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My restaurant ran a Groupon, and I'll go ahead and say it: it was hell.

Nearly 3,000 were sold. When setting up the deal, I asked that we put a limit on the number sold. I guess that was lost in the details. So we sucked it up and went along with it.

The first weekend after it ran, every single one of our tables was a Groupon user. Covering payroll the following week was near impossible.

Our Groupon expired recently on a Tuesday. Needless to say, it was one of the busiest Tuesdays we ever experienced. Since then, people have been calling up, begging and pleading to let us use their expired coupon because they forgot to use it... for an entire year. It takes all of my energy not to laugh in their face.

What happened in between? Well, lots of drama. Regulars bought six at a time, going around the rule that they couldn't buy more than three. Fine, they're regulars, they spend plenty of money here anyway.
Then we had the people hauling in from the county-- rude, demanding people who wanted to write their own menu and finding it appropriate to snap their fingers or yell across the room to get their server's attention. These people were just in it for a deal, and would spend $25.01 at a time. We'll never see these customers again.
On Tuesday, when we run a promotion at dinner for half off a bottle of wine, we would warn every customer that they could only take advantage of the half priced bottles OR the Grouon-- not both. Nonetheless, customers who thought they were sneaky would present us with their Groupon at the end of the meal, "forgetting" that they couldn't use both deals. Or even worse, they would leave the Groupon and remaining cash and run out before their server could notice.
Our offer stated that parties of five or more could use two Groupons at a meal, but two couples would have dinner then complain that we wouldn't let them use two and that it simply was not fair... because in their world their entire meal should have been free.
And that tip thing? Yeah, right. The majority of users did not tip on the value of the full meal. In fact, servers were lucky if their users tipped even 15% on the discounted amount! These were not people who went out to eat often.

So, sure. Some Groupon users were the ideal user: order more than they would have normally, tipped as expected, and come back for a repeat visit sans coupon. And these people were always a pleasure to wait on. But the majority of the users were rude and wanted to take advantage of us more than they had already.

I'm assuming that most of the readers on here haven't considered this. If you're interested enough in food and dining out to be reading Serious Eats, you're not one of the people already described. But please, please realize that you all are the exception, not the rule.

I read your Diner's Bill of Rights. Where is the Server's Bill of Rights?

I finally quit waiting tables last week because I couldn't stand being treated as something less than human. Yes, I upset many of our regulars that routinely request me, but even they understood why I decided to do it.

I am a lifer in the industry. For an independent restaurant, I am the resident accountant and paycheck payer, a front of house manager, errand runner, broken-thing-fixer, hungover staff who forgot to set their alarm fill-in-er, "Chef didn't tell us he was running to the market and we have a ticket we don't know how to make" maker, and general on-call person when the closing bartenders are too drunk to remember where the house keys are.

Even with all that abuse from my staff cast off and not even recognized, I cannot stand waiting tables. We need to move away from this ridiculous antiquated mantra of "the customer is always right" to a realization that chefs compose dishes to be unique and have a good blend of flavors. Sure, if you're craving something you know is in the scope of the joint, by all means ask if it's possible. But be polite. Do not yell at me because your pasta came in a butter sauce when one by the same name at a restaurant I have no familiarity with whatsoever does it in a cream sauce.

Servers are humans too. We have good days and bad days, but we won't bring it up with you, the diner. Conversely, we deserve a similar amount of respect as we're conveying to you. A good, attentive server should be appreciated, even if other things go wrong in the meal. They are your communication with the kitchen, and trust me: a simple "I know this is right but the customer is really nice and was hoping for something different. Do you think you could add/adjust/remake this?" to a cook will make a much better refire than, "Hey, this jerk didn't read the menu and doesn't like the ingredient listed/ wanted chicken instead of pork/ wants something completely different. I don't care what you do, just make something that will shut him up."

I'm a bartender. Here's my two cents:

I almost always order vodka tonics. In the bars I frequent, I usually tip $2 per drink. As someone mentioned before, I'm usually compensated on my heavier drinking nights with either free drinks or very strong drinks. Free drinks usually result in me laying a $5 bill on the bar and walking away.

In bars where I'm not a regular, I always tip $2 on the first drink and judge it from there. If the drink is particularly weak or service is poor, I'll go down to $1 per drink and stay at that. If the bartenders are attentive or the drinks are particularly strong, I'll stick with $2.

Complex drinks and shots, on the other hand, are different:

Single alcohol shots, such as Jameson, are $1 per drink

Complicated drinks are $2, unless it involves mashing or blending, then it's upped to at least $3.

Shots that require multiple ingredients are usually $1 per shot plus $2. So the bartender that makes me three kamikazes will get $5.

Tipping on drinks is different if the shot involves Jagermeister, as Jagermeister makes people stupid. The bartender should receive the entire contents of your wallet, a preemptive apology, and the promise that they will be greatly rewarded in the afterlife.

My boyfriend and I are both in the industry; he's the wine purchaser of the restaurant as well as a server and bartender, I'm the office manager, MOD, a server and bartender.

A few weeks back, I came home from my Sunday brunch manager on duty shift feeling particularly bad. What I thought was coming down with a virus was actually a bad hangover-- apparently that last shift shot from closing the bar the night before was a little too much for me. Either way, I was feeling rotten and neither of us felt like cooking, so we headed down to the Hill, St. Louis' premiere Italian neighborhood, to munch on some tapas with one of our favorite bartenders.

Forgetting that Sunday night in a Catholic neighborhood meant that many restaurants were closed, we started driving around looking for a place where we could get some takeout and a glass of wine. We settled for a white tablecloth, fine dining Italian place in the middle of the Hill.

Walking up, I was a little concerned. I was in a decent skirt and a tank top which revealed my tattoos, but more or less decently dressed. My boyfriend, on the other hand, was in standard bartender fare-- ratty jeans and a silly t-shirt. Assured that we were just going to order to go and head out, we pressed on.

As soon as we walked in it was obvious that "our type" was not welcomed. The maitre d' tried to shuffle us to the far corner of the back patio. We insisted that we just wanted to order some food to go and sat at the bar, despite their efforts to hide us away.

Our bartender immediately gave us a warm and gracious smile and gave us waters. We perused the menu, though slightly incensed that the rest of the staff made us feel unwelcome. The maitre d' asked if we needed any explanation of the menu, commenting that he "understood that most young people may not know about most of the items on the menu." We explained that we were both in the industry and were very well aware of the foods. A second later the manager appeared to ask if we were quite positive we wouldn't be more comfortable outside.

After a little more harassing as well as the maitre d' snootily explaining the grapes of Burgundy (incorrectly! Then telling us we were wrong), we decided that we didn't want to patronize the place. We set about to finish our glasses of wine and chatted about the bar selection. One of the wines they served by the glass was just added to our own wine list, and I was commenting about how I didn't know anything about the obscure Italian grape so it would be hard for me to sell. I'll never understand how the kind bartender heard what I was saying, but as soon as I looked from my boyfriend to the bar to grab my glass of water there was a taste of the wine in front of me.

I was gracious about the wine-- I didn't want to feel as though I was looking for a freebie, but glad to know what I would soon be serving in my restaurant. The bartender was happy to have customers though, and treated us like gold as we traded industry stories and observations.

We had a few glasses of wine with the fine gentleman, and management came by to shoo us off once more. Before we could say anything, our dear bartender cut in-- "Madam, my guests are doing just fine. In the off-chance that these two have any questions about the menu, despite the fact that they have more industry experience than most of our servers combined, I'm sure I can help them." Turning to us, he went back to our conversation: "Now, if you like that wine, you should definitely pick this one up..." while pouring us another taste for us to comment on.

We hadn't said anything to the man that we felt harassed, but being the professional that he is he picked up on it straight away. The smile on his face made it obvious that he had been waiting quite some time to make his remark to management. When we finally asked for the bill, he apologized profusely about our lack of desire to eat there, with the undertone of understanding the reason.

Our $25 bill left him with a $25 tip. It would have been so easy for him to ignore us and we would have been fine with us. We don't go to a bar to be entertained by the bartender. But his keen observation and knowledge led us to have a wonderful experience, despite the rest of the staff trying to make us uncomfortable. Had we known we were dining there we would have worn better clothes, but it was a last minute decision that I still am glad we made.