I don’t know but the presumption among people I know is that they don’t share in the tips, and accordingly a dim sum cart restaurant tip is lower than a sit down restaurant tip.
We’ll be back in Seattle after Christmas and will be back at Jade Garden, a cart plus special order but no menu place. The managers/owners, some of them, speak very good English. Do you think it would inappropriate/rude to tactfully ask about this? I honestly don’t think many people who serve any food in any way make a “living wage” but would be interested in knowing a little more. Oh, and at JG, there’s one (younger) lady in particular who is super nice (maybe cause we start with chicken feet). Could I give/slip her a couple of bucks? I grew up in the South so etiquette is something quite specific at times. TIA
My issue here is how sometimes a whole population can tend to place an unfair expectation on a minority group. If you’re going to expect a group of people to stay in their lane and not deviate it can make it difficult for that group to innovate or move themselves up on the social or economic ladder. I’m not saying, don’t patronize dim sum cart establishments but when people place certain expectations on restaurants it can pressure business owners to feel like they have to do things a certain way when they may not want to.
We have this strange juxtaposition of mentalities where we want an “authentic” experience but we also place romanticized views on what the food experience should be.
For example, I remember hearing a white person say, “I really feel you should be drinking green tea at a Japanese restaurant”. This was at a ramen restaurant and sure I can’t say its indicative of all white people to feel that way about Japanese restaurants but seeing as how most Japanese establishments cater to this notion by offering green tea I would like to think its a pretty widespread misconception.
In Japan I have never seen hot green tea offered at a ramen restaurant, in fact I only have drank green tea at either a sushi or a kaiseki restaurant. Sure maybe its a harmless expectation on restaurants and they are just capitalizing on it as well but then it does create unwanted pressure on a business owner who choose not to serve green tea because they don’t feel it goes with their food. I’ve read Yelp reviews on people who complained about places not serving something they feel like it should be serving. I think it’s important to be more cognizant of our expectations in food, we often take for granted the people who are cooking and serving . As this industry becomes more difficult to survive due to rising costs and labor shortages we should be grateful people keep choosing to work in this industry because if and when they start becoming rarer we may unfortunately be relegated to reminiscing about how it was better in the past as we are left with nothing but corporate options.
Perhaps for the group you were eating w/ (which you didn’t mention at all in your first post).
I grew up on the cart stuff and always thought it was wretched b/c, depending on where you sat, the stuff had cooled down considerably (or had run out entirely) by the time it got to you, so your parents had to stand at the kitchen entrance to make sure they got the good stuff. Not fun at all in my book.
Since I’ve never fetishize the carts, I was very, VERY happy when they fell out of fashion.
We’re on a food board. A lot of this is going to be subjective. ::shrug::
The title of your post was “Great Dim Sim…” not “So-so dim sum is fine, but we’re really more after the social aspect so the food is secondary” or “The best cart place…” I’m being totally serious when I say that the latter questions would’ve gotten you more useful answers than what you had originally posed.
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That’s because you cared about the food and not the experience. Yum cha yo
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I’m not quite sure what this and Lawry’s “plantation” style oufits have to do with dim sum. Many of the servers and others at their restaurants have been there 30+ years- one 50 years. Making $100k a year.
Not worth further replies.
Yeah, since I grew up in a heavily Chinese area, none of my Chinese friends are particularly interested in the socializing part of dim sum since we can socialize w/ way less hassle pretty much anywhere else and b/c dim sum isn’t a novelty.
And, w/ my non-Chinese friends, I actually will say, “Do you want better food, a higher price, and something more representative of what that style of food is ‘now’; or do you want the prototypical experience w/ carts?” Some will choose the latter, but, thankfully, most will choose the former. 
C’mon folks. Various levels of f-in’ harsh is being volleyed at the OP. If I were the OP, my personal reservoir of resentment would be topped off by now.
I’d say this is a teaching moment for the OP, as well as others who might look at this post seeking similar information. I know I’ve never felt good about having to learn things via full frontal attack. Who in their right mind would feel good about FTC after reading this thread?
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I really want to stay out of this, especially as a Caucasian, but I have to say that this topic has been a revelation. My Dim Sum experience is limited to Tsim Sha Tsui hotels in the ‘70s and ‘80s plus Irvine’s China Garden in the ‘90s. It is really shocking to take on the possibility that the ‘cart ladies’ didn’t (don’t) make the same money as servers (and possibly get no share of tips). On that basis alone I would have been glad to see the carts disappear long ago.
I certainly have no basis from which to have an opinion as to any element of racism or xenophobia in this. Just the idea of that in this discussion is alarming.
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