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Tipping The Waitstaff...

Guest laughs8

By Guest laughs8
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

When at a restaurant, if the server is familiar with celiac/gluten, do you tend to tip more? Also, do you tend to return more often?  

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Guest laughs8
Guest laughs8
Posted

Hi there!

I'm trying to figure out if there's feasible part-time work in restaurant-education. I'm at school in Pittsburgh, where just about no-one knows what celiac means, and was thinking that I could approach various restaurants and offer to train their waitstaff to be sensitive to gluten intolerances for some sort of fee. I'd like to go in armed with statistics saying that the increased business would be worth their money, and this seems like the best place to get said stats.

As a further question--when a waiter/waitress is especially slow at grasping what you can't eat, does that affect your tip/liklihood of return?

Thanks!

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jknnej Collaborator
jknnej
Posted

Absoluuuutely.

PF Chang's in Scottsdale, AZ has a celiac manager and supposedly her staff is great. I've been there twice; the first time I had a great experience.

This past Tuesday I went again and had a terrible waiter. I think I ingested gluten because I wasn't feeling right. Tonight I had some of the leftovers and felt sick again. I have now lost my confidence in this restaurant and probably won't go back. It really sucks not to have a good place to eat where you can be confident your food isn't contaminated. A waiter that is knowledgeable instills confidence in me.

VegasCeliacBuckeye Collaborator
VegasCeliacBuckeye
Posted

If you live in Pittsburgh - go to Mitchells Fish Market.

The guy who owns the place is named Cameron Mitchell -- 1/2 the menu is gluten-free (I used to work there).

You can get almost any fish prepared how you like (grilled, steamed, sauteed)

The Mashed Potatoes are awesome -- good spinach/vegetables also. House salad (no crotons) with house dressing is gluten-free.

www.cameronmitchell.com

Enjoy...

Guest Viola
Guest Viola
Posted

Hello;

You should let them know that if a group of people plan to go out for a meal, and one person out of that group is a Celiac, it's the Celiac who picks the restaurant. If all of that group gets good service and good food, they are quite likely to return with family and friends. When our club (from 10 to 25 members) plan to have a "dining meeting" the executive asks me where it would be safe to go. That can add up to big business for the restaurant.

And yes ... we tip extra for special care for a safe meal.

Guest laughs8
Guest laughs8
Posted

I'm so glad people are responding to this! Thanks so much for the input so far, it's all been very helpful! Also, bronco, thank you for the tip on Mitchell's, I'll be sure to check it out soon! (Apologies for all those exclamation points, I guess I'm just in a good mood :D)

celiac3270 Collaborator
celiac3270
Posted

Yes--maybe print this post, too, so they can see that celiacs really do appreciate it. The statistics are very powerful, as well. Finally, they should advertise the fact that they're gluten-free--that's how to really capitalize on celiac business. I don't walk into random restaurants to ask if they have a gluten-free menu or are trained, but if I have heard about a gluten-free menu, I am very likely to visit.

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