02/19/09

Great Place -

by diningmom

A note to to Ms Fernandez. How many were in your party? Most establishments that are NOT chains or large capacity places charge 18-19% auto gratuity for parties of 5 or more. This protects the server that earns $3/hour from people that are ignorant of tipping protocol, run them ragged, sit for 2 hours or more spend their money on food and skimp on the gratuity which is customarily split between the server, bar, busser & food runners. All said, servers sometimes end up paying out 5% of the gratuity to the support staff. i havent any idea of what the poicy is at this establishment, but i am a restaurant owner in Baltimore and know how my place operates. You also might want to check out what your actual charge was. We occasionally get calls from people that look at their account on an hourly basis. Credit card processors - some - automatically add 20% to the authorized amount to account for gratuity. Restaurants settle their tabs and run batch over night. Banks take a few days to process and then CHARGE the amount you authorized. Most likely you hopped on your computer when you got home and presumed the "pending authorization" was a charge. I bet it settled out correcty. Before bashing an establishment, check your facts. Its people like you that make us restauranteurs pull our hair out. People should be required to get a dining license for dining at places other than drive throughs where you only need to talk to a box and tipping isnt required. Geeze!

02/15/09

Wow! Amazing Food, Beautiful Ambiance, Great Spice prices....

by kelltwood

Stopped in for the Winter Spice menu and was actually surprised that the prices were very reasonable even off the spice menu. I had perhaps the best rib-eye I have ever experienced...better than Prime 112 or Smith & Wollensky by miles...and considerably less expensive. Beautiful place, great ambiance, and the best meal I have had in Miami in ages.

11/17/08

Ruined a nice experience

by missfernandez

Wonderful food, great drinks, nice ambiance.

Then I check my CC bill. On the bill at the end of the night, 18% gratuity was included. Great, fine, it's south beach, i'll pay it. My total was $70. When I checked my CC statement, they had charged me $85, a 20% increase on the 18% I had already paid.

Stay classy, Table 8.