BEST OF EVERYTHING

3258 ORCHARD LAKE RD.

681-3537

Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mon. Thru Thurs.
Fri. & Sat. 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Closed Sun.

SERVING BREAKFAST • LUNCH • DINNER

TRAY CATERING FOR YOUR NEXT AFFAIR OUR SPECIALTY

West Bloomfield's Most Attractive
Room For Private Parties

OLIVERIO'S

Specializing In
New York-style Italian Cuisine
Veal, Seafood, Chicken, Steak and
Gourmet Pasta Dishes

Enjoy A Complete Dining Experience

Tuesday thru Thursday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Sunday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Full Bar Service
Live Music Friday and Saturday

5586 Drake Road Just South of. Walnut Lake Road
In The Drake-Summit Shopping Center • West Bloomfield
Reservations: 661-1920

oWder

614theelLingsG8ociety'

DELICIOUS DISCOUNTS

Join the Society of Savings

There couldn't be a more delicious way to enjoy the wonderful cuisine at the
many fine restaurants that participate in the Chowder & Marching Society.
Because when you join the Chowder & Marching Society, you can save up to
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restaurants and receive a 50% discount for two diners, a 33% discount for
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The savings can total over $300. That adds up to a lot of fun. At ony $60.00,
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(313) 965-6333

(Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.)

62

FRIDAY, OCT. 2, 1987

Divided Tipping
Divides Patrons

DANNY RASKIN

Local Columnist

W

hat is the most ag-
gravating thing
that can happen in
a restaurant, asked editor
Charles Bernstein a short
while back in Nation's
Restaurant News (July).
To many, there are a
number of things, but Berns-
tein feels it is a particularly
irksome experience to dine at
a favorite restaurant and,
after a pleasant meal, look at
the credit card bill in order to
figure out what is happening.
"Lo and behold," says Bern-
stein, "separate spaces have
been provided for a tip for the
captain and another for the
waiter.
"One finds it difficult to in-
terpret this credit-card gim-
mick and to be able to write
in the tip almost by reflex. In-
stead of a normal 15 percent
tip or perhaps a 20 percent tip
if the service was especially
good, one has to figure out
what the captain did or did
not do — if anything — and
how it compares with that of
the waiter."
Being in New York, Berns-
tein encounters many more
restaurants with captain and
waitperson than we do here in
Detroit . . . but there are still
a number of them . . . He is
also among the majority
against restaurants putting
automatic 15 percent tips on
bills.
"Some customers solve the
problem astutely (cap-
tain/waiter tipping) by simp-
ly writing in a total amount
for the waiter only and letting
the employees decide their
share or fight it out later.
Nobody ever knows how such
ambiguities resolve
themselves in a restaurant.
Why should there be such
guesswork involved in any
situation?
"Most credit-card customers
want to do the correct thing
and end up agonizing over the
amount for the waiter and
captain. Cash customers don't
have to face this dilemma
because they simply pay
whatever tip they want.
"Unfortunately, the bottom
line for credit-card customers
(who provide the bulk of
business in any fine-dining
establishment) is that they
often feel guilty if they leave
anything less than 15 percent
to 17 percent for a waiter who
has performed reasonably
well and five percent to ten
percent for a captain who has
done his job.

"Of course, the net result is
that the waiter and captain
together get as much as a
25-percent tip on the bill
rather than the 15-percent-
plus total they would have
received if the customer had
to write in the tip only in one
place.
"At the same time, some
customers are so offended
that they simply indicate one
low tip or two low tips in the
space provided. This is their
protest against the system.
"With the new 80-percent
meal tax deduction rule and
the tight economy, business
people are watching their ex-
penditures rather carefully —
especially the tips, which no
longer can be completely
written off. The customer,
forced to make a more in-
tricate decision about the ex-
act distribution of his or her
tips, is put in an even more
annoying situation.
"Without a doubt, the in-
tent of this prevalent gim-
mick is to trade up customers
on tips, based on the theory
that two average tips are bet-
ter than one that is good or
average. Presumably,
numerous restaurants and
the credit-card companies
that agree to provide this type
of charge form have enjoyed
reasonable success with it or
they wouldn't keep using it.
"Previously we objected to a
restaurant's putting a man-
datory 15-percent service
charge on each bill instead of
giving the customer an option
on how much to tip. We still
feel that the few restaurants
doing this are only fooling
themselves as well as their
customers in taking away the
ever-precious freedom of
choice.
"But we find the procedure
of making the consumer puz-
zle over how much to tip a
captain and a waiter far more
reprehensible.
"Whatever extra tips the
device may result in are more
than offset by the ill will
generated. Customers are
resentful, and this is one way
to turn a favorite restaurant
into an unpopular one
without even really trying."
NANCY GURWIN is
Detroit's acknowledged
leading lady of the musical
comedy stage . . . Audiences
are consistently enchanted by
her star quality and lavish
praise on Nancy's efforts with
accolades when reviewing her
as Agnes in I Do! I Do!,
Princess Winnefred in Once
Upon A Mattress, Fanny Brice
in Funny Girl, Annie Oakley

