it cost me 15 dollars for Sandwich Sausage Egg & Cheese, Waffle, Hashbrowns Scattered All The Way, did they go up on their prices. did waffle house go up on their prices

I’ve never eaten at Waffle House, so can’t say if prices have gone up recently. But I wouldn't be surprised since restaurants were closed for so long, I’d expect they have to try to make up for lost income. Did you find the prices were more than you were used to paying?

i look at a menu, it must be old Sandwich Sausage Egg & Cheese is $3.85, Waffle is $3.05, Hashbrowns Scattered "All the Way" is $5.00 does not add up..

Did you have a drink with it? I would suggest asking Waffle House this question because we have no idea.

i will.

Could the additional cost be taxes? Here in Illinois, just about everything is taxed.

a 10% for staff fee, i called, i just need to learn to use a single flip waffle maker.

Ah, that makes sense. Home made waffles are much better anyway! I have a cheap $10 electric waffle maker and it does a great job.

Is a staff fee like a 10% tip?

i think so, i did not ask.

Not exactly, Ana. I sent a link to you in a pm since I can’t seem to get the hang of posting links. 🙄

I couldn't find anything on it except that it's a tip. Just right click and copy the link and then right click and paste it here if you don't want to use the HTML link in the full editor.

I believe some restaurants are charging a Covid fee to help with costs rather than raise prices and some restaurants are trying to get away from tipping and charging a fee that is supposed to go towards higher wages.

This is what Sparkle sent. There was a restaurant in Chicago that was charging a Covid surcharge and they got crucified for it. Problem is, people aren't notified before hand and surprised when the bill comes. I'd have a cow over it too! It's one thing if you know before you are seated or entering the restaurant, but to be surprised by it when it's too late is a no-go from me.

That’s similar to what I’ve read, oldbroad. Supposed to make the distribution of tips more fair. Many restaurants had already had servers pool their tips and share them equally. As I said, with restaurants having been shut down and servers out of work, it makes sense to find a way to recoup the losses. And it’s also my experience from the past that restaurants that add extra charges usually post the info on their menus.

I don't agree with sharing tips either. I don't know of any waitress or bartender that excels in their job that likes it.

All I know is that some people don't tip on service. I remember my mom in tears one night because a table of 5 people didn't like the way she looked and didn't leave her a tip. She HEARD them say something about her looks like "do you see how she looks" (I can't remember the exact words now.) My mom was an excellent waitress!!! A double insult to her and it is bringing tears to my eyes right now remembering that.

That is just horrible, oldbroad.

that is, oldbroad, i am sorry, that happen.

THere are horrible people out there, oldbroad. It is everywhere. I am so very sorry that happened to her.

We tip generously as there are not many jobs out there more difficult that being tipped employees. In my state they can only make $4.275 an hour and that was only recently raised from $2.17 an hour. I'm not sure what to think about shared tips. On the surface, I agree with Ana totally. But my closest friend who has worked many such jobs in addition to being a full-time vet tech with a degree says it really works out quite well. So I'm not sure what to think!

We live in a small town and try to support our local businesses, so do our best with the restaurants too. Hubby has been handing a $20 bill to all our regular wait staff just trying to make up for their lost wages. He's nearly gotten a hug a couple of times if it weren't for social distancing!

Oldbroad, my friend has told me many such tales of people who are real jerks and just don't understand someone trying their best at a very hard job to support a family or go to school. NOW. If we have bad service, they will wait a looooong time for a decent tip!

Thank you all. I always leave a decent tip even if the service is not great. Maybe the person is just having a bad day. Unless you are a regular and get the same waiter or waitress and the service is always bad from them, but I would still never under tip.

I am not sure I like the added fees though. I think I'd just rather they raise their prices.

I get your point, Ana. My sister waitressed for quite a while and refused to apply for a job at a restaurant that pooled tips despite her being out of work. I think it depends on the restaurant. A couple that I’m familiar with are family friendly restaurants that are quite large and very busy. Someone different brings the drinks (not the hostess), takes and brings your order, and takes and delivers dessert orders. The food is always fresh and the wait for the meals is relatively short. Waitresses are polite, but very efficient. But I can see that under other circumstances, pooling tips wouldn’t be fair and would provide little incentive for servers to do a good job of catering to their customers. We haven’t been out to eat since the beginning of the pandemic. But when we did eat out we always tipped generously unless a server was particularly inept or rude, in which case we still tipped the minimum.

My son worked as a bartender and my daughter was originally a server and then was a manager of a Red Lobster for many years. All the Red Lobsters do that. The only one that benefits from shared tips is the slackers. It offers no incentive to go above and beyond.

That's exactly what my friend Kim said about slackers. But the staff who work hard soon make it difficult for a slacker to continue working... As Kim said, "We have our ways!"