@the_30_rule: I post about tips not mattering and the entitled C players always turn up in the comments. Well how do I pay my bills, Preston. And so on. I am not saying do not pay your bills. I am saying it is not about the money, and here is the receipt. The most money I ever made as a server was at the restaurant with the lowest check average I ever worked at. It was also the slowest. I made almost double what I made at places that were trendier, busier, and at a far higher price point. Double. At the slow one. With the cheap menu. Because my tip average went through the roof, and tip average is the only number in that equation you actually control. You do not control the covers. You do not control the price point. You do not control whether the dining room fills on a Tuesday in February. You control what happens at the table. People chase the busy room. The busy room is somebody else's achievement. Restaurant training systems that only teach speed produce servers who need a full house to earn. Hospitality training produces servers who earn in an empty one. Restaurant leadership should be teaching the second thing, and almost nobody does. Restaurant culture is whether your floor competes for sections or competes for guests. Upselling is downstream of this, not a substitute for it. Your retention numbers tell you who is actually doing it. If you are a restaurant owner, go and look at tip average per server, not total tips. The ranking will surprise you. #hospitalitytraining #restaurantleadership #restaurantsystems #serverlife

Preston Lee

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Region: US

Monday 26 October 2026 22:00:02 GMT