Fancy Restaurant Required

[SallyLaLaLa]

I've been to Crystal and at Lunchtime you cannot fault the place, absolutely lovely deli food, a great space and very relaxed. I would go there above anywhere else in Sheffield for lunch.

 

But - in the evening: - I had an evening meal there last week and in lots of ways it was really good.

 

The good

 

1) We weren't intending to go out for a meal and looked really scruffy compared to the other customers but the waitresses & the female maitre'd were very attentive and friendly.

 

2) We both decided to have 2 starters rather than one main meal and that was no problem. My pork dish was fantastic - one of the best I've had in Sheffield - my husband had two veggie dishes and he loved them.

 

The bad

 

1) To start off gentley the food we had from the usual menu was really good, but the one dish I ordered off menu was pigeon which was truly awful.

 

2) They charged 10% service on the credit card bill, this means they can use it to make up staff payments to the minmum wage, whereas cash tips cannot and must be given to the staff. This really pees me off as I will have to leave an extra tip for the staff if their service has been good (as it was) to make sure they get their fair payment.

 

3) The food didn't arrive together, we ordered 2 starters each and we had 1 each then quite a pause. Our vegetables didn't arrive until we had nearly finished our dishes.

 

4) Most importantly the male Maitre D was a buffoon. There is a bar upstairs reserved only for diners, in which you can smoke (the dining room is no smoking). When we finished our meal we asked if we could order some desserts then pay the full whack and have our desserts delivered to us in the bar (two steps from the restuarant) so we could smoke. The Maitre d' said no. So we went downstairs and finished our drinks in the half empty bar without desserts but still used the table which meant his bosses lost out on money. Add to this he was wearing an ill fitting suit which made him look like a sixteen year old salesman in Dixons. I wouldn't normally mind but if you're going to be snotty you should dress the part.

 

I should also add that although they have sports screens on behind the bar the staff aren't allowed to look at them. If you had rubbish bar staff who would lounge on the counter watching sport instead of serving, fair enough, but the staff at Crystal are really good and I like to see the staff in places I go being treated with a bit of respect.

 

Don't let this put you off, Crystal is a great place to go. But it is new and I hope they iron out these problems as I like the place but I want to love it.

[SallyLaLaLa]

Oooh, plus Tequila is very nice but quite loud. I went in there recently and without being told the Maitre'd noticed I hadn't eaten much of a dish and knocked it off the bill. They also have great service there too.

 

The Lion's Lair has really good food but service which can be either amazing or appalling depending on which night you go. I've had the best and the worst service in Sheffield on there on different nights.

[Hook]

Originally posted by SallyLaLaLa

2) They charged 10% service on the credit card bill, this means they can use it to make up staff payments to the minmum wage, whereas cash tips cannot and must be given to the staff. This really pees me off as I will have to leave an extra tip for the staff if their service has been good (as it was) to make sure they get their fair payment.

 

Did you ask the staff that or are you making assumptions? Nearly every customer at every place I've ever worked at ask "if we leave a credit card tip, do you get it?" and the answer is always Yes, no matter where I've worked.

 

People don't seem to comprehend that you put the credit card chit into the till and take the tip cash out and put it in your pocket/jar and so the urban myth has developed that credit card tips make up wages. It's certainly never been an experience in my working life although I'm sure there are places that keep tips, but they're more likely to keep ALL tips rather than just ones off the credit card.

[aeinstein199]

Maybe sally lalala should have enquired about the tipping system at crystal. We also questioned the tipping system and the maitre d that she appears to so dislike, could not have been any more helpful. He explained that all the tips go back to the staff including the kitchen and that should we prefer to leave cash, though it is dealt with in the same way he would have been more than happy to remove it and let us leave what we wanted. It is not used to make up pay and is used as a bonus scheme.

 

Also who smokes during a meal!! That is only an insult to who ever is cooking and shows utter lack of appreciation for the chefs and people that try to take time and care to cook your food. I expect also you would have liked him to bring a TV for you to watch while you smoked and ate !!

We have been many times before and shall definetly be returning soon.

[SallyLaLaLa]

Originally posted by Hook

Did you ask the staff that or are you making assumptions? Nearly every customer at every place I've ever worked at ask "if we leave a credit card tip, do you get it?" and the answer is always Yes, no matter where I've worked.

 

People don't seem to comprehend that you put the credit card chit into the till and take the tip cash out and put it in your pocket/jar and so the urban myth has developed that credit card tips make up wages. It's certainly never been an experience in my working life although I'm sure there are places that keep tips, but they're more likely to keep ALL tips rather than just ones off the credit card.

 

This ISN'T an urban myth, there was a very big very well publicised court case a few years back involving a restaurant called 'Paradiso e Inferno' on the Strand in London. Details of which can be found here:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2279353.stm

 

As the article says it is perfectly legal for restaurants to keep tips made by credit card and cheque to make up wages to the minimum wage, thereby paying less themselves staff will also have tax and national insurance deducted from these tips, your employers may well be breaking the law by not doing that. Cash tips however must be given to staff directly in addition to their salary.

 

That's why people ask and that is why many people prefer to give cash tips. Even though the places you work are kind enough to let you have the tips in cash many restaurants aren't - so annoying as you may find it they're actually trying to do you a favour. Also a friend of mine worked at Paradiso and Inferno so it is something that gets up my nose quite a bit.

[SallyLaLaLa]

Originally posted by aeinstein199

Maybe sally lalala should have enquired about the tipping system at crystal. We also questioned the tipping system and the maitre d that she appears to so dislike, could not have been any more helpful. He explained that all the tips go back to the staff including the kitchen and that should we prefer to leave cash, though it is dealt with in the same way he would have been more than happy to remove it and let us leave what we wanted. It is not used to make up pay and is used as a bonus scheme.

 

Also who smokes during a meal!! That is only an insult to who ever is cooking and shows utter lack of appreciation for the chefs and people that try to take time and care to cook your food. I expect also you would have liked him to bring a TV for you to watch while you smoked and ate !!

We have been many times before and shall definetly be returning soon.

 

Actually I said quite a few nice things about it. We didn't smoke during our meal, we just wanted to smoke during dessert. Lots of people smoke during meals, that's why loads of restaurants have sections?? It's a matter of personal choice if the restaurant allow you. No need to get personal - that just shows a lack of wit or imagination.

[Hook]

Originally posted by SallyLaLaLa

Cash tips however must be given to staff directly in addition to their salary.

 

Fair enough, but that's one case compared to the hundreds of thousands of restaurants out there. If in doubt always ask, when I worked at Crystal staff kept their own tips, credit card or otherwise - that's only why I doubted your claim, and you still haven't said whether you asked or not. Whereas the poster above has clearly said she did ask and she says you're wrong - which is what I asked in the first place!

 

As for Cash Tips, my understanding is that ANY tip belongs to the restaurant/bar and they are under no obligation to keep them. Indeed at previous places I've worked we've fired staff for keeping their own tips rather than pooling them together as is written in the contract. I also know of places that contract the staff to £5.00 an hour, but state that the tips go into the company.

 

As long as you're aware of the situation when you take the job I don't personally see a problem with it, my only problem is the exorbitant amount of tax we have to pay!

[aeinstein199]

well I still agree with the maitre d, if it is a no smoking restaurant, then he or she is under no obligation to serve you food in a smoking area, especially as when we have been there the bar upstairs can get quite busy, and what if everybody wanted to eat dessert there, smoking or not? There wouldn't be space for everybody.

[SallyLaLaLa]

Yes I agree that they aren't under obligation to serve you in a no smoking area, but they also have a smoking bar downstairs reserved for diners before and after their meals, we wanted to pay before we got them and it was pretty empty so common sense would have said 'okay, have it downstairs but it's just a one off'. If it had been rammed fair enough, but it was half empty.

 

As far as this being a one off in thousands of cases - it wasn't. It was a test case as the legality of the retaining of credit card tips wasn't yet established and it's outcome would have been binding for EVERY tip left in any restaurant in the UK. Part of the reason why I am unhappy just asking is that I know that nowadays the staff working at Paradiso e inferno have been told that if anyone asks if they will receive credit card tips they should say yes - because they are but in lieu of wages.

[Hels]

Has anyone tried the food at the Wig and Pen? I've heard it's supposed to be good, but not actually heard from anyone who has eaten there.

 

As for tips, hubby always add's it to his card bill, but I usually ask if the staff get's the tip.

 

I personally prefer to leave a cash tip.

 

I worked in one place where we each kept cash tips, but we never got anything that was put on card. The manager always said we would get it once the payment had gone through, but that never happened.

 

I know of one place that used to insist everyone added up their tips at the end of the night and paid the first £5 to the employer - to help cover the national minimum wage. I say 'used to' because I haven't spoke to anyone from there for over a year, so it may have changed.