Omnivore - Great deal at Tierra, but tip your server, for God’s sake

Scoutmob offers 50-percent-off deals on restaurants every day. But today’s offer is extra-special because it’s for dinner at Tierra, which marked its 12th anniversary recently. It is one of our city’s best restaurants, featuring a Latin American menu.

Just log onto the Scoutmob site and have the code sent to your phone or email address. The 50-percent discount is limited to $25 per table.

Also, please — I beg you — tip on the basis of the meal’s cost before discount. Your server doesn’t work any less because your meal is reduced 50 percent. Personally, I think all restaurants that offer Scoutmob reductions should add a minimum 15-percent tip before discount.

Scoutmob’s impact on servers has been discussed here before by commenters. I hear constant complaints from server friends about the lousy tips they get from customers with any kind of discount.

But I’m also hearing more complaints about a reduction in tips overall. One server at an inexpensive, high-volume restaurant told me last night that she worked 37 hours in three days, sold $2400 worth of food and received barely $200 in tips.

An example: She served a family of five recently. They thanked her profusely for her good service, shaking her hand and telling her their names. She found $5 and change on the table for their $75 meal.

She’s looking for a new job, of course, but the problem is pervasive.