Server questioned no tip
It finally happened to me in real life. I went to a sushi restaurant with my boyfriend. Nobody else was there. The place was small and it was like 2 PM on a Friday. There were a bunch of wasps buzzing around us but that is beside the point.
Sushi is generally hard to mess up unless the ingredients are old or folded wrong. The food tasted like every other sushi place I have been to. But to me, tipping is about the service, not the food.
The server never introduced themselves. They did not know what the drinks on the menu were. Had to go and ask the owner multiple times. I said thank you every time they gave us food or cleared a plate and they never responded with a βyouβre welcomeβ or βenjoy.β They barely spoke and came by only once to ask how the food was before leaving. The service felt minimal and unwelcoming. I told my boyfriend not to tip because of it.
When the bill came, the server asked why we did not leave a tip and if everything was good. My boyfriend said everything was great and the food was good. The server repeated that we didnβt tip and asked why multiple times before they walked away. βBut you didnβt tip us..?β I was baffled. Just because the food is good, does that mean you deserve a tip for doing your job with minimal effort?
This experience made me realize again that tipping should not be mandatory. Customers should not be expected to pay employees for basic service.