Ask the Bartender: Restaurants Adding, Not Adding Gratuity?

There's a certain restaurant we frequent after nights out on the town. Sometimes when we've dined in a large group, we see a gratuity pre-added to the check but not always. Why would this be?

Adding gratuity to large parties is a very common practice among restaurants. It should be plainly posted. Once you know to look, you will see at the bottom of most menus something along the lines of "An 18% gratuity will be added to parties 6 or more." The reasons behind this practice are many, not the least of which is the American prevalence of poor math skills.

However, in some restaurants the servers hold the decision as to add this gratuity to the check or roll the dice (angling for a bigger tip). In my tenure I've found this gambling with my tips futile. I've been rewarded more often than I've been hosed, and the anxiety of the "should I or shouldn't I?" just isn't worth it.

I also don't like leaving the option of adding gratuity on the check up to the server because, as you illustrate, it can make people feel bad. And if you read these posts often enough you'll know that I abhor attitudes and policies that might make a customer feel unwelcome or awkward. So restaurants, if you state a certain gratuity for large parties on your menu, please encourage your servers to make a habit of it, or you could be offending regular diners.

So as a server, I learned long ago to chill out and assume good will, but follow the practice as listed on the menu; it's the zen approach. As a customer, approach it the same way and let go of that defensiveness (unless service sucked) and consider yourself 2% of the bill richer.