So my friends and I went out to a bar/restaurant tonight located in Cambridge, MA that shall remain nameless. (For the record, I'm a full-time waitress and I've been working in several different restaurants for five years since I was 16.) We had an EXCEPTIONALLY bad waitress despite the fact that the restaurant was fairly empty. I tried to play the devil's advocate--maybe she was busy doing sidework or maybe she was the only server in the place. But the fact was that she wasn't--I saw her several times literally sitting down and kissing some guy while watching the open-mic comedy night while my friends and I were clearly awaiting our drinks/food/menus and eventually, our bill. I probably should have gotten up and asked her about it or something. But idk I feel like I shouldn't *have^ to do that. Not to mention the fact that it was late and my friends had to get back to the train before the it closed down for night. So we flagged her down eventually and I noticed that there was an 18% gratuity included in our bill. I have worked in four restaurants, and it was a rule at every single one that gratuity was included for parties of SIX or more. There were FOUR of us in our party. So I find this extremely bizarre that this gratuity was already included. I wouldn't have had a problem with it--I typically tip far more than 18% anyway--if I felt her services deserved $9.50 (which they didn't by ANY means).
So, for those of you who find this experience tl;dr: is the included-gratuity-for-parties-of-six-or-m
I'm just looking for some insight into this! Thanks :)
edit: I checked extensively the Yelp reviews for this place, and it seems to me that there is an 18% gratuity for bills over $30. Really?! Maybe this is stated at the top of the menu but honestly, I was too drunk to notice. Ugh. Maybe there is a good reason for the 18% auto-grat but my decision to never return to this place has been confirmed.