#like olive garden or red lobster or applebees or whatever?

[ladylingua]

I have a very genuine question about the tipping post I promise I didnt read it in bad faith: are people who simply cannot afford to tip not “allowed” to eat out? I’m just thinking about how it works where I am from and while tipping is the norm here if someone doesn’t tip because they can’t afford it it really isn’t a big deal (+tipping norm here us only 10%). so if a poor family goes out to eat to celebrate something and they can barely afford the meal would they still be expected to tip 20% because they shouldn’t eat out if they cant afford it? thank you in advance I’m really curious

If it helps, don’t think of the tip as a separate thing. It is part of the cost of your meal. So if you cannot afford to pay for the cost of the meal including the tip you cannot afford to eat at that restaurant. This is something I myself have to calculate when I’m deciding if I want to eat at a particular restaurant- if I have $15 I can’t go to a restaurant and order a $20 entrée and then refuse to pay the remaining cost, and likewise if I have $15 I can’t order a $15 entrée and expect not to pay the server for their service.

Now that doesn't mean families who can't afford a pricy restaurant can't eat out at all. Since it is a % of your bill you can try to go for a cheaper restaurant (smaller bill = smaller tip), or if you go to a counter service place where you serve yourself you’re not expected to tip 20% (sometimes they have a jar out you could kindly throw a dollar or more in, but there is much less expectation to tip because the workers at a place like that receive a full minimum wage, more on that in a sec). I will also say in my lived experience poor families in America understand and tip well, I’ve almost exclusively been under tipped by wealthy people (which is what kicked off the debate on twitter- if your bill is $700 then you obviously can afford to tip a full 20%, no destitute families are spending $700 on one meal).

Technically speaking you can get away with 18% as a tip, and if you go down to 15% your waiter will think you’re cheap and be annoyed (15% definitely implies you were unhappy with their service) but that is the lowest possible threshold of acceptability. 10% is not an acceptable rate here, and 20% is now the expected norm for good service, and going up from there for great service. And I would never, ever not tip at all. I can only imagine not tipping if like the server had done something deeply offensive or dangerous or something. I've never encountered a situation where I felt the server didn't deserve any tip at all.

Because you’ve asked in genuine good faith I’m going to provide some more context to help you understand a bit more why this is the way it is-

Waitstaff in america are wildly underpaid. Our federal government assumes the tips are part of their expected income, and so a) they are taxed on assumed tips and b) it is legal to pay them less than standard minimum wage. Currently the tipped federal minimum wage is $2.13/hr. Now, states set their own individual rates so some states do better, but $2.13/hr is the lowest they can all legally go. And you’ll notice in that link it mentions the assumed tips and taxing them. I said on my original post, when I worked as a tipped waitress I made $2.68/hr and sometimes my biweekly paycheck was like $60 total. Imagine trying to survive on $120 a month, you absolutely cannot. Tips made up my actual wage, and were the paycheck I depended on to pay for my basic needs. I relied directly on customers to choose to do the social convention of tipping for survival, and when someone would choose to do otherwise it was utterly devastating.

Another thing customers sometimes don’t realize is your waiter may not be allowed to keep all of the tip themselves. It’s a common practice to pool tips amongst all the waitstaff and then divide them equally, and many places require that you tip out other employees there. So if you give me $10 as a tip I might be actually giving a large chunk of that to bussers, bartenders, etc. Or maybe we pool tips and someone else stiffed my colleague so now all of us are sharing your $10 tip. So also keep in mind that the money you leave as a tip very often does not go entirely to the actual waiter, so a big tip can actually become pretty small much faster than you would think.

(and that's just legal practices, wage theft and illegal practices run rampant in the restaurant industry, just fyi)

If you are wondering why tipping culture here is so grim, it is because of slavery. Tipping got big here as a way to keep forcing Black Americans into working for free, now with a small tip but still no actual wage. It was designed for oppression. Waitstaff are overwhelmingly not wealthy people. It is very common for them to be on food stamps, require housing assistance, or to otherwise be living under the poverty line. If you are eating out and not tipping because you yourself are poor, you are taking money out of someone else’s poverty wages to do so. When we debate minimum wage here in america, conservatives are really good at painting a picture of waitstaff being perky middle class college kids making an extra buck, or teens from wealthy homes wanting some spending money. There is an implication that they don't really need the money that badly. That is not the reality of who makes up most serving jobs in america. Minimum wage workers are likely to be in poverty, they’re likely to be women and specifically they’re likely to be women of color. Americans of color are significantly more likely to be working at minimum wage than white americans. There is a pretty sizeable number of minimum wage workers who are over 50, and a not insignificant amount of them who are mothers who support their families. There are also those teens who just want extra cash, and they deserve good compensation for their hard work too, don’t get me wrong, but they are only a portion of who makes up the minimum wage workforce.

If you’re like “But that’s such a shitty system, you’re saying it’s pitting poor people against each other for basic human comforts!” yup. I 100% agree. I am a vocal proponent of raising the minimum wage for that reason. I also advocate for a Universal Basic Income, because I understand that when it comes to small mom & pop restaurants the owners aren’t always making a ton of money either and it seems like truly no one is winning in this system. It is set up to oppress and to demean and to grind us all down. There are lots of orgs in America that are fighting to improve the system, or to radically change the system. There are also restaurants that have tried to do things differently- there’s a wine bar in my city that says specifically on their menu that their wine is more expensive because they pay their workers a true livable wage so there is no tipping there. Instead as a customer I pay a higher upfront cost that covers the true expense of running the bar- including server wages. I love that, I wish more places would do things like that. In the meantime, when I’m choosing where to eat I factor in a tip of 20% when calculating my estimated bill, because paying for service is part of the cost.

Refusing to tip fully in america is not doing anything to change the system. It does not make restaurant owners rethink their pay structure, it does not put pressure on our government to fix minimum wage, it does not make a political statement. It just means your server is going home wondering if they can afford their own meal that night.

Thank you for asking for clarity, I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask more if you have any remaining confusion or are curious about other aspects of american culture. If I can answer and the questions are respectful, I am happy to reply!

#also fwiw #you know those big american chain restaurants people like to make fun of? #like olive garden or red lobster or applebees or whatever? #a lot of the appeal of those types of restaurants is they make a big production over you as a customer like you're at a high end restaurant #but the prices are much lower than an actual nice restaurant #so that is why so many americans view going to outback steakhouse as a big treat #it's not that we don't know what a good steakhouse is #it's that those places give you that service but your steak is $20.99 #and if you are like 'ha! my family wishes they could afford chilis" #no yeah those places are not cheap i feel you #but that's exactly the appeal of those big chains #a real nyc steakhouse starts at like $40 for steaks #and goes up from there #now look at outback's menu #now you get it? #so yeah if you're not a wealthy family and you have a celebration coming up you look for a restaurant in that vein

[klapollo]

#EYE would go with red robin.

[wineanddinosaur]

A Power Ranking of the Best and Worst Margaritas at Every Major Chain Restaurant

America loves Margaritas. The tangy mix of tequila, fresh lime, and triple sec has been our No. 1 drink since 2016, according to Nielsen surveys. We love Margaritas so much, in fact, we’ll happily pay extra for them.

Naturally, Margaritas are available everywhere from somber craft cocktail bars to casual dining chains. Chili’s Grill & Bar boasts a 14-strong Margarita menu, including a revolving, monthly $5 Margarita special. Meanwhile, sales of Applebee’s $1 cocktail deals, which started with the infamous “Dollarita” in October 2017, not only helped the chain buck a casual dining slump, they drove 43 weeks of consecutive sales growth. Even Olive Garden, the Italian family dining chain, offers its own version of the Mexican cocktail.

But just how good are these iterations? Is their success a product of cost and convenience, or are these national chains just as adept at slinging the nation’s favorite cocktail as mixologists at high-end cocktail bars?

“[A Margarita] should be tart, it should taste like lime and like citrus (which is why you use Cointreau), and it should taste earthy, like tequila,” Ivy Mix, co-owner of Leyenda in Brooklyn, N.Y., says. According to the self-professed “tequila and mezcal lady,” there’s absolutely no substitute for Cointreau in the mix. “If you use simple syrup,” she says, “it’s just a glorified Daiquiri.”

Some bars may swap out the tequila for mezcal, though, adding a smoky element to the drink. But regardless of which agave spirit you use, “it must be 100 percent agave,” Gary Wallach, director of food and beverage for Arlo Hotels, tells VinePair. “Agave is like wine,” Wallach explains, “so the best Margaritas balance the true terroir of the agave used, while using just enough sugar and citrus to give it a refreshing and light flavor.”

Armed with this guidance, we assembled a team of Margarita enthusiasts to help sample and rank what each national casual-dining chain had to offer.

Those tasked with joining this writer for the crawl included Jeff Licciardello, VinePair’s director of marketing and lover of every form and flavor of Margarita. VinePair columnist Aaron Goldfarb, whose fondness for casual-dining-chain cocktails is well-documented, was also on hand, as was politics editor from the Daily Dot, David Covucci, because who needs eight successive Margaritas more than someone who reports on our current political landscape for a living?

Our process was simple: We entered each national dining chain, asked the bartender for whatever they deemed their location’s “flagship Margarita,” and individually scored the drink based on presentation, balance of flavors, and value for money. After we’d tasted and scored them all, we averaged them to determine the final ranking.

8. TGI Fridays

Called the “Best Fridays Margarita” (BFM), this $16.32 (after tax) cocktail was one of the two most expensive Margaritas we sampled. Visually, it was uninviting, with a few specks of salt crusted onto an oversized rocks glass. The drink gained a few points for including Patrón and fresh lime juice, but the balance was off-kilter, with not enough sweetness and far too much booze. If the BFM is, indeed, the best Margarita TGIF has to offer, we won’t be returning any time soon. Average score: 8/25

7. Hard Rock Café

Upon descending into the basement bar of the Times Square Hard Rock Café, we had high hopes. Our bartender whipped up the drink with the briskness of a Led Zeppelin guitar solo, and, at $12.79 after tax, it was one of the cheapest Margaritas we encountered. Unfortunately, the inclusion of both Cointreau and Grand Marnier meant the quality tequila — Tres Generaciones Plata — got lost in the mix, which tasted like boozy orange juice. Average score: 11/25

6. Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday’s “Top Shelf Traditional Margarita” blends Casamigos Blanco with triple sec and something called “fresh lime sour,” and tops it with a Grand Marnier float. Unlike Hard Rock’s Margarita, this chain manages to strike a nice balance between the sweet, orange-flavored liqueur, and the citrus and tequila, though some tasters felt it was ultimately lacking in acidity. It might not be an issue if you’re only drinking one, but would definitely lead to struggles if you order a second or make the first one “large” for an extra $1. Average score: 14/25

5. Olive Garden

Olive Garden’s Italian Margarita was polarizing. The non-traditional recipe swaps out half the sour mix for orange juice, and the cocktail is finished with a pour of Amaretto. Most of the tasters felt there was sufficient acidity to balance the sweet ingredients, however, and everyone agreed the orange and lime garnish, and orange-salt-rimmed glass, made the drink look appealing. At close to 16 ounces for $11.74, the drink also offers fantastic value. Average score: 14.5/25

4. Red Lobster

Combining Sauza tequila, Grand Marnier, and sour mix, Red Lobster’s Margarita is greater than the sum of its parts. Our team of four ordered the 24-ounce “Lobsterita” pour, which was ours for a barely believable $14.58. A solid, if slightly bland Margarita, the drink was balanced and just missed falling in our top three. Average score: 15/25

3. Chili’s Grill & Bar

Chili’s sells over 22 million Margaritas per year, making it the largest purchaser of tequila in the United States, according to a brand representative. Over 7 million of those Margs are its flagship “Presidente,” a sweet, boozy blend of Sauza Conmemorativo, Patrón Citrónge orange liqueur, E&J brandy, and a proprietary sweet and sour mix. The drink arrives in a signature plastic blue shaker, but skewed slightly too sweet for our tasters, and a little brandy-heavy. Average score: 15.5/25

2. Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar

Applebee’s “Perfect Margarita” ups the presentation ante, arriving in a stainless steel Boston shaker complete with Hawthorne strainer. Inside are two-and-a-half cocktails’ worth of 1800 tequila, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, sour mix, fresh lime, and a sweetener we’re told is called “bar syrup.” Top marks for presentation, including the unexpected coconut salt rim on the accompanying Martini glass, but the combined sweetness of Grand Marnier and the so-called bar syrup held this drink back from clinching top spot. A worthy $16.32 effort, nonetheless. Average score: 16/25

1. Buffalo Wild Wings

B-Dubs may be better known for its impressive craft beer selection, but the chain is equally adept at blending impressive Margaritas. The winning “Platinum Margarita” combines Patrón, Grand Marnier, and sour mix, and serves it on the rocks. Tasters were impressed by the drink’s balance, and everyone agreed they could happily enjoy multiple glasses without things tasting too sweet. Our bartender Venus told us that in two years of working at Buffalo Wild Wings, she’d never had a single drink sent back to her. We can see why. Average score: 16.5/25

The article A Power Ranking of the Best and Worst Margaritas at Every Major Chain Restaurant appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/best-worst-chain-restaurant-margarita-rankings/

[wineanddinosaur]

A Power Ranking of the Best and Worst Margaritas at Every Major Chain Restaurant

America loves Margaritas. The tangy mix of tequila, fresh lime, and triple sec has been our No. 1 drink since 2016, according to Nielsen surveys. We love Margaritas so much, in fact, we’ll happily pay extra for them.

Naturally, Margaritas are available everywhere from somber craft cocktail bars to casual dining chains. Chili’s Grill & Bar boasts a 14-strong Margarita menu, including a revolving, monthly $5 Margarita special. Meanwhile, sales of Applebee’s $1 cocktail deals, which started with the infamous “Dollarita” in October 2017, not only helped the chain buck a casual dining slump, they drove 43 weeks of consecutive sales growth. Even Olive Garden, the Italian family dining chain, offers its own version of the Mexican cocktail.

But just how good are these iterations? Is their success a product of cost and convenience, or are these national chains just as adept at slinging the nation’s favorite cocktail as mixologists at high-end cocktail bars?

“[A Margarita] should be tart, it should taste like lime and like citrus (which is why you use Cointreau), and it should taste earthy, like tequila,” Ivy Mix, co-owner of Leyenda in Brooklyn, N.Y., says. According to the self-professed “tequila and mezcal lady,” there’s absolutely no substitute for Cointreau in the mix. “If you use simple syrup,” she says, “it’s just a glorified Daiquiri.”

Some bars may swap out the tequila for mezcal, though, adding a smoky element to the drink. But regardless of which agave spirit you use, “it must be 100 percent agave,” Gary Wallach, director of food and beverage for Arlo Hotels, tells VinePair. “Agave is like wine,” Wallach explains, “so the best Margaritas balance the true terroir of the agave used, while using just enough sugar and citrus to give it a refreshing and light flavor.”

Armed with this guidance, we assembled a team of Margarita enthusiasts to help sample and rank what each national casual-dining chain had to offer.

Those tasked with joining this writer for the crawl included Jeff Licciardello, VinePair’s director of marketing and lover of every form and flavor of Margarita. VinePair columnist Aaron Goldfarb, whose fondness for casual-dining-chain cocktails is well-documented, was also on hand, as was politics editor from the Daily Dot, David Covucci, because who needs eight successive Margaritas more than someone who reports on our current political landscape for a living?

Our process was simple: We entered each national dining chain, asked the bartender for whatever they deemed their location’s “flagship Margarita,” and individually scored the drink based on presentation, balance of flavors, and value for money. After we’d tasted and scored them all, we averaged them to determine the final ranking.

8. TGI Fridays

Called the “Best Fridays Margarita” (BFM), this $16.32 (after tax) cocktail was one of the two most expensive Margaritas we sampled. Visually, it was uninviting, with a few specks of salt crusted onto an oversized rocks glass. The drink gained a few points for including Patrón and fresh lime juice, but the balance was off-kilter, with not enough sweetness and far too much booze. If the BFM is, indeed, the best Margarita TGIF has to offer, we won’t be returning any time soon. Average score: 8/25

7. Hard Rock Café

Upon descending into the basement bar of the Times Square Hard Rock Café, we had high hopes. Our bartender whipped up the drink with the briskness of a Led Zeppelin guitar solo, and, at $12.79 after tax, it was one of the cheapest Margaritas we encountered. Unfortunately, the inclusion of both Cointreau and Grand Marnier meant the quality tequila — Tres Generaciones Plata — got lost in the mix, which tasted like boozy orange juice. Average score: 11/25

6. Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday’s “Top Shelf Traditional Margarita” blends Casamigos Blanco with triple sec and something called “fresh lime sour,” and tops it with a Grand Marnier float. Unlike Hard Rock’s Margarita, this chain manages to strike a nice balance between the sweet, orange-flavored liqueur, and the citrus and tequila, though some tasters felt it was ultimately lacking in acidity. It might not be an issue if you’re only drinking one, but would definitely lead to struggles if you order a second or make the first one “large” for an extra $1. Average score: 14/25

5. Olive Garden

Olive Garden’s Italian Margarita was polarizing. The non-traditional recipe swaps out half the sour mix for orange juice, and the cocktail is finished with a pour of Amaretto. Most of the tasters felt there was sufficient acidity to balance the sweet ingredients, however, and everyone agreed the orange and lime garnish, and orange-salt-rimmed glass, made the drink look appealing. At close to 16 ounces for $11.74, the drink also offers fantastic value. Average score: 14.5/25

4. Red Lobster

Combining Sauza tequila, Grand Marnier, and sour mix, Red Lobster’s Margarita is greater than the sum of its parts. Our team of four ordered the 24-ounce “Lobsterita” pour, which was ours for a barely believable $14.58. A solid, if slightly bland Margarita, the drink was balanced and just missed falling in our top three. Average score: 15/25

3. Chili’s Grill & Bar

Chili’s sells over 22 million Margaritas per year, making it the largest purchaser of tequila in the United States, according to a brand representative. Over 7 million of those Margs are its flagship “Presidente,” a sweet, boozy blend of Sauza Conmemorativo, Patrón Citrónge orange liqueur, E&J brandy, and a proprietary sweet and sour mix. The drink arrives in a signature plastic blue shaker, but skewed slightly too sweet for our tasters, and a little brandy-heavy. Average score: 15.5/25

2. Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar

Applebee’s “Perfect Margarita” ups the presentation ante, arriving in a stainless steel Boston shaker complete with Hawthorne strainer. Inside are two-and-a-half cocktails’ worth of 1800 tequila, Grand Marnier, sour mix, fresh lime, and a sweetener we’re told is called “bar syrup.” Top marks for presentation, including the unexpected coconut salt rim on the accompanying Martini glass, but the combined sweetness of Grand Marnier and the so-called bar syrup held this drink back from clinching top spot. A worthy $16.32 effort, nonetheless. Average score: 16/25

1. Buffalo Wild Wings

B-Dubs may be better known for its impressive craft beer selection, but the chain is equally adept at blending impressive Margaritas. The winning “Platinum Margarita” combines Patrón, Grand Marnier, and sour mix, and serves it on the rocks. Tasters were impressed by the drink’s balance, and everyone agreed they could happily enjoy multiple glasses without things tasting too sweet. Our bartender Venus told us that in two years of working at Buffalo Wild Wings, she’d never had a single drink sent back to her. We can see why. Average score: 16.5/25

The article A Power Ranking of the Best and Worst Margaritas at Every Major Chain Restaurant appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/best-worst-chain-restaurant-margarita-rankings/