Kato’s non-alcoholic beverage program is probably the best in the city right now.
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I’m curious about the dealcoholized wines, because I’ve never had any I’ve liked, but haven’t tried any recently. Have they improved in taste?
That butter is piped out so prettily!
Note that even at the bar they add a service charge to the bill. They were clear that it was there when presenting the bill and I had no confusion about tipping more (despite there being a tip line on the bill).
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Haven’t been to too many restaurants that include the service charge to the bill, is it normal to include additional tips? Or is the service charge sufficient?
Unless the place has honor and doesn’t include a tip line on the printed receipt, yes they want more money. At least now more places are clear about wanting more money.
(The below pic is not from Kato)
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It sure is getting complicated dining out now. I’d actually be quite confused if I read that while dining… is there a general % that they’re looking on top?
From my understanding, the additional tip line is typically there to appease the front of the house because service charges that are redistributed amongst front and back of the house inevitably lowers the front’s overall salary compare to other restaurants. It’s always a mess when any restaurant wants to implement the service charge route because their front of the house staff would wanna work at other restaurants that don’t do this. But how else can they increase BOH’s pay otherwise?
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18% is low. I tip 20%.
That’s what makes 18% so annoying. Are you supposed to add the other 2% which would be a bizarrely low number? I’d rather they just make it 20% and not have a tip line or better yet price the menu properly and not have tipping at all.
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I think it’s 18% because there are still ppl out there who tip lower or not at all, etc
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guilt is a valid and successful part of the strategy to increase wages.
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if I feel guilty, I guess I could add a $20 in cash and move on.
often I wish we were like France in this respect.
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Any gratuity that you leave would only go toward FOH.
Which is so stupid. Pay all your staff fairly by pricing the menu correctly.
Some rents/leases are tied to revenues.
Increased prices will increase revenues and thus increase rent/lease.
Restaurants and businesses are complex. There isn’t always a simple solution.
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Fair enough. I didn’t know that. Seems the whole business is even more broken than I knew.
i’m going to use this explanation from now on since it is perfect.
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I found the dealcoholized wines interesting and enjoyed them. Having said that, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to get them (outside of a non-alc pairing like at Kato). If I go to Kato again I’d probably grab a few of the cocktails, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. I remember particularly enjoying some of the non-alcoholic cocktails and loved the Milk Punch from my first visit.
FYI, I’m probably not the best judge as I’m not much of a wine person. Also, it was my first time trying dealcoholized wines.
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