The $100,000 a year waitress isn't a myth: Some hard truths about tipping in Canada

[Butler1000]

While there are a few gigs like that the vast majority do not make that.

Think about what is the "average check". The is a term used for how much is spent per person before tax.

Now think about how much is spent per person in most restaurants by most people.

Right now I'm out but I would place it at 45 bucks based on today's prices compared to when I was in.

They have also reduced section sizes to 3-4 tables and seat numbers to max 14 in many places.

So in average a server with get about 10 customers at $450 sales per round. Openers and closer will see three maybe 4 rounds on a busy night( about 1/3 of the staff of a decent sized place) the rest one less round( only working the rush).

Higher end? Less turn over of tables but higher bill.

Basically your average chain server is looking at 100 buck weeknights 150 weekend.

Because there is also a tip pool of up to 5 percent of total sales that goes to hostesses, bussers, bartenders and in some places the kitchen.

That's the reality. It can be good.

But to those who calculate things also remember lots of slow days. From now to Valentine's Day sales are way down. Holiday bills come in, weight loss resolutions, weather and such hurt business.

Summer patios open, more staff hired but the sales just get spread wider.

And honestly alot of servers aren't that great, and judging from comments above lots of cheap tippers out there, so don't assume amounts divided per week or multiplied per year are close to accurate.

 

[bmwquay]

$100k/year works out to $2k/week. An SP can make that in a day or two. Or more realistically a couple of clients per day over a 5 day period.

A few years ago I posted a fake female SP ad on backpage just to see what the response would be. Lots of bookings.

The fact that most women readily quit escorting (even though making money in it annihilates working a regular job) after a season or two is a testament to how much most SPs really do NOT like having sex with strange men.

You would like it if a big fat slob of a woman knocked on your door and wanted sex from you? Not every john is a model.

 

[bmwquay]

I've tipped over $20 on a $5 meal, but it really depends on the server. I'm a complete sexist cad, my tip is based on how attractive and flirty the server is. The more cleavage, the higher the tip... that simple. I often ask if tips are pooled or go directly to the server. If tips are pooled I tip less.

Sexist and shallow? Absolutely agree. But I do it anyway.

And then there are servers who expect big tip just because they are young and pretty.

 

[decoy2673]

If one would work out the details, try this out for size, as an example. The waiter works at an upscale steakhouse. The average bill would be $200 per table, a conservative estimate. Hence, the average tip at 15% would be $30. If the waiter handles an average of 12 tables a night, perhaps fewer on the weekdays and more on the weekends, he will receive $1800 in tips on an average 5 day week. His wages for 30 hours per week at $12.20 hourly would be $366. Hence total remuneration would be $2166 weekly. Over 50 weeks, this would be $108300.

Upscale steakhouse: Maitre D,sommelier/wine director, managers, hosts, busboys, bartenders, barbacks, chefs AND line cooks. Each and everyone (with the exception of maybe the manager) of them gets tipped out. This is 99% of upscale restaurants.

 

[TeeJay]

And then there are servers who expect big tip just because they are young and pretty.

And usually get it

 

[trucker269]

I dated a woman who was a very good waitress in the early 80s......she averaged $100,000 a year in tips back then

 

[t.o.leafs.fan]

As a society we are obsessed with how much everybody else makes. My life/mood/mindset improved greatly when I stopped like thinking that and began to appreciate my situation and all that I have.

 

[spankingman]

I know people who bank their actual pay checks and live off their weekly tip income.BUT these people have a hard time obtains loans etc because they cannot declare the tip money as income. Most waitresses servers etc earn less than the actual min. wage. I believe its $2.00 per hour less because of the tip income.

 

[bluecolt]

As a society we are obsessed with how much everybody else makes. My life/mood/mindset improved greatly when I stopped like thinking that and began to appreciate my situation and all that I have.

Damn right. I can't understand the clown skinflints on this site who worry so much about what the SPs make. Now they stress over what waiters and waitresses make. Who cares. Typical liberals, who obsess enviously about everyone else's business. Goddamn busybodies.

 

[rhuarc29]

I dated a waitress/bartender for a couple years in the last 00s. She worked the afternoon shift at a casual restaurant five days a week, and was a bartender three nights a week. IIRC, her weekly hours were normally 46.

I did her tax returns. In the two years we were together, her total income was $95K and $108K. The majority was from tips. Probably helped that she was female, she was hot, and she flaunted it at work. And she had a great personality, which is probably the most important factor. She had no trouble paying her own share in our travels, I can assure you. But not everyone is as hard a worker as she was. So while I agree the $100,000 a year waitress DOES exist, I doubt it's common.

Hope that woman is doing well.... But if I know her, I don't have to worry.