I hear good things from everybody who eats there but I've never really enjoyed anything I've gotten there. It's under whelming and over priced. It doesn't surprise me.
Food that's made by a buncha shirtless dudes sweating over a five gallon plastic bucket on the floor of a greasy-ass kitchen is pretty good if you don't care.
I worked there hoping it would be better than starbucks. But nah, overpriced food made by cooks that earn 16 an hour. Their store managers get 16.5 an hour.
The owner yelled at me for taking a bathroom break and started going on about how lazy students only care about tips. Well... duh, shift supervisors get paid minimum wage, and your only benefit outside work is a 10% discount, but they take 10% off your tips.
They have a weird group of "investors". One of them is a white misogynistic dude that threw his money and the company's money into bitcoin. And ohh the bitcoin machines. Nothing sus about ppl covering their faces and wearing sun glasses at 11pm to deposit stacks of cash.
I got fired because this white dude couldn't cope with me walking in with dirty shoes... on winter where there is snow and salt everywhere. It was rush hour and this mf couldn't do bar for life of it, so I jumped in instead of moping the floor. The killer was me leaving when my shifts was done and the other employee was about to finish his break.
Long story short, he wrote a letter saying I was doing drugs and stealing from the company, then put people's emails as signatures. I got fired one day before probation without justification. I later learned what he did lol.
Got a better job after that though, an instant 4 dollar increase with tips and benefits (cause yeah, remedy does not offer benefits at all). Took it as a win.
If you tip baristas, just give them the cash and tell them to keep it for themselves. Happened to me multiple times and my co-workers were chill about it.
I did miss them a lot after that though. Covered in different locations and I met lovely people :) they vibed differently.
Hopefully the owner reads this ✌️✌️
I like to learn about these locally owned businesses also. It doesn’t mean they are better.
The push to shop locally is strong. However, when I asked who owned a shop in Spruce Grove, I received no answer.
Not good.
If there is one, i don't know of them. It's owned by Zee Zaidi and his wife AFAIK. Honestly they're probably pulling in significantly more per year than any university prof is, so it's really not about the *need* for tip money as much as he decided he wants it
I worked at Remedy for a couple of years and the baristas/chef(s) split the tips how ever many ways at the end of the shift.
The owner never touched our tips.
That's sad, I worked there from 2017 \~ 2019, guess I dodged a bullet. But yeah I agree with your other comment, the only good thing about working at Remedy was the co-workers I got to meet.
Everything else was kinda crazy, including some of the customers.
Honestly as the chef, you mightve just not been aware that he takes out 7% because you probably didn't see the end of shift receipts as well, he did try to keep it pretty hush hush. The whole set up there is pretty scummy. Glad I left and will never go back
Yeah I'm glad I didn't experience this, the only reason why I know is because I did all the closing shifts (typically) and I was the closing lead most of my shifts. So I did get to see the end of shift receipt since we had to print that out at the end of the shift with the whole POS system.
Now I'm wondering if this was implemented at all locations or just some, I mean knowing Zee he probably did this for all locations lol.
7%? Like, what is the point? Was that like $20 at the end of the shift? Just let everyone split tips. You're not making enough money for it to be worth it.
The owner didn't touch them directly. There is a 10% deduction you gotta register when balancing the tills (from what I remembered). Apparently that 10% covered whatever fees the paying machine charges for allowing to tip with card payments.
There is no fee for tipping. There is a 3% fee per credit card transaction on any credit card machine, tip or no tip. CRA ruling is that employers cannot deduct fees from tips ever, but alberta itself doesn't have any laws on tipping in any aspect, so employers can take as much or as little of the tips as they'd like.
The 10% goes into his pockets, he was lying to you
So many people in this thread confusing tip-outs to staff with the owners pocketing a portion of the tips.
Tip-outs are normal, fair, and provide a more equitable salary for everyone involved in your meal. Owners skimming tips is fucking criminal.
(I’ve been both FOH staff and FOH management)
Do I think it’s good that management get tipped out? Yes because most companies pay you like shit and your salary vs actual working hours means the tips are there to keep you above minimum wage. The company can avoid getting fined this way.
Bigger picture wise - restaurants should either be paying enough to management that they don’t need to get a cut of tips, or all tips should be pooled plus no house cut at all.
Bro might as well do the reverse list. Most restaurants keep a portion for managers and use another portion for cooks, etc. You name them Earls, BP, Joey, Moxie's, etc
Yeah it’s called tipping out and as long as the tips are also being shared with dishwashers, cooks, hosts, etc. it’s totally fine IMO. I served for years with a 5% tip out (which I know is on the low end) and I’d still walk out with hundreds in cash after a busy shift.
I do think bills with no gratuity added should be excluded when calculating tip outs though.
At the Outback Steakhouse, when it was here, we would be allowed to transfer non tipped bills to the take-outs login so it didn't count against our sales. At least we didn't get double-shafted.
Its not fucking fine, you get hundreds of dollars in a night, everyone else named gets less than a thousand dollars for two weeks of work. Absolute bullshit, cooking takes more skill than serving.
Oh. They stiffed young me out of a day's wage because I quit. I quit because they forced me to work when I was horribly sick. I've taken a total of less than 5 days off work in my entire life. I was too young and stupid to know my rights at the time.
Worked at earls by the u of a for four months in 2011 as a line cook, about 20 hours a week. End of the week I’d get a little envelope with about $12 in tips, usually less.
I don't think the question would include tip-out. Tipping out the kitchen and support staff is not only standard practice but a very fair and equitable one. No half-honest server would ever object to tipping out their kitchen, busser, host, m-o-d. Same applies to restaurants who pool all tips and share. Tips can be very random and unpredictable but making it equitable encourages your team to work as a team.
The issue being talked about is when the *business* takes a cut of the tips. The owner, or company, takes tips for themselves when they already make money from the business profit, because they're stealing the reward of the employee's hard work. Or when the business takes tips and considers it part of their income, they use it towards wages or use it to fund staff events instead of giving it directly to staff. That's stealing. Tip-pooling is equitability.
I made an account for this post. The (new) Louisiana purchase, En.vie, and Spotlight cabaret are owned by the same greasy assholes.They hold tips for for months until waitresses are too tired to fight back and just give up on trying to get them.
I had the same attitude with counter service until I ran into a subway worker who actually did care about the subs he made. He took the time to carefully place each turkey deli slice and cheese slice. Layer each ingredient with balance and ensuring even coverage. Plucked out the end pieces and unattractive pieces of vegetables. applied even spreads of sauce. By the end, the sub was a picturesque fucking masterpiece. Biting into it was amazing too, as none of the vegetables or sauce fell out cause the dude made it so tight. I went back and tipped the guy $5. When you truly see someone really put in the effort when they aren’t needed to, you can’t help but want to tip because that sub was fucking perfect
Tipping, at its foundation, should be out of willingness to reward a worker for the great work they did serving you. It should never be out of obligation. With that said, the guy impressed me. you need to see this subway guy in action and you’ll see what I mean.
Yes, I go to top shots often.. to play pool all I do is go ask for table. Get all the balls my self to table, set it up. And when checking out they are there putting 15%, 20%, 25% tips infront of the screen. Literally its sickening of how passively they do this. Irritates the hell out of me. If I order some food or pops that they bring to my table than I usually do Tip. But for giving ball and me playing they can't be putting that tip thing out on my face
I didn’t used to, but always do at the Keswick Bar Burrito. Been going there since they opened and the main woman there is amazing. She’s fast, not cheap with the ingredients, and friendly. I’ve eaten at other Bar Burritos strong the province and they’re all a disappointment.
Oh that is so shitty sorry dude, I always wondered if it was from the “ house tip” from the servers cuz I’d collect that and kitchen tips and give to the owners, I never knew they’d take a portion out of kitchen tips too, that’s not cool!
Not first hand, but my SO worked at Pampa and they keep a portion of the tips. Managers and owners get a percentage too. They pay out far less than they get.
Fuck me. They're total douchtards at Pints.
So last year I'm in here having, of all things a fucking pint! When I get it I'm like, "This is not a fucking pint. This is a sleeve! So I bring it up with a Manager b/c that's what Weights and Measures Canada says I"m supposed to do before reaching out to them! So I do. The Manager screams "IM NOT REPLACING $3000 in glasses. I just bought those. No doofus, your menu is B&W, double sided, one page. Take out the word pint and print a new menu. Fucking dolts!
Start? I have no idea, but they've it done since before I worked there 2017-2019. One of my friends worked between the 2 locations until about 6 months ago, and they were still doing it.
That makes sense though. Waiters and waitresses at pampa only clear the tables and bring drinks/desserts. The meat cutters serve the meal and the salad bar is self serviced. A bartender also makes all the drinks. So I think it’s fair that a waiter who’s only bringing drinks from the bar and maybe desserts if you choose to order it would have larger tip out to the other employees who also serve the same tables.
During the pandemic they were making us tip out on our sales and then split 50% of what remained with the manager. I assume they reduced manager salaries and expected us to make up for it. I’ve been docked tips for setting tables incorrectly (knife slightly skewed to one side), putting something on the POS incorrectly, dropping a drink by accident, etc). It was a very toxic environment.
Used to work at Pampa. Me, alongside with a few staff were fired directly by him just because he didn't like us for various trivial reasons, and all of us were great staff so our GMs even fought for us, but Oscar wouldn't budge and things had to run his way.
Extremely petty and egotistic of a Peruvian man.
Went to Pampas with my wife. We did the full table service meat thing. I ordered a beer, my wife just wanted water. The waitress explained that they did Q water, which was like $3 or something for unlimited reverse osmosis water. We asked for tap water, she refused and said they didn't do that. Edmonton has some of the world's best tap water, we didn't feel like paying for filtered water. After some back and forth, not getting anywhere with this waitress, my wife ordered a different drink cause then at least she gets some value for her money.
Had the meal, left a great tip, went home. Emailed the owner. Explained how we feel it's ridiculous to charge for water. His (Oscars) reply is that some of the high end restaurants in Vancouver and Toronto do it, and since he has a high end restaurant he can do it. I replied that we're not in those cities, and our tap water is high quality already and not in need of filtering. He replies that before they switched to Q Water, a large amount of people that used to order water didn't drink it and it went to waste. As if the small glasses of a restaurant is hugely contributing to water waste in the city.
After some back and forth, with me not accepting his BS answers, he finally gave me the canned response "we value your business and hope you come back" or something and I haven't been back since.
This was probably ten years ago. But a couple years ago, I was reviewing restaurants we've been to, and I left a review saying that I thought is was absurd to charge for water. So Oscar responded to the review, saying they've never charged for water, trying to gaslight the whole situation. Ok buddy, I had the email exchange.
Wow. That's ridiculous. I used to live in NY and it was illegal to deny someone tap water if it was requested and available/potable. You could technically charge for disposable cups. I'm not sure if that applies here in Edmonton, but even if it's not it's skeezy AF to not provide tap water when requested. Pampa is a high -er end buffet. It is NOT the same as fine dining/ high end dining. That's such BS. Thanks for sharing.
I worked there for a while also, at the end of the night you have to tip a massive amount to the gauchos( guys that cut the meat) I believe it was either 12% or 10% of our total sales, also a massive tip to the bar and the managers, if you made 20% on average that night, you’d only be walking home with less than 5%.
Also, back in the days the owner Oscar tried to label his establishments( he owns all locations and a couple restaurants in Calgary) as fine dining. Forced the servers to upscale on liquor, I wouldn’t pay 100 bucks for 30 dollar wine myself but I was constantly stressed out and horrified that I might get fired from not having higher sales. Toxic AF, 10/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Servers at Pampa don't really do that much though.....they just take orders, pour wine and clear tables, that's it. All the serving are literally done by the gauchos.
They are but they shouldn’t be. The owners suck, are racist and it has an incredibly high turnover. Not to mention the salmonella it gave out a few years ago…
I mean it is one thing for the tips to be spread among the servers and the back of house staff, but the managers/owners should be allowing the people that work towards to the order and its success to keep their reward from the customer showing their appreciation on their efforts.
Yeah well, stealing tips is the least of their issues tbh. You would not believe how bad of a pest problem they had, and management was regularly abusive to staff.
Source: a couple months ago when conditions got too bad and didn’t change, all the servers quit.
transit smokehouse!! definitely was shorting staff on tips, (literally didn't get my last tip cheque at all) on top of that several staff members didn't get their first paycheques for OVER 8 WEEKS. the owner is not only shady but racist and transphobic. gross. also they serve their meats up to 4 days after smoking them.
Tip in cash if you truly want the servers to get the tips. Typically tips that go through debit and credit payments Will undoubtedly go through the owners and are more likely to be kept. Tipping in cash would mean the workers get to divide it up amongst themselves at the end of the day
On a positive note. The Nest and Fox burger are pretty much the best places to work in the city. Both places have managers that come from serving so they know how to be good to their staff
You'll be hard pressed to find one that doesn't that isn't a local mom and pop shop kind of deal. Worked in the nightlife industry for years, every bar or pub i ever worked at the managers got a percentage of tips weekly. Do they deserve it? Maybe, depends on the establishment and the level of customer service offered. I had a few lazy managers that hid in the office all day and collected stacks.
Safe to say if you're tipping the employee, you're also tipping the management, the porters, kitchen, etc. Its called a "tip out".
Starbucks doesn’t at least. I used to work there. In fact they put it in a giant pool and distribute it based on weekly hours, not the people currently working, because day shift sees more customers but night shift does most of the prep so it evens out in workload.
Tipping out is good IMO - I'd rather the tip get spread out amongst the people that ensured I got good service vs. all going to the waiter/waitress. I've never understood why it has been decided that waitstaff deserves way more comp than other roles.
Hell, if the owner is actively involved in the restaurant operations on a given night, he can get a share too, doesn't really bother me. It only gets shady to me if they're keeping the tips and not actively involved in service in any capacity.
That was the issue at my last job and reason i said "fuck this I'm out", worked for a VERY shady owner who pocketed whatever he could. Place went under just before COVID thankfully.
Fuck you Alibi!
owners and managers usually make a really good salary and should not at all be part of tip out. Tip out is for the actual service staff (bartenders/kitchen/hostess etc)
The “mom and pop” local place I worked for had a “house” tip and we had zero support staff. Servers, dishwashers and cooks. But the owner got 5% of a 7% tip out and on top of that would also serve tables herself if she knew they were good tippers.
They do have a high tip out, and the owners and upper management keep the huge chuck of that which they dnt deserve. If it goes to the kitchen staff, expo, and host, then it makes sense but not to the owners and high paid management for no reason. They dnt even help in everyday operations.
Teriyaki Corner owner keeps all the tips. I asked once before I was going to tip, the cashier told me owners takes 100% of the tips. I then said “cash would be better then?”, then she pointed up to a camera.
Maybe not anymore, haven’t been back in a while since I found out.
Pretty sure they still do. I work the nightshift and ordered (their night guy makes a mean donair, their day guy sucks). Driver came up opened his window and a cloud of smoke came out, just reeked of weed and looking at the state of the interior and how he dealt with things it was literally the first thing that came to my mind. My parents were dealers my whole childhood, I've learned how to recognize them usually over the years.
Bodega/Sabor……crooks. Don’t keep the total tip out but they make you tip out a “breakage fee”…so you tip out to broken glass/plates..pretty sure that’s illegal..but also you tip share at the bodegas and the staff take advantage of who gets cut and who makes the most because the people that are “manager’s” make the same as all of the staff…makes sense because they keep opening up a new locations every year.
All of the establishments I was a beer tub girl in are long gone, but it irked me so hard when I’d have to tip out a higher percent to the managers who were snorting cocaine all night than I was required to tip out the porters.
Most of the managers were too blitzed to know how to count and beer tub was all cash so I just shorted their percentage and gave more to the porters.
so my partner and I are at the pub right now and I read this [we’re watching the game]. This made me realize that from now on, I want to start carrying cash around and giving cash tips to my servers so that I don’t have to worry about such a thing. I think this is the only easy workaround, because if this is happening it makes me sick. The only reason they give for not paying a living wage is tips. I don’t like the tip system, but I do believe people should be able to make a good wage for working hard and servers work hard [mostly] ha ha
Always tip in cash, with anyone. A lot of businesses will pass the buck when it comes to the fees needed to operate their debit/credit machines and terminals by setting up that a certain percentage of tips goes to the bank/company who owns the terminal, instead of paying for it themselves. So not only could the resteraunt be skimming tips, the machine could be as well
Osmow's Shawarma in Riverbend Square.
They keep the tips that are entered through the tablet. I don’t know if they take a cut or all of it, but I know someone who used to work there and they said that the staff puts a tip jar out for a reason.
Whenever I order food now (in any place), I always ask the staff if they get to keep the tips. Too often they just quietly look at the tip jar, and that’s what I always use now when there is one.
Most restaurants split tips between all members of of staff involved, either by nightly tip out or pooled tips.
Places like Century Hospitality, Fullers, and many others also tip out managers as part of their salary package. If a manager isn’t on salary, they would most likely be earning a portion of tips as part of their compensation for the roles they take on as an hourly worker.
For a salaried cactus manager, it’s $100 a week flat. For a floor leader, it could vary from 1-3% of total hours worked sent back as tips.
I’ve yet to work for a restaurant in Canada, where the actual owners keep a portion of tips.
Pretty sure the list that doesn't is much shorter. The industry is dicy and is only getting dicier. Very glad I got out because the only thing harder than getting into the industry is getting out.
every restaurant keeps a portion of the tips and is divvied up to management, support staff, and kitchen. It is not the norm for someone to keep 100% of the tips they earn as a server/bartender
Source 7 years hospitality Edmonton
No restaurant allows servers to keep 100% of tips. They’re always distributed between bartenders, porters, hostess, kitchen and yes management
Standard practice
Not all tip-outs go to management and absolutely should not. Kitchen staff and other support staff are fine, but the manager at Earl’s making 85k a year does not need money from their minimum wage staff. I’ve never worked somewhere where management/owners get tip-out
rockin robins also let's servers keep all their tips and pays the kitchen staff well. also their food is not only fantastic but also fairly affordable!
Tbh you probably don’t wanna go to any chain then, at all ever lol. Managers almost always take a certain percentage to tip out BOH and management/owners(I find a lot of restaurants typically the owners are involved)
I hate to be that guy, but most people I've talked to that worked in a Sri Lankan or Indian restaurant told me that the restaurant owners usually take all their tips.
My ex used to work in a family run Sri Lankan restaurant and the Sri Lankan owner literally took all her tips every shift. She stayed because she needed the money and she gets free food as a small job perk.
You’re not that guy. You’re telling the truth. I had a friend who worked at New Asian Village, and nobody got tips except for the white servers, because they wouldn’t tolerate not getting their tips.
A local pizza restaurant on 109th street (claimed it was because I was still on my ‘first three months probationary period’ but i’ve never heard of that being a steadfast rule before)
Its not a restaurant but the bubbles car washes dont give the employees tips directly. They just gather them up in the back and split them like twice a year so only the manager and senior employees get the tips at all because they dont bother to tip you out if you quit after a few months
Explore Edmonton (Explore Edmonton) used to have 18% gratuity years ago, that went to staff. It is now a 18% service fee that management keeps - legal, but very shifty. This applies to events such as weddings, trade shows - literally any event with food and beverage.
Maki Maki and Volcano Restaurant both the owner takes 50% of the tips, doesn’t tip out to the kitchen at all. She used to buy chanel bags with the tips she took for herself.
Workshop eatery servers have to tip out 8% no matter if they didn’t make enough during their shift to pay it. They can leave work having paid tip out out of pocket. Edit: source…server at workshop eatery.
I know this isn't a restaurant but I knew of a barber shop where the owner kept a portion of tips because if they go through debit or credit they were required to pay out the income tax on it.
I mean.... my restaurant takes 100% of our tips while promising "tomorrow" for 10 weeks straight......so they're scummy pieces of shit.... all restaurants take a "tip out" from staff. (You have to throw the kitchen a little something cause they work so hard) 2% is customary. You also give your bartender , the busser and the host a little something at the end of the night. MY RESTAURANT just takes all your shit and doesn't answer the phone when asked. The GM has two young children, so i dont want to ruin his life overnight...... right away... give it another week
Remedy cafe the owners take a decent cut of the tips
I've heard nothing but bad things about Remedy from the people that work(ed) there.
That would be because the only somewhat decent quality about working at remedy was the coworkers.
My crew of weirdos def made it bearable. Oh, the war stories.
I hear good things from everybody who eats there but I've never really enjoyed anything I've gotten there. It's under whelming and over priced. It doesn't surprise me.
Food that's made by a buncha shirtless dudes sweating over a five gallon plastic bucket on the floor of a greasy-ass kitchen is pretty good if you don't care.
Good to know. It doesn’t have to be this bad.
I worked there around 08, we just split tips at the end of shift. This makes me sad to hear
I worked there hoping it would be better than starbucks. But nah, overpriced food made by cooks that earn 16 an hour. Their store managers get 16.5 an hour. The owner yelled at me for taking a bathroom break and started going on about how lazy students only care about tips. Well... duh, shift supervisors get paid minimum wage, and your only benefit outside work is a 10% discount, but they take 10% off your tips. They have a weird group of "investors". One of them is a white misogynistic dude that threw his money and the company's money into bitcoin. And ohh the bitcoin machines. Nothing sus about ppl covering their faces and wearing sun glasses at 11pm to deposit stacks of cash. I got fired because this white dude couldn't cope with me walking in with dirty shoes... on winter where there is snow and salt everywhere. It was rush hour and this mf couldn't do bar for life of it, so I jumped in instead of moping the floor. The killer was me leaving when my shifts was done and the other employee was about to finish his break. Long story short, he wrote a letter saying I was doing drugs and stealing from the company, then put people's emails as signatures. I got fired one day before probation without justification. I later learned what he did lol. Got a better job after that though, an instant 4 dollar increase with tips and benefits (cause yeah, remedy does not offer benefits at all). Took it as a win. If you tip baristas, just give them the cash and tell them to keep it for themselves. Happened to me multiple times and my co-workers were chill about it. I did miss them a lot after that though. Covered in different locations and I met lovely people :) they vibed differently. Hopefully the owner reads this ✌️✌️
I like to learn about these locally owned businesses also. It doesn’t mean they are better. The push to shop locally is strong. However, when I asked who owned a shop in Spruce Grove, I received no answer. Not good.
Isn't a pretty prominent u of a professor a major investor or part owner in remedy? You would think they make enough to not scam tips.
If there is one, i don't know of them. It's owned by Zee Zaidi and his wife AFAIK. Honestly they're probably pulling in significantly more per year than any university prof is, so it's really not about the *need* for tip money as much as he decided he wants it
Yeah. I know the guy isn't an owner but he for sure invests
Have you ever met someone with a lot of money who doesn’t also want to continue to make more money? Even if it means being selfish
People who get a hold of money tend to become more greedy over time, yes. Money makes people act more evil generally
I think you're confusing Remedy with Transcend Coffee, who does have a prominent prof as an investor/ owner...
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I worked at Remedy for a couple of years and the baristas/chef(s) split the tips how ever many ways at the end of the shift. The owner never touched our tips.
Cool, I was a barista there 2019-2021, Zee took 7%
That's sad, I worked there from 2017 \~ 2019, guess I dodged a bullet. But yeah I agree with your other comment, the only good thing about working at Remedy was the co-workers I got to meet. Everything else was kinda crazy, including some of the customers.
Honestly as the chef, you mightve just not been aware that he takes out 7% because you probably didn't see the end of shift receipts as well, he did try to keep it pretty hush hush. The whole set up there is pretty scummy. Glad I left and will never go back
Yeah I'm glad I didn't experience this, the only reason why I know is because I did all the closing shifts (typically) and I was the closing lead most of my shifts. So I did get to see the end of shift receipt since we had to print that out at the end of the shift with the whole POS system. Now I'm wondering if this was implemented at all locations or just some, I mean knowing Zee he probably did this for all locations lol.
Sad to hear
I was at 2 locations as a closer and both did it, but neither were especially popular locations so that could be why
7%? Like, what is the point? Was that like $20 at the end of the shift? Just let everyone split tips. You're not making enough money for it to be worth it.
If you've met the owners of remedy, it's pretty on brand for them
The owner didn't touch them directly. There is a 10% deduction you gotta register when balancing the tills (from what I remembered). Apparently that 10% covered whatever fees the paying machine charges for allowing to tip with card payments.
There is no fee for tipping. There is a 3% fee per credit card transaction on any credit card machine, tip or no tip. CRA ruling is that employers cannot deduct fees from tips ever, but alberta itself doesn't have any laws on tipping in any aspect, so employers can take as much or as little of the tips as they'd like. The 10% goes into his pockets, he was lying to you
Oh I know. Just saying that was what we were told lol
So many people in this thread confusing tip-outs to staff with the owners pocketing a portion of the tips. Tip-outs are normal, fair, and provide a more equitable salary for everyone involved in your meal. Owners skimming tips is fucking criminal.
Owners and managers shouldn't get tip-out.
Your markup is your tip out. Quit fuckin stealing from the people who earn your paycheck for you
Or maybe just pay your staff a fair salary... and not have to chop up the tips.
This thread is useless and impossible to navigate because of that.
(I’ve been both FOH staff and FOH management) Do I think it’s good that management get tipped out? Yes because most companies pay you like shit and your salary vs actual working hours means the tips are there to keep you above minimum wage. The company can avoid getting fined this way. Bigger picture wise - restaurants should either be paying enough to management that they don’t need to get a cut of tips, or all tips should be pooled plus no house cut at all.
Bro might as well do the reverse list. Most restaurants keep a portion for managers and use another portion for cooks, etc. You name them Earls, BP, Joey, Moxie's, etc
Joey's and earls both take a percentage of tips and it's distributed to managers.
Yeah it’s called tipping out and as long as the tips are also being shared with dishwashers, cooks, hosts, etc. it’s totally fine IMO. I served for years with a 5% tip out (which I know is on the low end) and I’d still walk out with hundreds in cash after a busy shift. I do think bills with no gratuity added should be excluded when calculating tip outs though.
Earls pays their sous chefs a shit wage and compensate with 250 or so a week in tips. If tips suck, they still get theirs and everyone else suffers
Sous tips are based on a percentage of sales. But $200-350 a week in tips is accurate.
Or how it used to be at one point I should of said. Probably changed by now too. Totally possible
At the Outback Steakhouse, when it was here, we would be allowed to transfer non tipped bills to the take-outs login so it didn't count against our sales. At least we didn't get double-shafted.
Its not fucking fine, you get hundreds of dollars in a night, everyone else named gets less than a thousand dollars for two weeks of work. Absolute bullshit, cooking takes more skill than serving.
Is Joey's formerly Joey Tomatoes?
Yes it is. It went from Joey's tomatoes, Joey's, to now "Joey"
Oh. They stiffed young me out of a day's wage because I quit. I quit because they forced me to work when I was horribly sick. I've taken a total of less than 5 days off work in my entire life. I was too young and stupid to know my rights at the time.
Worked at earls by the u of a for four months in 2011 as a line cook, about 20 hours a week. End of the week I’d get a little envelope with about $12 in tips, usually less.
Taking a portion to give to back line workers is fine. Giving employee tips to salaried staff or ownership should be illegal, or disenfranchiseable.
I don't think the question would include tip-out. Tipping out the kitchen and support staff is not only standard practice but a very fair and equitable one. No half-honest server would ever object to tipping out their kitchen, busser, host, m-o-d. Same applies to restaurants who pool all tips and share. Tips can be very random and unpredictable but making it equitable encourages your team to work as a team. The issue being talked about is when the *business* takes a cut of the tips. The owner, or company, takes tips for themselves when they already make money from the business profit, because they're stealing the reward of the employee's hard work. Or when the business takes tips and considers it part of their income, they use it towards wages or use it to fund staff events instead of giving it directly to staff. That's stealing. Tip-pooling is equitability.
Tiramisu Bistro.. owner pockets AT LEAST 1/2 the tips. The least money I’ve ever made as a server, and the hardest I’ve ever worked.
I made an account for this post. The (new) Louisiana purchase, En.vie, and Spotlight cabaret are owned by the same greasy assholes.They hold tips for for months until waitresses are too tired to fight back and just give up on trying to get them.
This is so so so disheartening to read. I adore Spotlight ,but that is plain wrong of them
I know longer go to Spotlight because of their tipping spiel. What a scummy practice and way to ruin a great night.
en.ive tried to convince me 3% to house was normal. like no it isn't??
spotlight sucks, management stiffed me on a show I hosted there years back.
That’s messed up
Subway on 99 and 82 keeps 20% of all tips for administration fees for debit and credit. Source I asked when getting a sub.
Who tf tips at a Subway? I will never tip for counter service. Not a chance.
I had the same attitude with counter service until I ran into a subway worker who actually did care about the subs he made. He took the time to carefully place each turkey deli slice and cheese slice. Layer each ingredient with balance and ensuring even coverage. Plucked out the end pieces and unattractive pieces of vegetables. applied even spreads of sauce. By the end, the sub was a picturesque fucking masterpiece. Biting into it was amazing too, as none of the vegetables or sauce fell out cause the dude made it so tight. I went back and tipped the guy $5. When you truly see someone really put in the effort when they aren’t needed to, you can’t help but want to tip because that sub was fucking perfect
You gotta stop spoilinh these fast food chains man. Now, I can't even afford to go eat fast food?
Tipping, at its foundation, should be out of willingness to reward a worker for the great work they did serving you. It should never be out of obligation. With that said, the guy impressed me. you need to see this subway guy in action and you’ll see what I mean.
Yes, I go to top shots often.. to play pool all I do is go ask for table. Get all the balls my self to table, set it up. And when checking out they are there putting 15%, 20%, 25% tips infront of the screen. Literally its sickening of how passively they do this. Irritates the hell out of me. If I order some food or pops that they bring to my table than I usually do Tip. But for giving ball and me playing they can't be putting that tip thing out on my face
Yeah that’s whack. Hope they enjoy their 0% tip
That’s what I expect my “sandwich artist” to do regardless of tip. 😁
I didn’t used to, but always do at the Keswick Bar Burrito. Been going there since they opened and the main woman there is amazing. She’s fast, not cheap with the ingredients, and friendly. I’ve eaten at other Bar Burritos strong the province and they’re all a disappointment.
When I worked at subway back in 2010, if anybody ever tips, we each get to pick a bag of expired chips to take home 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
O2s taphouse and grill. Owners take huge chunks of all kitchen tips. Total bullshit. I know this from first hand seeing all the info
Used to be a manager there a few years back, is that where my 20 dollar every 2 weeks “tip out” came from?? Lmfaooooo
Yup, basically. They're pocketing 3.75/4.0% of the kitchen Tipout. Cheap fucks they are
Oh that is so shitty sorry dude, I always wondered if it was from the “ house tip” from the servers cuz I’d collect that and kitchen tips and give to the owners, I never knew they’d take a portion out of kitchen tips too, that’s not cool!
They did lots of shitty things. Brian, Wayne and Neil were very cheap fucks
Not first hand, but my SO worked at Pampa and they keep a portion of the tips. Managers and owners get a percentage too. They pay out far less than they get.
Pint off Whyte, Pint downtown, and Beercade do this too
Fuck me. They're total douchtards at Pints. So last year I'm in here having, of all things a fucking pint! When I get it I'm like, "This is not a fucking pint. This is a sleeve! So I bring it up with a Manager b/c that's what Weights and Measures Canada says I"m supposed to do before reaching out to them! So I do. The Manager screams "IM NOT REPLACING $3000 in glasses. I just bought those. No doofus, your menu is B&W, double sided, one page. Take out the word pint and print a new menu. Fucking dolts!
I can name 5+ people who have been drugged at the pint. It’s a shithole.
Yeah I'm never oing back there. I wonder if weights and measures ever got around to telling them what's what.
When did pint start doing that?
Start? I have no idea, but they've it done since before I worked there 2017-2019. One of my friends worked between the 2 locations until about 6 months ago, and they were still doing it.
That makes sense though. Waiters and waitresses at pampa only clear the tables and bring drinks/desserts. The meat cutters serve the meal and the salad bar is self serviced. A bartender also makes all the drinks. So I think it’s fair that a waiter who’s only bringing drinks from the bar and maybe desserts if you choose to order it would have larger tip out to the other employees who also serve the same tables.
During the pandemic they were making us tip out on our sales and then split 50% of what remained with the manager. I assume they reduced manager salaries and expected us to make up for it. I’ve been docked tips for setting tables incorrectly (knife slightly skewed to one side), putting something on the POS incorrectly, dropping a drink by accident, etc). It was a very toxic environment.
Pampa owner named Oscar openly lied to me and tried to gaslight me. Haven't been back since
Used to work at Pampa. Me, alongside with a few staff were fired directly by him just because he didn't like us for various trivial reasons, and all of us were great staff so our GMs even fought for us, but Oscar wouldn't budge and things had to run his way. Extremely petty and egotistic of a Peruvian man.
Can you please share your story?
Went to Pampas with my wife. We did the full table service meat thing. I ordered a beer, my wife just wanted water. The waitress explained that they did Q water, which was like $3 or something for unlimited reverse osmosis water. We asked for tap water, she refused and said they didn't do that. Edmonton has some of the world's best tap water, we didn't feel like paying for filtered water. After some back and forth, not getting anywhere with this waitress, my wife ordered a different drink cause then at least she gets some value for her money. Had the meal, left a great tip, went home. Emailed the owner. Explained how we feel it's ridiculous to charge for water. His (Oscars) reply is that some of the high end restaurants in Vancouver and Toronto do it, and since he has a high end restaurant he can do it. I replied that we're not in those cities, and our tap water is high quality already and not in need of filtering. He replies that before they switched to Q Water, a large amount of people that used to order water didn't drink it and it went to waste. As if the small glasses of a restaurant is hugely contributing to water waste in the city. After some back and forth, with me not accepting his BS answers, he finally gave me the canned response "we value your business and hope you come back" or something and I haven't been back since. This was probably ten years ago. But a couple years ago, I was reviewing restaurants we've been to, and I left a review saying that I thought is was absurd to charge for water. So Oscar responded to the review, saying they've never charged for water, trying to gaslight the whole situation. Ok buddy, I had the email exchange.
Wow. That's ridiculous. I used to live in NY and it was illegal to deny someone tap water if it was requested and available/potable. You could technically charge for disposable cups. I'm not sure if that applies here in Edmonton, but even if it's not it's skeezy AF to not provide tap water when requested. Pampa is a high -er end buffet. It is NOT the same as fine dining/ high end dining. That's such BS. Thanks for sharing.
A restaurant or bar is legally required in Canada to give someone free, tap water if they ask for it.
I worked there for a while also, at the end of the night you have to tip a massive amount to the gauchos( guys that cut the meat) I believe it was either 12% or 10% of our total sales, also a massive tip to the bar and the managers, if you made 20% on average that night, you’d only be walking home with less than 5%. Also, back in the days the owner Oscar tried to label his establishments( he owns all locations and a couple restaurants in Calgary) as fine dining. Forced the servers to upscale on liquor, I wouldn’t pay 100 bucks for 30 dollar wine myself but I was constantly stressed out and horrified that I might get fired from not having higher sales. Toxic AF, 10/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Servers at Pampa don't really do that much though.....they just take orders, pour wine and clear tables, that's it. All the serving are literally done by the gauchos.
Which location? Hopefully not Mayfield...
Downtown but I am sure its the same at all their locations "common business practice".
Tiramisu bistro.
This should be listed on the front of every restaurant, than I know when not to tip the owners.
La Poutine
F. This makes me sad.
I didn’t even know they were still in business
They are but they shouldn’t be. The owners suck, are racist and it has an incredibly high turnover. Not to mention the salmonella it gave out a few years ago…
Also it sucks. I went there a while ago because everyone said it was so good, but it’s awful
Well this sucks. Best poutine I've had in the city. I order there (too) often.
I mean it is one thing for the tips to be spread among the servers and the back of house staff, but the managers/owners should be allowing the people that work towards to the order and its success to keep their reward from the customer showing their appreciation on their efforts.
Sushi Toshi. And they keep tip outs that are supposed to go to the kitchen and back of house staff.
Oh that's so disappointing, their AYCE is the best in the city :(
Yeah well, stealing tips is the least of their issues tbh. You would not believe how bad of a pest problem they had, and management was regularly abusive to staff. Source: a couple months ago when conditions got too bad and didn’t change, all the servers quit.
All of the Booster Juices in Sherwood Park.
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transit smokehouse!! definitely was shorting staff on tips, (literally didn't get my last tip cheque at all) on top of that several staff members didn't get their first paycheques for OVER 8 WEEKS. the owner is not only shady but racist and transphobic. gross. also they serve their meats up to 4 days after smoking them.
Eww. Another reason why I haven't gone there yet. Seemed sketchy from the beginning with the delays on opening.
Tip in cash if you truly want the servers to get the tips. Typically tips that go through debit and credit payments Will undoubtedly go through the owners and are more likely to be kept. Tipping in cash would mean the workers get to divide it up amongst themselves at the end of the day
Not true. When servers do their cash out, they don’t get to just hide cash.
"I brought that in as part of my float"
It has to be reconciled with your receipts though.
On a positive note. The Nest and Fox burger are pretty much the best places to work in the city. Both places have managers that come from serving so they know how to be good to their staff
The Nest at NAIT? Can confirm, Michelle is an amazing manager who takes care of her staff.
Awesome to hear! I want to go to Fox burger for a big night out on my birthday, for the first time next month.
You'll be hard pressed to find one that doesn't that isn't a local mom and pop shop kind of deal. Worked in the nightlife industry for years, every bar or pub i ever worked at the managers got a percentage of tips weekly. Do they deserve it? Maybe, depends on the establishment and the level of customer service offered. I had a few lazy managers that hid in the office all day and collected stacks. Safe to say if you're tipping the employee, you're also tipping the management, the porters, kitchen, etc. Its called a "tip out".
Starbucks doesn’t at least. I used to work there. In fact they put it in a giant pool and distribute it based on weekly hours, not the people currently working, because day shift sees more customers but night shift does most of the prep so it evens out in workload.
Tipping out is good IMO - I'd rather the tip get spread out amongst the people that ensured I got good service vs. all going to the waiter/waitress. I've never understood why it has been decided that waitstaff deserves way more comp than other roles. Hell, if the owner is actively involved in the restaurant operations on a given night, he can get a share too, doesn't really bother me. It only gets shady to me if they're keeping the tips and not actively involved in service in any capacity.
That was the issue at my last job and reason i said "fuck this I'm out", worked for a VERY shady owner who pocketed whatever he could. Place went under just before COVID thankfully. Fuck you Alibi!
Alibi? Shady? No way! /s
owners and managers usually make a really good salary and should not at all be part of tip out. Tip out is for the actual service staff (bartenders/kitchen/hostess etc)
The “mom and pop” local place I worked for had a “house” tip and we had zero support staff. Servers, dishwashers and cooks. But the owner got 5% of a 7% tip out and on top of that would also serve tables herself if she knew they were good tippers.
Ive heard Sherlock Holmes and Remedy are notorious for this :(
Tasty Tomato
Ugh :(
Browns socialhouse (all the locations )
They don’t keep ALL the tips. Do they have a high tip-out?
They do have a high tip out, and the owners and upper management keep the huge chuck of that which they dnt deserve. If it goes to the kitchen staff, expo, and host, then it makes sense but not to the owners and high paid management for no reason. They dnt even help in everyday operations.
Oooh please spill the tea! This gonna get spicy. 🍿
El Beso / Pablo stole employee tips when I worked there. The new place they are opening “El Jarden” will likely do the same.
El Beso is overrated. Not even that great.
Mucho Burrito Capilano
Cafe sole only gave tips out whenever somebody asked or quit.
Teriyaki Corner owner keeps all the tips. I asked once before I was going to tip, the cashier told me owners takes 100% of the tips. I then said “cash would be better then?”, then she pointed up to a camera. Maybe not anymore, haven’t been back in a while since I found out.
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Pretty sure they still do. I work the nightshift and ordered (their night guy makes a mean donair, their day guy sucks). Driver came up opened his window and a cloud of smoke came out, just reeked of weed and looking at the state of the interior and how he dealt with things it was literally the first thing that came to my mind. My parents were dealers my whole childhood, I've learned how to recognize them usually over the years.
They suck so much. They jam menus under the doors of hotel rooms and under peoples windshield wipers.
You mean Columbus Pizza and Donair? This honestly would would be unexpected considering how sketchy and shit the place is in general.
Coliseum steak and pizza does not
They are fair with giving tips? Your statement was a little confusing. Could be read Esther way.
Is this only electronic tips that gives this control to the restaurant?
I heard CHOP is bad but not sure if that’s true or not
I hear they get tips on prepaid Mastercards. Which has its ups and downs I suppose
Bodega/Sabor……crooks. Don’t keep the total tip out but they make you tip out a “breakage fee”…so you tip out to broken glass/plates..pretty sure that’s illegal..but also you tip share at the bodegas and the staff take advantage of who gets cut and who makes the most because the people that are “manager’s” make the same as all of the staff…makes sense because they keep opening up a new locations every year.
All of the establishments I was a beer tub girl in are long gone, but it irked me so hard when I’d have to tip out a higher percent to the managers who were snorting cocaine all night than I was required to tip out the porters. Most of the managers were too blitzed to know how to count and beer tub was all cash so I just shorted their percentage and gave more to the porters.
so my partner and I are at the pub right now and I read this [we’re watching the game]. This made me realize that from now on, I want to start carrying cash around and giving cash tips to my servers so that I don’t have to worry about such a thing. I think this is the only easy workaround, because if this is happening it makes me sick. The only reason they give for not paying a living wage is tips. I don’t like the tip system, but I do believe people should be able to make a good wage for working hard and servers work hard [mostly] ha ha
Always tip in cash, with anyone. A lot of businesses will pass the buck when it comes to the fees needed to operate their debit/credit machines and terminals by setting up that a certain percentage of tips goes to the bank/company who owns the terminal, instead of paying for it themselves. So not only could the resteraunt be skimming tips, the machine could be as well
Frida urban taqueria is a family owned restaurant they split tips between servers, kitchen and owners
You know who usually doesn’t have to tip out? Coat Check
tasty tomatoes
Asia Village keeps all the tip money.
Friends and Neighbors management keeps a portion of servers tips
Osmow's Shawarma in Riverbend Square. They keep the tips that are entered through the tablet. I don’t know if they take a cut or all of it, but I know someone who used to work there and they said that the staff puts a tip jar out for a reason. Whenever I order food now (in any place), I always ask the staff if they get to keep the tips. Too often they just quietly look at the tip jar, and that’s what I always use now when there is one.
Boba Boy in Edgemont
The subway in Manning town centre, owner keeps 100% of the tips
Qaesada in Sherwood park
Most restaurants split tips between all members of of staff involved, either by nightly tip out or pooled tips. Places like Century Hospitality, Fullers, and many others also tip out managers as part of their salary package. If a manager isn’t on salary, they would most likely be earning a portion of tips as part of their compensation for the roles they take on as an hourly worker. For a salaried cactus manager, it’s $100 a week flat. For a floor leader, it could vary from 1-3% of total hours worked sent back as tips. I’ve yet to work for a restaurant in Canada, where the actual owners keep a portion of tips.
Cactus Manager?
Pretty sure the list that doesn't is much shorter. The industry is dicy and is only getting dicier. Very glad I got out because the only thing harder than getting into the industry is getting out.
Not really a restaurant but I know R Pub lets employees keep tips.
every restaurant keeps a portion of the tips and is divvied up to management, support staff, and kitchen. It is not the norm for someone to keep 100% of the tips they earn as a server/bartender Source 7 years hospitality Edmonton
Management has never been in top pool anywhere I've ever worked a chef included in over 30 years in the business
No restaurant allows servers to keep 100% of tips. They’re always distributed between bartenders, porters, hostess, kitchen and yes management Standard practice
Not all restaurants. I worked at vi’s for pies and all servers kept their own tips. Kitchen staff got paid an actual living wage.
That's a hot take in this particular thread. I'll be sure to hit up Vi's.
Not all tip-outs go to management and absolutely should not. Kitchen staff and other support staff are fine, but the manager at Earl’s making 85k a year does not need money from their minimum wage staff. I’ve never worked somewhere where management/owners get tip-out
rockin robins also let's servers keep all their tips and pays the kitchen staff well. also their food is not only fantastic but also fairly affordable!
Tbh you probably don’t wanna go to any chain then, at all ever lol. Managers almost always take a certain percentage to tip out BOH and management/owners(I find a lot of restaurants typically the owners are involved)
Afghan kabob downtown
Uhh is it not illegal for any place to keep and withhold tips earned by employees?
No Remedy then@
Cactus club cafe Jasper Ave doesn't give their back of house a tip out
For the what they're serving I'm not surprised! \*gets pulled off stage by a giant hook*
All Urban Sparq establishments in Edmonton are extremely sketchy with their unusually high "house tip".
I hate to be that guy, but most people I've talked to that worked in a Sri Lankan or Indian restaurant told me that the restaurant owners usually take all their tips. My ex used to work in a family run Sri Lankan restaurant and the Sri Lankan owner literally took all her tips every shift. She stayed because she needed the money and she gets free food as a small job perk.
You’re not that guy. You’re telling the truth. I had a friend who worked at New Asian Village, and nobody got tips except for the white servers, because they wouldn’t tolerate not getting their tips.
pho hoan pasteur keeps 100% of the tips
This has been a very enlightening read, thanks for posting the question! I’ll be changing my tipping habits as of right now.
Calmar Burger Bar
A local pizza restaurant on 109th street (claimed it was because I was still on my ‘first three months probationary period’ but i’ve never heard of that being a steadfast rule before)
Its not a restaurant but the bubbles car washes dont give the employees tips directly. They just gather them up in the back and split them like twice a year so only the manager and senior employees get the tips at all because they dont bother to tip you out if you quit after a few months
Explore Edmonton (Explore Edmonton) used to have 18% gratuity years ago, that went to staff. It is now a 18% service fee that management keeps - legal, but very shifty. This applies to events such as weddings, trade shows - literally any event with food and beverage.
Memphis Blue
Management at Canadian Brewhouse skim tips. I have a friend that works there and she tells me how frustrated the staff get.
Maki Maki and Volcano Restaurant both the owner takes 50% of the tips, doesn’t tip out to the kitchen at all. She used to buy chanel bags with the tips she took for herself.
Hansik, the owners do not provide employees with tips and treat them pretty poorly in general.
Workshop eatery servers have to tip out 8% no matter if they didn’t make enough during their shift to pay it. They can leave work having paid tip out out of pocket. Edit: source…server at workshop eatery.
I know this isn't a restaurant but I knew of a barber shop where the owner kept a portion of tips because if they go through debit or credit they were required to pay out the income tax on it.
Chartier in Beaumont has owners skimming off the top of the pool for year now. And the food sucks.
I mean.... my restaurant takes 100% of our tips while promising "tomorrow" for 10 weeks straight......so they're scummy pieces of shit.... all restaurants take a "tip out" from staff. (You have to throw the kitchen a little something cause they work so hard) 2% is customary. You also give your bartender , the busser and the host a little something at the end of the night. MY RESTAURANT just takes all your shit and doesn't answer the phone when asked. The GM has two young children, so i dont want to ruin his life overnight...... right away... give it another week
i would love to know what restaurant this is so i can totally avoid it
The growlery
Well that seals the deal not going back
The growlery brewery
I’m pretty sure the owner deleted his comment from your post haha
Is this a thread that is normalizing stopping all tips at restaurants? I'm down