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Backstory:

Every place I ever moved to I picked jobs I had absolutely no experience in.
Professional perpetual newb, at your service.
Some time in my twenties I got a job at a restaurant which was closing in a week, (who knew?... not me), and I learned one week of expediting and show up for work one morning only to notice that the signage, tables and well everything is gone.
So I walk down the street to the closest restaurant, (still in my whites) and start to try to explain my situation but didn't get to finish.
As soon as the word expedite came out of my mouth I was hired.
If any of you guys have heard of TGI Fridays this was Edmonton's knock-off version called Maxwell Taylors complete with the red and white striped table cloths, paraphernalia, menu items, the works. 250 menu items and seated about as many people.
I got another weeks training and then the person who trained me quit and I was firmly entrenched. I began working various other stations and was told I was being groomed to kitchen manage.
Our managers would send as many staff home as possible after every supper rush petered out and one night a Mike Tyson fight in Edmonton ended in 97 seconds at the same time as an Oilers game was letting out and our restaurant filled to capacity with three kitchen staff and two front house workers and a bartender.
No dishwasher.

Swear to God. Instant full house and skeleton crew.

So I'm working expo, nacho, saute, and running bus tubs. Grill guy was a total god who didn't budge from his station or crack while nailing temps and the manager worked fry and sauce while running like a madman back and forth from the coolers and freezers to keep us supplied.
The front house staff let the folks know that everything would be long-time in coming but we got not a single return or complaint.
Those three front house people made so many hundreds of dollars in tips that night that when we finally shut it down they decided to split all tips fifty-fifty with us lowly back-house staff rather than the normal ten percent kick-back.

The front-house back-house barrier had been pierced and I've never worked anywhere else since that attained that infectious level of team spirit from the people who worked that night which spread to those who didn't just from the shear magnitude of pulling that shit off.

End of little story.
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The idea is to allow patrons to determine which percentage of their tip goes to the server, and which percentage goes to the kitchen.

How many times have you gone to a restaurant and the food is awesome but the wait staff sucks, or vice versa your waiter/waitress is stellar but the food sucks?

This system would let owners and managers pinpoint what their customers do and do not appreciate about their establishment.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 20 2022

Tip the chef Tip_20the_20chef
[Voice, Mar 20 2022]

Ah the memories... https://villagekitchenin.com/menu
Yes, it was a converted house. The kitchen was tiny. [RayfordSteele, Mar 22 2022]

I've wished for this for a long time.
-- 21 Quest, Mar 20 2022


Good idea. [+]
-- doctorremulac3, Mar 20 2022


[+] but probably not an app, unless your wait staff are Swedish and love paying for social welfare.
-- 4and20, Mar 20 2022


+ good story and good idea! A warm, Buttered bun for you! Delivered on a silver platter!
-- xandram, Mar 20 2022


He *did* state in the subtitle space that it depends on all staff being paid the same wage.
-- 21 Quest, Mar 20 2022


Wow, xan, you never gave me anything on a silver platter. Now I'm jealous. (I was just thinking I haven't seen much of you.)

But yeah, the behind the scene crew deserve it.

I was a bartender and my husband a waiter till we entered our 30s. This is a great idea and super great motivation for ALL the staff, not just wait staff.
-- blissmiss, Mar 21 2022


Free market capitalism at its best. Incentive and reward properly lined up with the people doing the work.

I've been getting more and more digital checks where they do the math for you, 15% = $8 tip etc. They could easily have this all printed out as an extension of that.

Actually, that's too complicated. How about just a little horizontal bar with one half "waiting staff" the other "Kitchen" broken into ten sections. If you circle it in the middle, they split it. If you circle more towards the waiting staff, like, 2 deliniation points in they get 70%... Hmm. Maybe that's more complicated.
-- doctorremulac3, Mar 21 2022


My first job away from the farm was a dishwasher/busboy at the most popular mom and pop local steak joint that was open from sunup to 9 pm and busy every minute. Never got a dime of the tips. But maybe that was because I was a teenage worker? Not sure.

Edit: looks like they're still in business. But the prime rib is off the menu now for some reason.

Never worked in a restaurant again, and always tip well. Couldn't make me do it again for all the tea in China.
-- RayfordSteele, Mar 22 2022


I actually came to love waiting tables. Each chef had a different style, personality, and temper. The prep cooks were my favorite, they could chat while chopping and I learned a lot about fresh food from them. My favorite job was in a Mexican Restaurant in Austin, Texas. They made their own tortillas every morning and the smell reminded me of lying on the beach in Barre de Navidad, with a cerveza in my hand, for 2 months. Best times of my life.
-- blissmiss, Mar 22 2022



random, halfbakery