are waitresses at buffet style restraunts paid tiped weges ($2.33 an hour) or do they earn more an hour ?

Question

I know people tend to tip less at buffet's ... but i was just curios what the servers at buffet's get paid an hour..i guess i feel a little guilty..i generally tip 10% at buffets and 20% at a full service restraunts.

Answer 1

Servers make $2.13 an hour, and basically all of that goes to taxes. Tips are our income. I agree with most people that 10-15 % is customary for a buffet, 15-20% for a sit-down meal, and since I am an exceptional server, I will say that you should vary the tip according to the level of service you receive. At the kind of buffet where all the server does is drop off a check, they are usually getting more than $2.13, but if they really take care of you, and it's a nicer buffet ($20 a plate or so) then they are probably making $2.13 just like a normal server.
And yes, for all you skeptics out there, $2.13 is standard, across the board, what just about every server in the country makes. My paycheck is always zero. By the way, this is legal because we have to claim our tips, and if tips plus server wage is less than minimum wage the restaurant is supposed to pay you the difference. (But that never happens.)

Answer 2

I worked in a buffet restaurant for years (not as a waitress) At the one I worked for the waitresses were paid the lower tipped minimum wage. They should be tipped by the amount of work they do I think, I've had buffet waitresses do more work for us than a waitress at a full service place. At our restaurant they did everything but take the meal order & the money; they took drink orders & refilled drinks, brought plates, napkins, any condiments asked for, brought baked potatoes and hot rolls to the table, bussed and cleaned the tables and would go to the back and get special request items, even chopped up chives themselves if someone asked for it as we didn't put those on the bar. If the customer had a grill order they brought that out and had to make sure it was fixed correctly. All of this all the while they usually have twice as many customers as full service restaurant waitresses.
Our restaurant seated about 275 people and on Mother's day, we would serve 3000 people, tell me they don't deserve good tips!

Answer 3

servers at a buffet restaurant do generally get a larger wage. What I guess I don't get is why you would tip a buffet server the same as a full service server- they get you drink refills and bread, full service servers get you everything. Plus, a full service server has about 3-5 tables, buffet servers can have about 10 or so. huge difference in tips.

Answer 4

Don't feel too bad. Buffet servers, unless there really is extra services involved really are overglorified cattle herders/bussing staff. You come in, sidle-up the food bar, get your food, and leave. They get to clean up your mess. If they're always around to make sure your food tastes right, that you're happy with all you've found, and if they can get you anything else from the bar so you dont have to get up, that's a different story. I always tip more, above the 20% mark for anyone who's doing more than their typical job is expecting.

Answer 5

It really depends on the resturant. The ones I have gone to in the past are paid the usual wage for a waitress and the customers tip them.

Answer 6

most buffet servers make more than the $2 minimum wages, beacuse they dont get full tips like at full service restorants

Answer 7

When I leave my table at the end of the meal, I tuck some paper money under the plate for the bus folks. Why not? I make ten times what they do and they are willing to look at what people don't eat. And they always tell me where the restroom is!

Answer 8

It all depends on the establishment. You can always ask the management if you are unsure.

Answer 9

they probably get minimum wage plus tips