Photo: TikTok / Dejan Dundjerski / Shutterstock
He said the entire situation was embarrassing.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Jan 20, 2023
A man started a heavy debate after revealing that he and his family were confronted by a restaurant manager who was unhappy with the amount of tip they paid.
In a TikTok video, Jose shared that he and his family had been out at a restaurant, and when the time came time for the tip to be paid, the amount didn't equate with the total on their overall restaurant bill, at least according to the manager.
He says the manager called out him and his family for only leaving a 6% tip on a $600 restaurant bill.
Jose explained that he and his family had gone out to a restaurant for his birthday called Tavern Law in Seattle, Washington.
In total, five people attended Jose's birthday celebration, including himself, where they each only consumed drinks and two appetizers.
"At the end of the night, they bring the tab and one of my family members decides that they want to pay for my tab," Jose recalled. "So they pay, sign the bill, and the waitress goes to the back."
A few minutes after the waitress took their bill, Jose saw somebody else coming up to their table, who he assumed had been the manager.
Once the manager approached their table, he told Jose's group, "We noticed that you only tipped 6%, was the service not good?"
Jose continued, saying that as soon as the restaurant manager called them out for not paying a good enough tip, the family member that paid the bill immediately became embarrassed.
"My family member who paid ... his face went red. Like, they were calling him out in front of all of us that he only tipped 6%," he said, adding that the bill had come out to be around $600.
In response to the manager's question, Jose and his family admitted that the service had been good and that they had planned on leaving more tips in cash before they left.
"What do you do?" Jose asked. "Like your family member paid for everybody's tab, and then this person comes up and calls them out for the amount of tip."
After the manager walked away once Jose and his family promised to pay more of the tip in cash, he noticed that all of the other servers and employees in the restaurant began ignoring him and his family.
Jose's video received an influx of comments from people who slammed the restaurant's manager for confronting them over the tip.
Under Jose's video, hordes of people flocked to the comments, where they gave their thoughts, and revealed what they would've done in that situation.
"If the restaurant calls me out for the tip left, I will ask them to change the tip amount to 0," one user wrote.
Another user added, "Very unprofessional for them to bring it up in front of everyone," while a third user agreed, writing, "Now I'm embarrassing everyone and getting my tip back."
However, other users pointed out that Jose and his family should have offered to cover more of the tip.
"If someone pays for a $600 tab, as an act of gratitude, I would at least pay for the tip," a fourth user commented.
That same sentiment was echoed in other replies, with another user saying, "Everyone [at] that table should've offered to pay something."
Another commenter pointed out that the restaurant's manager had only been trying to understand if their server had given them good service or not.
"The manager/staff are trying to correct for a poor experience, which the low tip signaled. That's good service."
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Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.