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Why many restaurants don’t actually want you to order dessert (2015)
- whazor 9y agoIn Netherlands, where tipping is more rare. Restaurants try to upsell drinks and hope to serve coffee after dessert.
- Clubber 9y agoGood to know about dessert being a good deal. Not too worried about lingering too long after I just spent $100 on a steak dinner for two though.
- moonka 9y agoPlus with cocktails and entrees, most people order their own. With deserts I've noticed a lot of people tend to share. I bet appetizers are similar (though a little more profitable) for restaurants.
- davidgh 9y agoI figured this out years ago when I realized servers asked the question “desert tonight?” and have the check indiscreetly in their hand ready to drop on the table. It’s sorta like the neighbors asking you if you’d like to stay a little longer as they are reaching in the closet for your coat.
- tinus_hn 9y agoIn the US servers have different incentives than the restaurant; they want you to quickly build up a tab, pay and leave so they can get as much tips as possible. They don’t care about the margins but about charging as much as possible because the tips are percentage based.
- todd8 9y agoI’ve noticed that restaurants have jumped in the “small plate” bandwagon serving tapas style dishes of a few bites and meant to be shared. This isn’t really my favorite kind of sit down dinning, but it allows restaurants to generate larger tabs while making the organization in the kitchen easier —- they send out dishes willynilly whenever they have a few ready.