I feel as though a prefix at a top NYC restaurant has hovered at the $85 - $100 range (excluding Masa, Ducasse and Per Se) whereas the cost per person to eat at an average/good restaurant in NYC has become nearly as high over the past 10 years. I now pay about $150 for 2 people no matter which good/avergae restaurant I eat at for dinner.
$5, as a general rule. More if it's really bad weather - or they have a lot to carry. Less if they take to long or if they have spilled something.
Has anyone ever looked at the nutritional info on their other sandwiches? Pretty scary stuff. I didn't know a turkey sandwhich could be so unhealthy.
This is hands down, one of the dumbest articles I have EVER read. If you want to be serious about what you eat, you are NOT going to go to Starbucks. Of course their quality is not good! Their coffee is great because it's convenient and quick, not because it's quality. Find something better to criticize. Criticizing ANYTHING at Starbucks is like shooting fish in a barrel.
PS. They dont as sh1ty as it does in that pic above.
I live in Vancouver BC Canada. The Starbucks down the raod is selling the breakfast sandwiches. I *Love* it. There is another place where i go in the morning "Tim Hortons" (Canadian icon) to get a quick bit to eat + a coffee. I can say now, the Starbucks breakfast sandwiches OWN. There are hands down the best. Im hooked.
The best I can tell, the people dissing the Starbucks breakfast sandwiches have not actually eaten one. I had my first in Philadelphia last weekend. It was really good. It was not an Egg McMuffin (which I appreciate for being the healthiest widely available breakfast sandwich, but the spongy muffin and American "cheese" are far from good). I had the ham, egg and cheese version. The Black Forest ham and cheddar cheese were both really good, as was the slightly oversized English muffin. There was nothing special about the egg part, but neither was their anything objectionable about it. It was by far the best breakfast fast food offering I've ever had of the bread/egg/meat/cheese variety.
The people who complain about appearance of the sandwiches remind me of the time a friend of mine was invited to judge the baked goods competition at the state fair. A number of the people on the panel with her wanted to hand out ribbons based on appearance alone without actually tasting the baked goods. Same concept.
Starbucks was in need of more non-sweet breakfast selections. They hit this one out of the ball park. I can't wait until they're in all locations.
Frankly, I'd be happy not to run into any of the grousers in Starbucks.
Despite this review, the general concensus of these sandwiches seems to be pretty popular. Living in Wisconsin, I have yet to try one, but several forums say the things are pretty good. And yes...even worth the money.
I find this new sandwich thing a pretty big plus in the Starbucks consumer world. While Starbucks will always be known for it's coffee, having them offer a little variety is nice. We all love convenience. And this is very convenient.
I suppose it would be helpful if I mentioned that these rules of thumb are specific to New York City, where deliveries are made by foot or bicycle.
Fascinating thread. I know it's caused me to re-evaluate how I'll be calculating my delivery tips.
I think that perhaps a hybrid approach to tipping may work well. Strictly tipping based on the total bill doesn't take into account things like distance, weather, or promptness. Tipping a flat fee doesn't take into account the bulk, weight, or complexity of the order. How about:
10% of the total bill
+$1 for every one long block or three city blocks
+$2 if it's raining or snowing
+$2 if it's raining or snowing hard
-$5 if they're absurdly late, and it's not raining or snowing hard
-$2 if common areas have been littered with menus in the past
I won't deduct from the tip if items are missing, but I will make them go back for it, even if it's just a soda.
I think 20% is a good baseline. My father worked on a case involving a pay dispute with Chinese takeout workers, and their pay is incredibly bad. Many of them get no base pay, and any returned orders (because it is wrong/broken, etc) are taken out of their money. Also, they have to pay the restaurant what the restaurant is owed out of what you give them (if you watch in NY -- you can see the delivery people paying the cashier before they take the orders), and even if you assume each order takes 15 minutes to and from, then that's only 4 orders/hour. If each person gave $3, that would be $12/hour, before the problems of people who can't find the right change, who try to send the food back etc. There's also no overtime, and in other cities (SF etc) where deliveries are made by car parking tickets are the responsibility of the server, which can often be hudnreds of dollars.
I don't feel liberal guilt. I don't think that I'm priviliged etc etc to get food delivery--to me, a job is a job. And you get paid to do your job. And honestly, often, I can't afford the tip, so I eat my canned soup or I go walk the three blocks to pick up my $4.50 stir-fry. But often you are their only paycheck, and so you should pay up.
I also think that restaurants should state a delivery charge. But they should also provide insurance, so good luck with that.
For those who do not live in NYC or in a major city, we don't do major tipping. I know what your thinking but why? Ok I will tell you. I live in Bumbleep egypt. Drivers for the 3 places that deliver here make a min of &10.00 an hour plus tips. During the gas insanity earlier this year the local yocal pizza joint was also paying for one tank of gas per shift. The guy who owns it drives a Humvee and has a heart of gold. My fav pizza place doesn't deliver. It is five mins away so we make the trip.
How much do I tip? 2.00 for orders under 20.00 and 3.00 for orders over 20.00. Again I remind you we have 3 delivery places in 10 miles (Local Pizza Emporium, Dominos and Old Standby always open local pizza joint) and they usually bundle deliveries for the driver. When you call hey say 45-60 mins. This means they are taking all the orders for my area and consolidating them.
I am pea green with envy about the quality and assortment of take out those in NYC can have at the ready by just picking up a phone. So maybe you should tip bigger. But here in God's country we have very little assortment, the drivers get paid well and are happy for the 2.00.
This topic is all about location. Our chinese joint doesn't even make eggplant. When I asked for it they said no one eats that here. I had never been to a chinese restaurant that did not make some kind of eggplant. We are talking out in the woods.
I tend to use 20% as a baseline. Sure, the person isn't delivering plates to my table, but really, the person's delivering plates to my house. They're not refilling my glasses, but they're making sure everything gets there together and that it's the right temperature. I figure I'm paying for the convenience of someone else going to get the food for me, and if I don't want to pay for it, then I go and do pick-up, not delivery. Of course, the 20% is also variable based on quality of service and difficulty of conditions. Interestingly, I've been at a couple large parties where we ordered so much food I found I did have an upper limit -- about $50.
Also, megnut's got a good point. I've not worked in the restaurant industry, but I grew up in Vegas, and you learn a thing or two about minimum wage and living off tips there.
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