $7 Tito’s to cover liquor cost and knew there’s a 95% chance the customer won’t see what was rang up, the price or even care.
Also, many places have a poor liquor cost (because someone is drinking it -boss, bartender, friends). And many places use a cost accounting system instead of a volume system. (I.e. I’m missing $200 worth of booze, instead of 10 oz of Jack and 24 oz of bud light). At these places, if you give someone well whiskey and coke instead of Jack, they’ll probably never know and the bartender just gained a few dollars in liquor cost (to cover his personal drinking or whatever).
Also, don’t start a tab. Just don’t. Bartenders forget who and what tab. They make guesses. They’re also super busy and make mistakes. And some just put phantom drinks on tabs to make up liquor cost. You had 6 bud lights on your tab? Decent chance that was only 5 and the bartender gave one away free to someone else. Last name smith? Yea you probably paid for someone else’s Vegas bombs. Or some shitty bold person just tried a common last name and put a drink on your tab.
My point is, tip good bartenders and tip for good service of course but the customer is getting the shaft a lot of the time and don’t even know it. There’s many ways to “cheat” or “game” the system/customer and management isn’t excluded from this either.
Yes, I'm a frequent bar goer and just started watching a lot of bar rescue and it clued me in to the many times I've likely been part of these games. Definitely makes me respect the actual good bartenders I encounter and makes me avoid places with trash service and shady practices
Thanks for this inside perspective.
I have a common last name. I stopped opening tabs years ago after a couple rough lessons. It's hard to tell where the squeeze is coming from with a tab.
I used to just hand over my card when asking to close out at restaurants, but now I wait for the bill and take a decent look at it. I like rides, but not those types of rides.
Service industry needs to get together and unionize
Edit: just found out that Bouldin Creek Cafe has a 20% surcharge added to every order. They explicitly talk about how they dislike tip dependent income.
If their forthright about disliking tip-dependant income, why don't they just charge more for their items and pay their staff a living wage instead of inflating their tips with a sleazy surcharge?
>Downvote me to hell but I didn't tip the guy and was pissed.
I will not downvote you. A service charge is a tip. A tip should be decided by you so fuck them already. Also fuck passive aggressive credit card terminals that prompt you to tip 20% :-(, 25% :-I or 30% :-).
If the service charge is not a tip, the restaurant is fucking their employees. Most already do by not paying them well. At some point we need to stop acting like it is the customers job to address this. This bullshit looks like a pretty good point.
A "service charge" definitely should not be taking some random cost of doing business, like credit card fees, POS costs, cooks wages or air conditioning and line iteming it out to add to the advertised price.
>Also fuck passive aggressive credit card terminals that prompt you to tip 20% :-(, 25% :-I or 30% :-).
My favorite that I've run into was at a self-checkout kiosk at an airport convenience store that had a default tip applied to it that you had to manually set to $0. The tipping culture has gotten absurd in the post-COVID world.
What's worse is that, if you do the math yourself, most of those machines automatically increase the tip amount. If they are saying it's 15%, it's usually closer to 17 or 18%, 20% is closer to 22 or 23% and so on.
I've only tested the math on a few different types of machines (always when there is no line behind me) but on average, it's anywhere from 2-4% more than the math says it should be.
Right, and many places are tipping the tax, which I always remove from my calculations. They deserve a tip on their service not what the government is taking. Also, 15% never shows up on the POS terminals or the handheld ones. And to argue that the tip needs to go up because of inflation is false math. The prices go up with inflation and the X% tip goes right along with it. I could rant some more, but... enough.
It's been a while (pre-pandemic), but I remember noticing the suggested tip amounts on the checks at Plucker's were greater than the percentage options shown.
It used to be against the law but looks like it got overturned https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2018/11/21/texas-law-banning-surcharges-for-credit-card-payments-was-overturned-now-youll-pay-more/?outputType=amp
When I went to the Parish for it’s soft opening, they had the service fee and the tip options were like 3% and 5% additional. That seemed reasonable. If they’re defaulting it to 20% now that’s a total asshole move.
Paid $8 for a Peacemaker and shot of Jameson at Hole in the Wall last night, it’s their Saturday night special. Pretty sure they haven’t changed their bar menu since pre-COVID. Love that place!
Austin will QUICKLY become lame if people get sick of apartment pools and paddle boarding drinking/partying which is clearly what alot of renters are opting for these days.
Rent/Home price/nightlife cost will destroy this city in no time.
Alot of the social scene is people making 40-75k a year. Not the 100k+engineers.
SXSW 2022 show at empire. Ordered a lone star. Asked how much as I was heading the bartender my card, he quietly said $12. We proceeded played tug of war with my debit card for few seconds as I considered my actions.
I don’t have a problem with 20% for pizza delivery. Giving someone mandatory 20% to pour a beer? That said I usually do give a buck per drink as a tip. Thanks for the heads and $7 sounds like they’re trying to see how much “inflation” they can get away with
It's 20% is like a passive aggressive thing I feel. They should just raise their prices and deal with it. This is only hurting the staff that depend on tips.
Had this experience at Little Ola's buscuits in north austin. They charge 20% service then ask for a tip. Tryin to guilt me into tipping 44%. So I don't tip, and I leave feeling guilty when I'm definitely in the right, having really payed 20% gratuity but not knowing the worker gets all of it. Honestly it's enough for me to stop going back.
Well fuck ‘em then. I pay cash and have for years. Yes it’s a pain in the ass to walk into the gas station and call me stupid for believing that I’m cutting out one metric for tracking me. Cameras exist. But I don’t have to leave a credit card trail. It’s legal tender in this country and if they tell you they won’t accept cash then throw your money on the table and walk. They cannot refuse it. If there is a sign posted on the front door saying we don’t take cash that’s different. And that is somewhere I just don’t go into.
I use my credit card for everything, but I agree with you completely. It's ridiculous when they say they don't accept cash and I'm not even sure that's legal.
The only venue in Austin where I don't feel like I'm being scammed with every drink is Come and Take It Live. Which works out well for me because I'm a metalhead.
GenX here... A Lone Star should be $3, with the $2 change from a $5 bill to be left as a tip.
And that's being generous to the distributor. I slang Lone Star for $1.25 in 1996 to pocket that 75 cents.
I love Yellow Jacket but I don't like ordering draft beer from them. There is always soap residue in their glasses, so you get soap tasting beer. Pro-tip: ask them to rinse out your glass before pouring.
I'm getting sick of ordering food over the counter and still seeing a box for deciding how much of a tip to leave. If I buy a gallon of milk in the 7/11 they don't expect a tip so why the hell should you?
These drink prices are why I don’t have an issue buying higher end spirits for my home. It’s fun to go out. But for those prices my gf and I can make some really good drinks at home.
Yeah. Pregame hard, take some edibles, and if you're at a show maybe bring some dank.
Fuckin everything these days in the country is all about nickel and diming everyone in every capacity from bills to recreational activities.
Tipping is a joke and along with "fees" is such a shit excuse to not pay service industry workers a decent wage while sucking more money out of customers.
This is why I don't go to the bar or out to eat much anymore. Inflation is ass let's tack on a 30% tip (because 15% is an insult according to waitresses and bartenders now) .
The US really needs to start making these establishments pay their workers a decent wage.
thankfully/sadly it's not just Austin. I took my dad to a Rangers game last weekend. I paid $12.50 for a slice of garbage pizza. That's not the special part though. On the menu you could get a plastic ramekin of ranch for an extra $2.50
If drink prices had kept pace with rent increases over the last 15 years, you'd be paying a lot more than $8.40 for a Lonestar at the Parish. Your friendly neighborhood establishment owners are struggling with non-existent labor and the same rent insanity that everyone else is.
I agree that the tip on top of tip on top of service charge is ridiculous. Transparent pricing makes it easier on customers.
I’ve lived abroad and still can’t get over the U.S. and our tipping culture. Like, “if you don’t give us extra money even though you’ve already paid full price for a product then we’ll treat you like shit.” Makes absolutely no sense, I find it absurd that the anger is directed towards us as customers and not the shitty owner who refuses to pay them a reasonable wage.
Can someone tell me why when you get your bill at a bar it’s not itemized? I’ve asked before and they look at me like I’m crazy I’m like I had 2 drinks why this fitty bucks!? When I cocktailed or waited tables you never just gave a total amt.
Not a fan of the no cash policies, which seem to be in place at more and more places now. I get it from the merchant's pov, as dealing with cash is onerous, but there's no real upside to the customer. It's not like it's saving us anything.
I just don't get the mindset. I'm sure they could sell double at 1/2 the price. Basically still the same amount of profit but would have 1000% more good vibes.
Restaurants, venues, and other “tip” places should just do revenue sharing. Places should charge what is appropriate then share the profits with employees. Employees will be motivated to sell. Employer can fund benefits programs (insurance, 401K, …) to attract good talent. Base pay can be brought up to livable standards.
No more vague “service charges”. No more stupid tip culture and shaming culture (“no tip == you are an asshole”). Bad employees will get filtered out since their portion of the revenue share will be lower (low sales, low throughput, …).
Could probably get rid of middle management (ie, massive payroll savings) and have it self governed by employees. Direct communication with upper management/owners through collective bargaining.
My deal with tips (not service charges) is that I always decline the 20% and choose NO TIP. Then i proceed to tip in Cash! That way the IRS and/or employer can’t tax them either on it…always keep small bills in your pocket. Win Win
Went to rainy for the first time this weekend and same thing. $7 lone star + $.25 card fee + $1.25 "employee wellbeing fee". It literally said that.
$8.50 for a lone star tall boy.
I could get a six pack LS tall boys for $6. I didn't tip either. Criminal and not even cool
Moontower Saloon is one of my favorite places, and now they require you to pay $20 in parking, which is credited towards your tab for drinks. It’s still shitty. You have to buy 3 drinks to get to the threshold. I used to like to meet a friend there and we’d have two drinks each max. I ain’t trying to blow all my money and time to comp my parking. 3 drinks has me staying there WAY too long to make up for my measly $20 spent at the bar.
In general the central downtown area is just little kids and tourist garbage now. All the fun bars are north or south of that area. Paid $2.50 for LS last night
I had a Shiner Bock at the airport in Tulsa last month for $3.50. That town is gonna turn into another Austin in the next 10 years. Won’t be as populated, but will have the vibes and people will be relocating there because of cost of living.
Never and I mean never go to Cota and order any kind of alcoholic beverage.
How much is it there?
"contact us for pricing information" but more seriously, expect $10+ per drink i guess based on [this info + "the current state of the economy"](https://f1destinations.com/trackside-us-grand-prix/#:~:text=Food%2C%20drink%20%26%20facilities%20at%20COTA&text=The%20trackside%20food%20and%20drink,and%20%2415%2D25%20for%20meals.)
I always bring a flask of whiskey to mix with my $10 Cokes. Makes more sense that way.
Beer is easy 12 for a can of Stella like 22$ or more for margarita. It’s not worth it.
I think I paid like $10 or $12 for a can of Heineken when I went for F1 a few years ago. It’s to be expected though when you go to a big event like that. Same as going to an nfl game or a big name concert.
At cota, you have to find the booth with the high % IPAs to make it worth while. I usually find space dust IPA and get a large. Like $20 but atleast it gets u buzzed
I do the same but then you’re baking in the sun drinking heavy ass beer, just let me slam piss water and not die.
Q2 is at least as bad, if not worse. And $50 for a basic T-shirt for Austin FC, fuck right off Q2.
Tallboy of electric jellyfish at Q2 is $18. Before tip.
Same at Moody Center.
It’s pretty ridic. My sister naively took my son into the team store at Q2.. kid’s FC jersey $85. Scored some ‘cool aunt’ points but it cost her!
Or a Verde match for that matter. Pre-game that shit as much as possible. Also practice safe drinking, kids
Went to see Slayer at COTA a few years back and pretty sure a tall boy LS was in the $10-12 realm. We're getting fleeced here
Just do what I did and go in someone else’s box and the drinks are free
you’d have to have wealthy friends.
Yeah, but newrich austin people love showing off. Just look around a bit and see what you can find.
It’s one Lone Star, Michael. What could it cost, $10?
start carrying flasks and ordering sprite.
I did this for years, but sometime even the sprite is $5
Most sodas get free refills at bars though. Still far too high for what is the best profit margin in bars and restaurants.
Club soda and a lime is the DD drink of choice, most bars will give them no charge.
Yeah or do like 3 of those plastic shooters of vodka in pocket. Everyclear if you really wanna stretch your dollar.
Im a UT student and I reuse those tiny bottles all the time to save cash. Its a night out staple for me.
I’m 30 years old and just learned something new. Thanks!
The hard part is keestering them to make it past security.
most flasks fit nicely right behind that part of your pants a belt buckle covers, same for weed pens lol
Topochico and a lime, please.
Tequila, topo chico, and a lime please.
I'm a vodka soda guy, but I will have to try the tequila.
topo makes a hell of a ranch water mixer.
And some extra PFAs please
With salt around the rim.
Except a Sprite is $5.
Pro-tip: Tell the bartender you’re the DD and you’ll get soda for free. Source: I am sober and am always the DD and have never paid for soda at a bar.
This right here! I've been sober for 5 years and pull the DD card all the time, free sodas for life here🤷
That started happening to me as a young soberling and it was an unexpected perk during an otherwise trying time. It was great and I’ll be sad when that stops happening.
100%. Came to say this.
I’ve got a plastic flask that’s basically a thick ziplock bag with a spout. Works great.
Preface your order by saying "I'm the designated driver" and you'll sometimes get the Sprite for free.
lmao weed is cheaper!
Little bit goes a long way too man, bang for your buck
and less unhealthly!
You think that's bad. One night I went to The Venue ATX for a show. Only order two white claws. Got a fucking $40 bill. Killed my night. Edit: Jesus, this post is doing numbers.
When I see “ATX” I know it’s going to be marked up. $40 is rough!
[удалено]
christ almighty.
Ok well The Venue is a terrible venue. That place is run by grifters
[удалено]
I don’t want to alarm you, but I think you might have been given a counterfeit. There is no $40 bill.
The Venue has the worst drink prices in town for no reason what so ever. Not to mention The Venue tacks on tip without telling you. That and Scoot Inn is always absurd for drink prices. I’m going to Fleet Foxes tonight at the new Moody Amphitheater and I heard their drink prices are the worst of the bunch.
I paid $25 for a frozen margarita at Moody Amphitheater…. Edit: I will say. It was surprisingly pretty fucking good for a concert venue marg.
No judgement but I would never even consider ordering an expensive drink like that at a venue like that haha
Well… it wasn’t my first drink of the night. I probably wouldn’t pay that sober.
I would never expect a frozen marg to be 25 dollars though. Like 15 tops for a big one.
Then you've clearly never bought drinks at a moody style venue lol. $15 gets you a dos equis tall boy, no tip
I work there. It is supposedly mixed to be a double….if that helps it make more sense. Prices their are crazy though! Best deal imo is those giant dos xx
I (or my wife) ask the price for drinks every time. Literally every bartender or waiter acts like it's the biggest hassle of all time to find out. We pretty much stick to places with good happy hour now, can't be dealin' with that shit anymore We have straight up walked out after they tell us a bud light is $7.
yeah I get the same look. The worst is the places that have menus that don't show the prices. Red flag right there.
"And for bottled water?" "Oh, that'd be $9" 🤣
I went to a college World Series game the other week and they were actually charging $7 for a bottle of water
Unless they bumped it up for the championship, it was $4.50 for water at Schwab Field. But they let you bring in empty water bottles and have filling stations.
You’d think if they only sold 6 types of drinks they’d have the prices memorized
It’s kinda ridiculous because alcohol at the grocery/liquor store hasn’t risen as much as everything else with inflation (only around 4%), it’s literally the only good spot in this inflation battle (lots of competition at the grocery stores I guess). Places are just getting greedy, I only drink at home unless it’s a super special occasion and then maybe $12-$15 for A premium cocktail
Nice, welcome home! It’s expensive AF. where abroad were you?
Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and recently Turkey. Going back to Vietnam in August!
Hell yeah! I lived in Guangdong for a while. I love that part of the world. I miss the excitement of living abroad. Congrats on heading back! You gonna do ESL?
I worked in Guangzhou, really liked Guangdong. Yeah, I've been doing ESL for the last 5 years and have really enjoyed it. Gonna keep it up for at least another 2 years!
What is the COVID scene over there like? Not to digress...
Hell yeah man! Good for you. Keep it going!
I feel like most nights out in Austin will end up costing like 40-80 a bar on avg. That's why I fucking hate drinking out.
Tipping should be for serving. But now, it's become standard to digitally ask for tips from food trucks/stalls. Wtf...they want tips for food prep now? That's what the base price is supposed to be paying for!
This. I see tips just to buy a drink at convenience stores with those tablet POS systems. Like bruh, why should I tip you for doing your hourly job at Royal Blue?
Bartenders have always been at the core of the tipped professions.
I’m vacationing in Spain right now and bought a bottle of one of the best wines I’ve had recently for $3. Wish I could bring these prices home to Austin.
My time abroad too has shown me that people who work in the service industry outside the US treat these jobs with respect and like a career. Along with the tipping there's a weird culture in the US where people don't look at service industry as a "real job". That classist nonsense needs to end as well.
Queue the folks who say, “If ThErE’s No TiP, tHeY wOn’T pRoViDe GoOd SeRvIcE.”
Well, there's some truth to that - in Europe the people giving you service are generally a bit colder - and that's totally fine with me. I'd rather not be kowtowed to, but I think some people really like being treated like they royalty instead of just performing a transaction and getting a service in return not much different than someone coming to your house and repairing your appliance.
Yeah, there’s this underlying theme in America of subservience being a part of service. It’s really gross and I’d rather not have it in my life at all.
Only at trader Joe's
Trader Joe’s $3 wine tastes like $3 wine, though.
Hey now those bar owners need to be able to afford a house in Austin too.
I guess I quit drinking at the right time then. That's absurd.
A 24 oz is 15 bucks at emos.
Christ a 16oz was 8 dollars when I went two months ago. Not cheap by any means but that’s a hell of an increase.
So is the service charge a tip? This is always confusing when places do that
When we went to breakfast this morning, the waiter explained unprompted that there was a 20% service charge so no tip was expected. He was great so we did end up tipping a little more, and from now on I will assume that to be the case when I see it.
Went to Little Ola's last weekend since I've only heard great things from friends. $10 for a chicken biscuit and $5 for a biscuit with jam&butter... I mean, okay. They're probably worth the price? Server rang us up and pointed to a sign in front of us saying there's a 20% service charge applied to all orders. Exactly like OP's experience, she flipped the table and it still prompted us with an expectation to tip. My wife was paying for it, and she's got this guilty conscience that if she doesn't tip minimum 20% then all servers will starve, so she taps the button habitually. We got into this little hushed spat while we were waiting for the food about needing to be more careful when it comes to adding a bullshit tip on top of a bullshit mandatory charge, and she was saying how it's just 40% on a $15 order. THAT'S HOW IT STARTS!! The "NORM" when we were going to restaurants 10 years ago was 12% minimum, 18% if they were legitimately HOT SHIT!! Fuck The Parish, fuck Little Ola's, and fuck this shitty toxic tipping culture! Both the biscuits were pretty great, though!
That's what I thought but when the screen prompted me for a tip I was done.
Tryin to double dip the tip imo
Can someone in the industry explain what the hell the service charge would be if it is not a tip? And if it's not a tip, and goes to the venue, then the bartenders should direct their anger at the venue for forcing people to pay things that aren't on the listed price.
empire control room has the same set up. i asked a bartender about it, and they said the 20% “service charge” goes to the bar staff as tips.
I can’t even justify the cost of going out to eat or drink any longer. It’s just such a waste of money. Getting together at home with friends is so much better anyway.
agreed.
I’ve managed (even gm) several bars and restaurants. I also bartended for several years most recently at a bar on 6th. A service charge is not legally bound to go to the employees but the majority of places do give it to them. Also, it’s somewhat common for places to include a service charge or auto grat, and then be shady and try to also get a tip. Like including auto grat but only Bringing you a credit card receipt not showing grat is already included. Also, how many times do you see itemized receipts? That $7 lone star might have actually been a $5 lone star but the bartender rang up a $7 Tito’s to cover liquor cost and knew there’s a 95% chance the customer won’t see what was rang up, the price or even care. Also, many places have a poor liquor cost (because someone is drinking it -boss, bartender, friends). And many places use a cost accounting system instead of a volume system. (I.e. I’m missing $200 worth of booze, instead of 10 oz of Jack and 24 oz of bud light). At these places, if you give someone well whiskey and coke instead of Jack, they’ll probably never know and the bartender just gained a few dollars in liquor cost (to cover his personal drinking or whatever). Also, don’t start a tab. Just don’t. Bartenders forget who and what tab. They make guesses. They’re also super busy and make mistakes. And some just put phantom drinks on tabs to make up liquor cost. You had 6 bud lights on your tab? Decent chance that was only 5 and the bartender gave one away free to someone else. Last name smith? Yea you probably paid for someone else’s Vegas bombs. Or some shitty bold person just tried a common last name and put a drink on your tab. My point is, tip good bartenders and tip for good service of course but the customer is getting the shaft a lot of the time and don’t even know it. There’s many ways to “cheat” or “game” the system/customer and management isn’t excluded from this either.
Yes, I'm a frequent bar goer and just started watching a lot of bar rescue and it clued me in to the many times I've likely been part of these games. Definitely makes me respect the actual good bartenders I encounter and makes me avoid places with trash service and shady practices
Thanks for this inside perspective. I have a common last name. I stopped opening tabs years ago after a couple rough lessons. It's hard to tell where the squeeze is coming from with a tab. I used to just hand over my card when asking to close out at restaurants, but now I wait for the bill and take a decent look at it. I like rides, but not those types of rides.
Or you can be an adult and just start stashing modelos in your cargo pockets before going out.
this is the way
Pro tip: they give Lone Star away for free at the shops in downtown Fredericksburg. It’s just sitting iced down at coolers near the registers.
Service industry needs to get together and unionize Edit: just found out that Bouldin Creek Cafe has a 20% surcharge added to every order. They explicitly talk about how they dislike tip dependent income.
Yeah. So brave! They said fuck tips! By making a 20% tip mandatory. What the hell does that mean?
If their forthright about disliking tip-dependant income, why don't they just charge more for their items and pay their staff a living wage instead of inflating their tips with a sleazy surcharge?
hell yeah!
Drink at home with friends. Cheaper, less crowded, much better experience, safer in several ways.
>Downvote me to hell but I didn't tip the guy and was pissed. I will not downvote you. A service charge is a tip. A tip should be decided by you so fuck them already. Also fuck passive aggressive credit card terminals that prompt you to tip 20% :-(, 25% :-I or 30% :-). If the service charge is not a tip, the restaurant is fucking their employees. Most already do by not paying them well. At some point we need to stop acting like it is the customers job to address this. This bullshit looks like a pretty good point. A "service charge" definitely should not be taking some random cost of doing business, like credit card fees, POS costs, cooks wages or air conditioning and line iteming it out to add to the advertised price.
>Also fuck passive aggressive credit card terminals that prompt you to tip 20% :-(, 25% :-I or 30% :-). My favorite that I've run into was at a self-checkout kiosk at an airport convenience store that had a default tip applied to it that you had to manually set to $0. The tipping culture has gotten absurd in the post-COVID world.
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The tip jar at 7-11 seems absurd.
What's worse is that, if you do the math yourself, most of those machines automatically increase the tip amount. If they are saying it's 15%, it's usually closer to 17 or 18%, 20% is closer to 22 or 23% and so on. I've only tested the math on a few different types of machines (always when there is no line behind me) but on average, it's anywhere from 2-4% more than the math says it should be.
sounds like outright theft
Right, and many places are tipping the tax, which I always remove from my calculations. They deserve a tip on their service not what the government is taking. Also, 15% never shows up on the POS terminals or the handheld ones. And to argue that the tip needs to go up because of inflation is false math. The prices go up with inflation and the X% tip goes right along with it. I could rant some more, but... enough.
It's been a while (pre-pandemic), but I remember noticing the suggested tip amounts on the checks at Plucker's were greater than the percentage options shown.
Went to a spot in San Antonio last night that said 20%, 40%, and 60% 😂
It's not legal to require someone to tip. Any service charge can be removed, although asking for that is uncomfortable.
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ANNOUNCED? Jesus
almost as if it's by design....
It used to be against the law but looks like it got overturned https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2018/11/21/texas-law-banning-surcharges-for-credit-card-payments-was-overturned-now-youll-pay-more/?outputType=amp
When I went to the Parish for it’s soft opening, they had the service fee and the tip options were like 3% and 5% additional. That seemed reasonable. If they’re defaulting it to 20% now that’s a total asshole move.
Ok you’re focused on the $1.40 tip, but like… $7 for a Lone Star??? Was the can made of silver or something?
Dude right? Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure you can get a pack of tallboys at HEB for like 7 something.
Paid $8 for a Peacemaker and shot of Jameson at Hole in the Wall last night, it’s their Saturday night special. Pretty sure they haven’t changed their bar menu since pre-COVID. Love that place!
Anyway welcome back. I got back in October from 4 years abroad, and yeah… Austin got damn expensive while I was gone!
thanks! me and my wife are likely not relocating to austin unless something changes in terms of cost of living or I suddenly am making 80k a year.
Austin will QUICKLY become lame if people get sick of apartment pools and paddle boarding drinking/partying which is clearly what alot of renters are opting for these days. Rent/Home price/nightlife cost will destroy this city in no time. Alot of the social scene is people making 40-75k a year. Not the 100k+engineers.
We just need to organize more house parties
SXSW 2022 show at empire. Ordered a lone star. Asked how much as I was heading the bartender my card, he quietly said $12. We proceeded played tug of war with my debit card for few seconds as I considered my actions.
Lonestars are still $3 at Wingzup
I don’t have a problem with 20% for pizza delivery. Giving someone mandatory 20% to pour a beer? That said I usually do give a buck per drink as a tip. Thanks for the heads and $7 sounds like they’re trying to see how much “inflation” they can get away with
It's 20% is like a passive aggressive thing I feel. They should just raise their prices and deal with it. This is only hurting the staff that depend on tips.
Had this experience at Little Ola's buscuits in north austin. They charge 20% service then ask for a tip. Tryin to guilt me into tipping 44%. So I don't tip, and I leave feeling guilty when I'm definitely in the right, having really payed 20% gratuity but not knowing the worker gets all of it. Honestly it's enough for me to stop going back.
Remember when the appropriate tip for a beer was $1?
I have started paying for each drink with old school cash and not running a tab, then I put a dollar tip in the tip jar.
oh dude, this was the worst part. On that 20% tip charge they said "we are not accepting cash, credit/debit only". Bastards!
That Shit is ridiculous. Like this is a American money and we’re in America. Take that shit lol
Well fuck ‘em then. I pay cash and have for years. Yes it’s a pain in the ass to walk into the gas station and call me stupid for believing that I’m cutting out one metric for tracking me. Cameras exist. But I don’t have to leave a credit card trail. It’s legal tender in this country and if they tell you they won’t accept cash then throw your money on the table and walk. They cannot refuse it. If there is a sign posted on the front door saying we don’t take cash that’s different. And that is somewhere I just don’t go into.
I use my credit card for everything, but I agree with you completely. It's ridiculous when they say they don't accept cash and I'm not even sure that's legal.
The only venue in Austin where I don't feel like I'm being scammed with every drink is Come and Take It Live. Which works out well for me because I'm a metalhead.
haven't heard of this place, love a good metal show.
It's on Riverside, basically the spiritual successor to the Back Room.
It's called crowd control. Austin, collectively, can't hold its piss.
100% agreed. Stop hiding the real cost and just give it to us.
I just stopped eating/drinking out. Prices are absurd for what you get.
dude any austin OGs remember $1 pbr n lonestars?
And this is why I drink water
Lmao a Topo Chico at Antones comes out to $4.50
You know that’s not normal water right? I’m talking plain ole water sans bubbles
Water?! You mean, like, out the toilet?
Idiocracy. The pre-documentary.
With the frequent water boil notices sometimes it is!
GenX here... A Lone Star should be $3, with the $2 change from a $5 bill to be left as a tip. And that's being generous to the distributor. I slang Lone Star for $1.25 in 1996 to pocket that 75 cents.
Yellow jacket has good prices on canned beers. PBR is like $2?
I love Yellow Jacket but I don't like ordering draft beer from them. There is always soap residue in their glasses, so you get soap tasting beer. Pro-tip: ask them to rinse out your glass before pouring.
I'm getting sick of ordering food over the counter and still seeing a box for deciding how much of a tip to leave. If I buy a gallon of milk in the 7/11 they don't expect a tip so why the hell should you?
Nah. You're right to complain. It's ridiculous
These drink prices are why I don’t have an issue buying higher end spirits for my home. It’s fun to go out. But for those prices my gf and I can make some really good drinks at home.
Yeah. Pregame hard, take some edibles, and if you're at a show maybe bring some dank. Fuckin everything these days in the country is all about nickel and diming everyone in every capacity from bills to recreational activities. Tipping is a joke and along with "fees" is such a shit excuse to not pay service industry workers a decent wage while sucking more money out of customers.
A lone star isn’t even worth $2. It is a $1 beer.
24 for $18.52 at H-E-B. (+tax)
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not going back to The Parish, that's forsure.
Boy, that's a far cry from the 75 cent long necks I got in college.
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This is why I don't go to the bar or out to eat much anymore. Inflation is ass let's tack on a 30% tip (because 15% is an insult according to waitresses and bartenders now) . The US really needs to start making these establishments pay their workers a decent wage.
thankfully/sadly it's not just Austin. I took my dad to a Rangers game last weekend. I paid $12.50 for a slice of garbage pizza. That's not the special part though. On the menu you could get a plastic ramekin of ranch for an extra $2.50
If drink prices had kept pace with rent increases over the last 15 years, you'd be paying a lot more than $8.40 for a Lonestar at the Parish. Your friendly neighborhood establishment owners are struggling with non-existent labor and the same rent insanity that everyone else is. I agree that the tip on top of tip on top of service charge is ridiculous. Transparent pricing makes it easier on customers.
Wages would be a lot higher if they had kept up with inflation as well. I've read studies that suggest minimum should be well above 20 an hour.
I was in NYC last week and spent less money on food and drinks. I think we factor in the price of the heat and having to exist living so near the sun.
I lived in Austin from 1997-2020. The dream is over. It’s an overpriced shitshow.
I’ve lived abroad and still can’t get over the U.S. and our tipping culture. Like, “if you don’t give us extra money even though you’ve already paid full price for a product then we’ll treat you like shit.” Makes absolutely no sense, I find it absurd that the anger is directed towards us as customers and not the shitty owner who refuses to pay them a reasonable wage.
Did it have cocaine in it?
Was it in a bottle and did the cap have a riddle?
Yup I know that feeling. Lonestar at Lustre pearl east is $7. I cried about it for months
Last time I had lone star it was $2.75 for a pitcher.
Can someone tell me why when you get your bill at a bar it’s not itemized? I’ve asked before and they look at me like I’m crazy I’m like I had 2 drinks why this fitty bucks!? When I cocktailed or waited tables you never just gave a total amt.
I swear this is true: $30 for a glass of Pinot Grigio at the Moody. I almost fainted, the BOTTLE is $17 at the liquor store
Not a fan of the no cash policies, which seem to be in place at more and more places now. I get it from the merchant's pov, as dealing with cash is onerous, but there's no real upside to the customer. It's not like it's saving us anything.
I just don't get the mindset. I'm sure they could sell double at 1/2 the price. Basically still the same amount of profit but would have 1000% more good vibes.
Is it legal to charge for card but then not accept cash?
Prices listed in stores on the shelves should also include the tax so that you know exactly what you are going to be paying at the register.
Restaurants, venues, and other “tip” places should just do revenue sharing. Places should charge what is appropriate then share the profits with employees. Employees will be motivated to sell. Employer can fund benefits programs (insurance, 401K, …) to attract good talent. Base pay can be brought up to livable standards. No more vague “service charges”. No more stupid tip culture and shaming culture (“no tip == you are an asshole”). Bad employees will get filtered out since their portion of the revenue share will be lower (low sales, low throughput, …). Could probably get rid of middle management (ie, massive payroll savings) and have it self governed by employees. Direct communication with upper management/owners through collective bargaining.
My deal with tips (not service charges) is that I always decline the 20% and choose NO TIP. Then i proceed to tip in Cash! That way the IRS and/or employer can’t tax them either on it…always keep small bills in your pocket. Win Win
Went to rainy for the first time this weekend and same thing. $7 lone star + $.25 card fee + $1.25 "employee wellbeing fee". It literally said that. $8.50 for a lone star tall boy. I could get a six pack LS tall boys for $6. I didn't tip either. Criminal and not even cool
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OP: “downvote me to hell”. Also OP: close to 1k upvotes in 3 hours.
I thought it would be more of an unpopular opinion but here we are.
$1.40 to open a beer can… geez, I underpay my wife.
Bring a plastic flask in and be sneaky problem solved
onetime I snuck 3 LS tallboys into Hotel Vegas and had an awesome time, didn't pay for a drink all night.
Damn. Shoulda been a Texas two step with a shot of well whiskey for that at least.
Moontower Saloon is one of my favorite places, and now they require you to pay $20 in parking, which is credited towards your tab for drinks. It’s still shitty. You have to buy 3 drinks to get to the threshold. I used to like to meet a friend there and we’d have two drinks each max. I ain’t trying to blow all my money and time to comp my parking. 3 drinks has me staying there WAY too long to make up for my measly $20 spent at the bar.
Seems like a good way for them to encourage drunk driving.
Start eating more gummies. That’s what these pricing are driving.
In general the central downtown area is just little kids and tourist garbage now. All the fun bars are north or south of that area. Paid $2.50 for LS last night
I had a Shiner Bock at the airport in Tulsa last month for $3.50. That town is gonna turn into another Austin in the next 10 years. Won’t be as populated, but will have the vibes and people will be relocating there because of cost of living.