Upscale NYC restaurant staff ate half of this man's birthday cake!

There's a hell of lot more to this story we don't know.

That's hilarious.

Kudos to the kitchen staff.

They deserved the cake, and I'm sure they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Dumbbell - He brings a homemade birthday cake to a restaurant. You eat dinner in the restaurant then go home to eat the homemade birthday cake.

The staff admitted to eating the other half after giving flimsy slices to the birthday party guest. That's really fucking outrageous! Wait staff are the most entitled pieces of shit on earth. They are overpaid and really unskilled labor.

That degree of cake fuckery warrants a free meal.

[quote]They deserved the cake, and I'm sure they thoroughly enjoyed it.

No, they deserve their paycheque.

[quote]They deserved the cake, and I'm sure they thoroughly enjoyed it.

He made that cake as a birthday present for his friend. It took him 5-6 hours and cost him a lot of money. The staff did not deserved to eat half the cake. At best, they could have cut a THIN slice and shared it amongst themselves, with each of them taking a bite.

After asking permission to do so.

I don’t think I would have expected the leftover cake to be returned. I also don’t think “bring your own dessert” to the restaurant is really a thing. Those slices were a bit on thin stingy side. Perhaps the restaurant staff was conveying their thanks for having their income’s reduced by the value of tips on 12 desserts.

The restaurant staff must have had a good laugh about this.

I'm sure it looked like a feeding frenzy back there.

One person probably tried a slice, and then another, and then another.... and then POOF!

The cake was all gone.

Hahahahaha.

If he had more friends, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

NO cake for YOU!

[quote] I also don’t think “bring your own dessert” to the restaurant is really a thing.

Of course it is. Most often they charge a fee to cut and plate (around 5 bux per) but it's a thing.

Well, I hope they didn't leave a tip. They agreed to serve the cake, so they lose.

The best part of the story is that we not only ate the leftover cake. We sold a few slices to other customers as a special.

Didn’t he already post a new vid saying they didn’t eat it and there was just a miscommunication and they threw it out not knowing he wanted it back?

[quote] Of course it is. Most often they charge a fee to cut and plate (around 5 bux per) but it's a thing.

You’re actually mostly agreeing with me if you think they would have been charged $60 for the service.

Restaurant staff were assholes and/or dumbasses.

The remaining cake should've remained untouched and saved unless permission was given otherwise. If your restaurant doesn't want to serve someone else's cake (many are OK with it for a cutting/serving fee), then the proper response is, "Sorry, we don't do that here." But tossing it out or eating it, is not acceptable, no matter the reason. That was not their cake.

I'm not sure what I'm agreeing to R17, but 60 dollars sounds reasonable at a midtown steakhouse.

I don't agree though that they lost out on 12 desserts. Nobody orders that much dessert, least of all the gays.

Why should the wait staff get more money if someone orders a $20 entree vs a $40 entree. They're doing the same work for each?

Former restaurant / bar worker here, 5 years.

My coworkers and I would never have eaten that cake. I don't think it would have even occurred to me to eat it.

Yes, I can see bringing in your own special cake, just like bringing in a special bottle of wine. Yes, the restaurant will charge for the service, "corkage fee," wine glasses, plates.

Restaurants nowadays don't really make their own desserts, anyway. Seems like they buy premade stuff.

[quote]r9 = I don’t think I would have expected the leftover cake to be returned. I also don’t think “bring your own dessert” to the restaurant is really a thing.

It wasn't a "dessert", it was a birthday cake.

He’s annoying. I bet he didn’t shut up about his cake for the entire meal. I realize the clips are about the cake and the restaurant experience, not his friend’s birthday, but he’s not doing something nice for his friend’s birthday, he’s showing off and looking for attention. And he’s not showing a clear view of the width of the cake slice in the clips. The cake also waxed and waned suspiciously in different photos. Looks like a standard 9” diameter cake in the short clip.

There should have been leftovers, but not half the cake after 12 people had a slice and maybe let it go at your friend’s birthday. Unless it was the birthday boy who really wanted to take the rest of the very valuable (several hundreds of dollars!) cake home. Which I doubt.

He has a legitimate gripe about the cake going missing, I just think he also happens to be a jerk.

I want a slice of that cake so bad! I wish I was his friend so he would make a cake like that for my birthday.

I agree. The comments about how long it took him to make the cake (5-5 hours, which must include baking and cooling time as “work”) and its value “several hundred dollars” scream “look how selfless I am!” The video itself fits the pattern.

Restaurants make a lot of money on birthday dinners, so the least they could do is take care of that man's cake. The bill for a 12-person dinner at an upscale NYC steakhouse must have been huge.

The rule, firm and unwavering, always needs to be NOTHING MAY BE BROUGHT IN FOR CONSUMPTION.

The house, except in a full site rental that no restaurant would consider, would be liable for anything that happened, even with a Little Fat Ass Sprinkle Krinkle Cake carried straight from [italic]She'a's Butter Cakes[/italic] two blocks down Hodiamont.

And the staffs, being culinary-culture lost souls, are always drunk/stoned/depressed fuckers and will eat a guest's cake if they get near it.

Brain is to Zombie as Something Appearing in Kitchen is to Restaurant Staff Rats.

Lmaooooo who brings their own cake to an upscale NYC dinner? These are transplants and it shows.

It’s a pretty cake and I think bringing a cake like that to a friend’s birthday is a nice gesture and probably ups the sense of celebration. But if I were doing that, I’d be very low key about it to avoid looking like an asshole trying to take attention away from my friend. I would probably not even volunteer that I had made it myself.

Also, it looks really soggy. It might have been especially hard to cut. Yes, a restaurant should be able to cut and serve a cake, but this was an unfamiliar one.

It was really dry and too sweet. Obviously a box-cake that should have had a little sour cream or vanilla pudding added.

Is this guys a professional baker? I’d like to try that cake.

“Thankfully, I have so many friends that I don’t ever seem to catch a break from making these cakes.”

Asshole.

Bringing your own cake to an expensive restaurant is really trashy.

R33 I find it pretty ridiculous too. To a regular place, sure, but if you’re gonna go top tier like you’re rich, order one of their cakes.

This thread should've started with a poll.

Follow-up. The cake was not eaten. It was simply lost in the kitchen. The restaurant was harassed on social media. They offered him a free meal.

Oh well, just another casualty of getting too close to the light of my being.

i'd spend the rest of my life getting revenge on that staff like some cape fear shit

[quote] if you’re gonna go top tier like you’re rich, order one of their cakes.

This was a steak house, not a bakery. Steak houses probably have desserts, but they don't serve entire decorated cakes.

[quote]then the proper response is, "Sorry, we don't do that here."

In which Queen Mary would have promptly posted a video dragging the restaurant for ruining a very special occasion.

[quote] The staff did not deserved to eat half the cake. At best, they could have cut a THIN slice and shared it amongst themselves, with each of them taking a bite.

They should have taken one bite, and then solemnly passed the bite from waiter to waiter. And then they should have sat in silence, contemplating what they had done.

Quality Meats is not a high-end restaurant. It is a generic steakhouse —part of local chain of “quality.”

Please stop talking about that caaaaaaaaake.

Did the cake come with Tea, or Mussy, or Thou. of Lipstick or Gerg?

Missed happy ending: outraged cakemaker flies out control and stabs the waiter with a handy steak knife.

Did they mention the restaurant's name? I don't see it anywhere.

Can’t you read? ^^^

It’s called Uncut Meats

[quote] It was simply lost in the kitchen

Just how big is their kitchen?

[quote] Most often they charge a fee to cut and plate

Is this like a corking fee? Maybe they charge the amount of their own cheapest dessert (which in the case of Quality Meats's non-sundae options is a $15 Sticky Toffee Pudding).

Wherever did he find a version of the theme from A Summer Place that's even stringier than usual?

Even with inflation, I can't see that cake costing "several hundreds" of dollars, It looks great, but he's really milking this story for drama.

It was a kween’s cake—extra $$

Ugh, I just love a good gay cake saga. I would be deeply appreciative if we could just replace 3/4 of our garbage Gen Z celebrity threads with "This Week in Gay Baked Goods..." stories.

I think it would do wonders for our mental health.

He's posted two TikToks about it, how is that "milking this story"?

Two toks too many.

Quality Meats sounds like a busy truck stop tea room.

Look at this fucking hipster who bakes.

The have a back room! Well, they call it private dining. ;)

IDGI. Slices?!

WTH kind of birthday cake is NOT presented WHOLE to the BIRTHDAY PERSON?!

r57 It was, then it was taken to the back to be sliced

What's all this fuss I hear about presenting hole to the birthday person?

[quote]Perhaps the restaurant staff was conveying their thanks for having their income’s reduced by the value of tips on 12 desserts.

Assuming any of them still have a job after this, then they should take up their disgust with their bosses and demand a decent hourly wage. You don't shit on the customer, because now this becomes a public issue which I'm sure the restaurant doesn't want.

And furthermore, when did it become an obligation for the customer to give a certain amount of money in tips? You give based upon the service you get. It's really rude to automatically price a certain amount for tips in your bill.

Then, r58, I question the brains of the baker, that he didn't challenge the server(s) in saying, "You call these slices?! Bring out that cake again!"

The cake was neither "mistakenly thrown away" nor "lost."

If he confirmed with the restaurant that he could bring a birthday cake to be served, then the restaurant is at fault and owes him compensation for eating that cake.

Custom cakes cost upwards of $200 or more.

If he didn't confirm with them, then the restaurant needed to return the cake - UNEATEN - to him and tell him it was against their policy to serve outside food.

There is no version of this situation in which staff eating the cake, then serving the leftovers is acceptable.

How many vicious face slappings ensued?

Have the birthday cake at home. After dinner.

Seems like this drama was easily avoidable.

Man, the psycho commies on here applauding the wait staff's atrocious behavior just because they're the help. 🙄

That he put it on social media tells you all you need to know.

YUMMY YUMMY!

r64 It's NYC, seems bold to assume any of them has a living room large enough to comfortably accommodate 12 people.

It's remarkable how many DLers are desperate to try and blame the guy instead of the restaurant staff.

He assumes they ate it, but they probably threw it in the trash. That cake looks fucking disgusting 🤮

The Haitians are eating the cakes. I saw it on TV.

I have never heard of anyone bringing their own cake to a restaurant.

Some of you guys sound like yahoos, I'm sorry. Yes, people just do bring in special stuff to a restaurant. Is it encouraged? No. A restaurant wants to sell their own stuff. They weren't bringing in steaks ... to a steak house.

As stated above, the restaurant will charge plate or corkage fees.

The whole reason for going to a restaurant is so that you don't have to entertain at home. Lots of people live in small apartments and "going home afterwards for cake" is not in the cards.

[quote]I have never heard of anyone bringing their own cake to a restaurant.

Seriously ?

I had my 50th Birthday party a few years ago at an expensive Italian restaurant (it was my favorite at the time). I had 11 guests, so it was a party of 12. When I sat down with the 'special events' manager eight weeks prior to plan the party, he suggested I bring in my own birthday cake, since they don't make their desserts on-site. (And if I did leave it up to them, he admitted it would be double the price the bakery would charge him at retail). By me bringing in my own cake, they would only charge a $1 plate fee per person.

So I did buy a birthday cake from my favorite bakery, and brought it in. The restaurant did slice it in the back, and brought the remainder of the cake back to the table - already sliced for anyone who wanted a second slice. It worked out perfectly. What was left, they boxed individually and gave to whomever wanted to take it home.

I've made large complicated high end cakes from scratch about 4 times, and just the ingredients alone cost a minimum of $200-$250. Plus the time and work that goes into it is worth more that.

The same exact thing happened at Jesus' Last Supper. Thaddeus was PISSED.

The staff didn’t eat the cake. They have it on video. Whoever said it was all gone was mistaken.

Great. Another thread that has me craving cake.

Me too, R77. It looked good.

That poor DLer really wanted that half of the cake for himself! Fat whore!

r76 They claim to have it on video, somehow I doubt they actually do.

If they have it 'on video' then they know exactly what happened to it - it was either eaten or thrown away (or maybe fell on the floor?). It certainly wasn't "lost" in the kitchen - not on video.

R60 is the tipper ever server despises. You make no sense—not how tipping works.

I'm torn - clearly they did eat the cake because the slices were so small. But - who brings a homemade cake to a NYC steakhouse?

I can't imagine lugging a cake around NYC - even with a taxi/Uber.

It's just a cake - and they ate some, which is horrible. But I would be embarrassed if any of my friends brought a homemade cake to a restaurant.

You'd be embarrassed? Why? And why are you fixated on it being a homemade cake? If they bought it at a bakery it would've been fine? As for not imagining someone carrying a cake...what?

R83 I take it you've never been to dinner with someone with 'food sensitivities', the anti-gluten brigade tends to be the most strident, but it was hardly a Betty Crocker sheet cake.

The Baker is totally extra, to a somewhat annoying degree, but that doesn't change the fact that he checked with the place beforehand, they agreed to present, then cut/serve. To eat half (those slices were beyond thin, not even a clean edge to the cut slice!), was a dick move by the place.

I'd argue that they may have dropped it, or splashed dishwater onto it, which would justify its remains going missing, but that doesn't seem to be the case as the restaurant staff copped to eating it.

[quote] I've made large complicated high end cakes from scratch about 4 times, and just the ingredients alone cost a minimum of $200-$250. Plus the time and work that goes into it is worth more that.

I don’t see how that is possible.

NOM NOM!!

Bringing a cake to a restaurant must be a New York thing. I can't see this being appropriate anywhere else.

Former restaurant / bar worker here. When a customer brings in their own special wine, etc., it made me think twice. Not that I begrudge someone bringing something in that the restaurant doesn't sell. But it's still a lot of work for the server. You've got to bring out the wine bucket / ice & stemmed glasses. Open up the bottle at the table, do the whole tasting thing. It's the same amount of work as if they had bought the bottle in-house. You can only hope that the tip will reflect that the server has done the same amount of work.

Also, the type of person who would bring in their own bottle is probably someone who thinks they're a wine connoisseur. (High opinion of self, etc.)

That said, serving the equivalent ($-wise) of food (vs. the wine) is a lot more work. E.g., $150 worth of wine is easier to serve than $150 worth of food.

[quote] I have never heard of anyone bringing their own cake to a restaurant.

Chinese restaurants allow birthday cakes.

Most of them don't serve desserts, so they're usually fine with bringing in a cake.

[quote] But I would be embarrassed if any of my friends brought a homemade cake to a restaurant.

I wouldn't be embarrassed. Unless it was a Duncan Hines sheet cake (which I like, but I wouldn't bring it to a restaurant). Some people really are good bakers. I wish I had some friends who were good bakers.

R89 couldn’t pass the first interview round at a restaurant with a corkage fee.

R82 Tipping based on quality of service is /exactly/ how tipping works.

Why anyone make a “Funfetti” cake and then go thru the trouble of layering it so thin and topping with French buttercream and meringue escapes me. Also the restaurant should never allow outside to be served. Know what’s in meringue and French buttercream? Raw eggs.

R94, umm, how professional are you? Meringue could have been made with Egg whites or Meringue powder. Typically you make a French Buttercream with pasteurized eggs.

[quote]But I would be embarrassed if any of my friends brought a homemade cake to a restaurant.

I would be very appreciative, since he went to a great deal of trouble to bake the gift.

R93.

My reply was to the following: And furthermore, when did it become an obligation for the customer to give a certain amount of money in tips? You give based upon the service you get. It's really rude to automatically price a certain amount for tips in your bill.

1. Always—a minimum tip m, now 20% is expected…if you’re not giving the at you better be speaking to a manager with a good explanation for what went wrong.

2. See 1.

3. No—there is, practically speaking, a mandatory minimum, unless you’re just cunting servers on a regular basis. In which case, die now.

If I owned a restaurant, I would charge a LOT to discourage this sort of cake from outside behavior from regular diners. The wait staff will hate this and it seems like a needless insurance liability. If the party is some kind of rental, it might make sense. I would have a list of cake they could buy from the restaurant, me, even if some of them are from local bakeries. Then the cake is on the bill and the server is getting tipped for all the value that the server is serving.

[quote] 1. Always—a minimum tip m, now 20% is expected…if you’re not giving the at you better be speaking to a manager with a good explanation for what went wrong.

If you don’t think you make enough money then get a different job. I’m sorry your employer rips you off?

This should be a storyline on next season's "And Just Like That" when Charlotte bakes an elaborate birthday cake for Carrie, and the waiter at Daniel loses half the cake.

Team restaurant

When do the tears STOP???

Someone left his cake out in the rain....

[Quote] paycheque

Ok Mary Poppins

[quote]Bringing a cake to a restaurant must be a New York thing. I can't see this being appropriate anywhere else.

I did it in Rhode Island for a few special occasions over the past 10 years or so. I know others who have done this for special occasions, as well in RI and MA.

They probably couldn't help themselves! It looks scrumptious! Still a shitty thing to do.

I wonder what Bitchy Waiter (on Facebook) would say about this ? He always sides with the staff on everything.

[quote] gave to whomever wanted to take it home

Oh, dear!

Did anyone else's screen burst into flames watching that cake baker's video?

Also, I thought bringing in outside (homemade) food for guests in a restaurant was a health code violation.

R99 huh? You still don’t get it.

[quote]The Baker is totally extra, to a somewhat annoying degree, but that doesn't change the fact that he checked with the place beforehand, they agreed to present, then cut/serve. To eat half (those slices were beyond thin, not even a clean edge to the cut slice!), was a dick move by the place.

I agree. Although I'd specify that the only thing extra about him, from what I can see, is the fact that he was way too nice about all of this.

I hate the fact that he came back and said the restaurant contacted him and said after reviewing the security footage they just forgot to give him the rest of his cake and he's just going with it. (Which is obviously BS because the cake slices were so thin.) People figured out where he went and have been going in on their social about it. He's also asking for that to stop because there are people there who are just trying to make a living and they even offered him a free dinner for two.

I think baking cakes regularly for his friends is his way of showing how much he cares about them. More than buying a gift he's putting his time into something he thinks they will like. It doesn't seem self-serving since he does it all the time. He even talked about a cake he baked in his Good Morning America segment appearance at 1:25.

[quote]Why anyone make a “Funfetti” cake and then go thru the trouble of layering it so thin and topping with French buttercream and meringue escapes me.

I don't think he meant "Funfetti" as in a boxed cake mix. I assume he made the cake from scratch.

Oh my God, that's even MORE sad! He made a Funfetti cake from scratch??

[quote] You still don’t get it.

I do get it.

The price of the food covers the ingredients and the labour. If you do a good job as a server then maybe I might tip you. It’s a bonus. It’s not to be expected. If you want to be paid more than you are worth as a waiter then you have to earn it. What you are worth is already covered by the food. If you rely on tips then you are spending beyond your means.

Not sure why I was "oh dear" in R108. Who can explain ?

r115, it should be "whoever," not "whomever," since as a pronoun it is the subject of the verb phrase "wanted to take it home."

[quote] If you do a good job as a server then maybe I might tip you. It’s a bonus. It’s not to be expected.

That’s not how it works. You don’t get to pretend the rules are different just because you don’t like them.

Exactly! ^

There’s a loon about who thinks he can decline to tip as he sees fit, at at full service restaurant.

R114 is not from the US ("labour") and doesn't understand.

[quote] If you want to be paid more than you are worth as a waiter then you have to earn it. What you are worth is already covered by the food. If you rely on tips then you are spending beyond your means.

For some reason, mean-spirited, too.

We were going to eat it except the busboy tasted it first and said the icing was dollar-store Crisco with a little powdered stevia mixed in, and then everyone lost their appetite.

People keep talking about health code violations, but a cooked cake is not going to carry the same risk as a shrimp cocktail, raw oysters, or half-cooked chicken, or a raw egg. It would be unlikely to trigger a negative health inspection, which is all that restaurants are worried about.

His explanation isn’t the only one. They could’ve bumped it into the floor or had any number of other accidental mishaps. Anyway, the picture that he showed of the slice looked like vomit. This guy is a lot.. I sorta feel bad for his friends being subject to his cake gifting if they taste as bad as they look.

I’m sure his cakes are quite delicious. He, however, is a pill. Anyone who focuses so much attention on how much they do for their friends is not motivated by generosity.

[quote] a cooked cake

Cakes are not cooked, they are baked. Same with breads, cookies, brownies, and pies.

[quote]That’s not how it works. You don’t get to pretend the rules are different just because you don’t like them.

Nor should servers pretend their getting a good tip (or any tip) if they provide bad service. Cuts both ways.

R119 has demonstrated that the poster objecting to servers' expecting certain tips is from outside the US and knows nothing of the relevant culture of serving, tipping, etc. in a NYC restaurant, but rather is judging this situation by some irrelevant external standard.

r125, you need to stay home and cook for yourself

[quote] Nor should servers pretend their getting a good tip (or any tip) if they provide bad service. Cuts both ways.

Again, you are mistaken that you can impose your will on how our economy works. A tip is expected. It is understood . There is no legal requirement to tip, but you are simply being an asshole if you rely on that to justify your own selfishness.

[quote]Again, you are mistaken that you can impose your will on how our economy works. A tip is expected. It is understood .

Okay, Zoomer. It sure is understood - you're entitled to a great tip no matter how awful you are as a server, just like you're entitled to everything else in life. You don't 'earn' a good tip for good service, you're entitled to it because it's expected (and according to you, that's how our economy works).

Tipping culture in the US is odd. Why do restaurant owners expect customers to contribute to their employees' wages?

because it has been that way for a VERY long time. since the civil war really

Because, R130, that's the way the tax system is set up.

[quote]t sure is understood - you're entitled to a great tip no matter how awful you are as a server,

that isn't what was stated

R133 It was certainly implied.

Again, this poster is posting from outside the US and doesn't know anything about the realities and protocols in NYC.

I once had lunch downtown with a group that included a mousy British woman. When we paid, the waiter came over to me asking disingenuously whether there had been a problem, showing me the bills, which showed that this woman hadn't left a tip. I asked her why she hadn't and she said, "I understood it wasn't necessary." I said it wasn't strictly necessary, but it was customary and expected unless there was a serious problem with the service, and asked whether she'd had a problem with the service. "No." "But you're not leaving a tip?" "No." I dropped the matter and left some more money of my own.

[quote] Tipping culture in the US is odd. Why do restaurant owners expect customers to contribute to their employees' wages?

It is certainly odd, but it nonetheless exists regardless of how anyone feels about it.

In fact it is recognized by law to the extent that restaurants are exempt from minimum wage laws.

Exactly^

And in the U.S. it would be odd to have a flat % added as service or VAT, or have a cover for bread as in Italy. They all get to the same result by a different method. Why we tip is generally understood by all (though some of the posters here are unduly ignorant 🤷🏻‍♂️).

Really, R2? Is it hilarious? If they spat in your food in a restaurant before bringing it out to you, is that equally hilarious, you dumb cunt?

Anyone who has experienced the indifferent and sometimes hostile service from servers in countries without a tipping culture might argue that the US system is better for everyone except those who resent what is expected of them.

He's trying to become a private chef for dinner parties. He charges $500 an hour for parties. He shows himself making meals for clients, but they're actually in his own apartment and the clients are his friends. He's obviously trying to get this new business off the ground. His cooking looks delicious!

I wonder how he makes his money, because he has a big, nice apartment in NYC, which ain't cheap?

His meals really do look amazing. He even makes his own brioche buns for his chicken sandwiches.

[quote]Anyone who has experienced the indifferent and sometimes hostile service from servers in countries without a tipping culture might argue that the US system is better for everyone except those who resent what is expected of them.

You must be very new to dining in US restaurants, for you have never experienced 'indifferent and sometimes hostile' service from any server in a US restaurant. Don't worry - you will get the full experience, probably sooner rather than later. Go out to full service restaurants more often.

Just make sure you tip 25-30% for that indifferent and hostile service - because it's expected of you.

Quality Meats is a Stillman family, Smith & Wollensky-type overpriced garbage restaurant. If you bring your own food from outside, you're either not getting it back or it'll be pissed-on when you request the rest of it to go. What self-respecting gay man would ever go to such a dump?

You're charming, R143. There's a reason anyone would want to piss in your food.

[quote]I wonder how he makes his money, because he has a big, nice apartment in NYC, which ain't cheap?

So it turns out he could have invited everyone back over to his big, nice apartment for cake after dinner and avoided this whole stupid situation.

Ugh, does this have to turn into yet another thread about the merits or otherwise of tipping??

As I suspected, he's from a wealthy family. They are paying for their 24 year old son's beautiful East Village apartment. He was studying in London, until the pandemic forced him to move back to the US.

Here's his family....

Yesterday, I went to a local pizza place to get my lunch. The handsome muscle Latino guy (probably late teens / early twenties) behind the counter didn't say a word to me when I approached the counter - no 'hello', no 'what can I get you', no nothing. Just stared at me with the slight 'chin nod', waiting for me to tell him my order.

I ordered my slice of pizza and small Coke - he rang it up and never said a word to me. No mention of the total (I had to look at the screen in front of me to see the total). While I was getting my wallet out, he put the slice of pizza (inches away from him) in the to-go-box and then handed me my empty Coke cup (it's self-serve) with the slice of pizza. The total came to $4.00 even (lunch special) and I gave him $5. He handed me my dollar - still without uttering a word - and then slyly inched the tip jar on the counter between us towards me (lest I didn't see it filled with dollar bills). I took the dollar from him and thanked him. Still not a word from him. In my 'experience' there over three minutes tops, I never heard my server's voice. Ever. Not even a 'fuck you' from him when I thanked him. Just got a stare-down from him. So how much do I tip for this impersonal service he offered ? What was required of me according to how the economy works? The dollar he gave me, or should I have gone back into my wallet and pulled out a $5 bill to tip him ? Would I have heard is voice then thanking me ? Does he charge the customer extra for speaking to them ?

[quote]So it turns out he could have invited everyone back over to his big, nice apartment for cake after dinner and avoided this whole stupid situation.

And would the invited guests need to tip him for serving coffee and cake to them in his big beautiful apartment ?

I've been following this thread as its been quite fun, but I'm quite frankly, SHOCKED at the accepted deviation from CAK to the traditional cake.

R148 NYC? If so, you are ridiculous. Two choices: put the buck in your wallet or put it in the jar. You choose, then walk out. Is that so hard? A true NYer buying a slice wound concede the point in this instance, if only because of the local practice of pulling a particular Cali e from the pie and putting it in the oven so that your slice is nice and hot. That’s all.

particular *slice*

Is there a reason he couldn’t have addressed this at the restaurant, with the restaurant, without putting it on TikTok?

R151 Cool your tits. No, it wasn't in NYC. Geeez.

Hey, I’m not the one all jazzed up about $1. Follow your own advice. No one in the big city would worry about a dollar.

[quote] You must be very new to dining in US restaurants, for you have never experienced 'indifferent and sometimes hostile' service from any server in a US restaurant. Don't worry - you will get the full experience, probably sooner rather than later. Go out to full service restaurants more often.

What a ridiculous argument.

Service in the US is generally much more friendly and attentive than it is in non-tipping cultures.

R155 No one was jazzed up over a buck. I simply shared a story. And again, this didn't happen in any 'big city'.

R156 You're funny.

My error—more like jizzed 😵‍💫

“In my 'experience' there over three minutes tops, I never heard my server's voice. Ever. Not even a 'fuck you' from him when I thanked him. Just got a stare-down from him. So how much do I tip for this impersonal service he offered ? What was required of me according to how the economy works? The dollar he gave me, or should I have gone back into my wallet and pulled out a $5 bill to tip him ? Would I have heard is voice then thanking me ? Does he charge the customer extra for speaking to them ?”

This thread has become tiresome.

You consider my experience jizzed ? Really ? Interesting.

… The handsome muscle Latino guy (probably late teens / early twenties…💦

$4 for a slice of pizza and a soda? That's very inexpensive. That's not NYC.

Based on your description of what he did (service-wise) and his demeanor: I wouldn't have tipped.

[quote] Yesterday, I went to a local pizza place to get my lunch. The handsome muscle Latino guy (probably late teens / early twenties) behind the counter didn't say a word to me when I approached the counter - no 'hello', no 'what can I get you', no nothing.

You're only torn because the guy was handsome and young. Let's be real. You wanted to extend pretty privilege.

If this was some rude older lady, no problem putting the change in your pocket.

Typical DL behavior.

[quote] Cakes are not cooked, they are baked. Same with breads, cookies, brownies, and pies.

Baking is a subset of cooking, so yes, that cake was cooked.

As I said: this thread is tiresome.

Yet, here ya are.

[quote]If this was some rude older lady, no problem putting the change in your pocket.

If it was an older lady, I doubt she would be non-verbal (rude, maybe). Older people know how to socialize with other humans. This Zoomer didn't have a clue - he knew how to slyly move the tip jar towards me, though. I would've stuck the dollar in the jar.

[quote]You're only torn because the guy was handsome and young. Let's be real. You wanted to extend pretty privilege.

I wasn't looking to impress the guy or flirt with the guy - I mentioned he was handsome and young because he was. If he were ugly and young, I would've described him that way, too. Either way, if he knew how to be courteous and verbal, he would've gotten the tip he so desperately seemed to want.

I love that waitstaff-I think they're Fabulous!!

I suppose he is energetic and charming and kind because he certainly isn't good looking.

Every restaurant that Ryan took his family to while they were visiting him in NYC. His brother(in the US Open pic) is a hot Jewish boy.

Ryan is very picky about pizza. He doesn't get the hype over NYC pizza.

That tuna melt at Agi's Counter looks amazing!

IMO, they dropped it shortly after it was taken to the kitchen. The slices were thin because they were painfully salvaged from the least mauled surviving portion of the cake, and laid on their sides on the serving plates. They didn't want to cop to having dropped it, but if they'd presented what was left of the cake, it would have been obvious.

That's why the rest of the cake was "lost in the kitchen."

I think they ate a 1/4. That's a small cake. I can't see more than 4 slices per quarter cake.

I agree R170. And no way is the restaurant / kitchen managers going to tell the truth on this one. They will say that it was 'lost' in the kitchen - with a dozen cameras on it.

The cake wasn´t all that.

Malheureusement trop sucré!