Tipping Tidbits (The Why)

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Tipping is absolutely necessary.  Some people don't want to go out out to eat because they don't want to tip or tip well because they believe that servers should just get paid more.  Well in the state of VA servers on average make an hourly wage of $2.13 an hour.  They, basically, only make that because their taxes must be paid each week.  So, they are paid enough that taxes can be taken, meaning their pay checks are usually under $10 give or take.  


Should we tip?
Abso-freakin-lutely.  And here's why:
Let's say restaurants DID pay servers an hourly wage that would constitute about what servers could make in tips (around or at least): $12 an hour.  Well what would happen?  For one menu prices would rise, significantly.  And honestly, food is already quite expensive in some places.  However to make up for the difference restaurants would have to rise the price of food, and thus you would probably pay more for your meal, than you would have with the tip added. 


Also, I will say that serving is a pretty physically and mentally strenuous occupation.   If they didn't work for tips, I can honestly say that some of those things that most servers do to go the extra mile to bring the generosity out of your hearts, would stop.  So for all those special orders you want to do, They will most likely say no.  For all those ridiculous things you ask for, they wouldn't get them.  You as a customer are able to get things exactly as you want them, even if the restaurant prefers not to do it that way, because the server is working for a tip.  They hope that if they do something special for you, in return you'll show your gratitude when the check comes.  


Servers do pay income tax.  In essence they must claim that they are making a percentage of their SALES (not actual income) to be taxed on.  If nobody tipped them that night, but they worked, they would still have to pay taxes.  It could actually cost the server money to serve you.  It wouldn'nt make much of a dent on small checks, but for checks $40 or more, it could make a difference because your meal could cost them money in taxes. 


Some restaurants also have the glorious tip-out.  Which means when you, the diner, leave a tip you are not only tipping the server, but the server, the bartender, and the bus boy.  And in some places maybe the host.  In some restaurants servers have to tip out up to 4% of their sales.  So lets say that sold $800 that night and made $145, they would have to give boss man $32 that night.  They would only go home with about $113, which doesn't seem like a whole lot of money.   But night after night, that could cost a server hundreds of dollars by the end of the month. 


I have quite a few other reasons why you should tip, but these four are my main arguments.  If you enjoy your service please tip gratuitously, and even if you didn't you sat in that servers section.  Their only way of making money is those tables.  And you took up one, so you should pay rent.  At least leave a minimal tip. 

Why do you think we should or should not tip?  For what reasons do you leave bigger tips?  For feedback, please leave us a comment on RichmondTastebuds.com.  Yours Truly, M

Sad Sick Days

But it's always better with soup.  K was clutch w/ chicken noodle soup from Boychik's Deli @ Innsbrook.  I must say that i'm not a chicken noodle fan, but Boychik's was delish.  And so was the potato salad :)

Boychik's Deli

4024 Cox Rd. Glen Allen

Episode #2: Tres Leche Cake!!!!!

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Rumor has it that Kuba Kuba has the best Tres Leche Cake in the world, or wait was it the country.  No, wait maybe it was Virginia (insider).  At least that's what the neighboring customer at Kuba Kuba shared with us today.  We are going to assume she meant Virginia, but more on that later.  Kuba Kuba is damn near a Richmond landmark, so anybody who has a Richmond address should try the place at least once.  It's always inviting, and the pictures on the wall make you feel like you're in the dining room with family.  They offer you good advice for $10, and regular advice for free.  It kind of feels like a truck stop when you arrive.  The 50's style metal stools adorn the bar as staring faces sit like they haven't seen you around there before.  But they are still friendly and the tables are close enough that you feel comfortable engaging in conversation with strangers, who oddly, feel like friends here.  Kuba Kuba has such a neighborhood feel to it, its quite comforting.


We may have to do another review on this cause, confession time, we didn't eat dinner.  We had dessert and coffee.  So if you wanna know about the huevos rancheros or the ropa viejo, We will be talking about this on a later note indefinitely. 


We waited at the door for what seemed like a lifetime with all those staring faces, and the hostess wasn't necessarily what I would define friendly.  She seemed occupied but that's okay, she showed us to our seats and then our waitress greeted us shortly.  We already knew what we came for so we ordered a single Kuban coffee, and an Iced Cafe con Leche sweetened, and two pieces of tres leches cake.  Everything arrived expeditiously and the cake slices were quite large.  I shared my slice with the toddler, but K ate hers all alone.  How I'll never know, I struggled to get the last bite down.  The cake is delicate, but sweetened to perfection.  It wasn't too sweet but it was still decadent.  It went perfectly with the coffee, and the ambiance.  We completed our dessert and had to wait quite a while for the check, it was such a long wait that we declined separating the checks.  No need prolonging the wait out, however she brought to go cups and did us the favor of pouring the coffee.  It was a short, but very sweet visit.


Food (ahem, dessert) - 5/5:  No denying that.  Call first though, to make sure that they have the cake.  I have been twice before and they didn't have it. 


Service - 3/5:  Our server was sweet, but those poor workers are being stretched too far.  It was busy and two women had about 25 people to care for between the two of them .  It made service slow.


Atmosphere - 4/5: I personally love the atmosphere between the pictures, artwork and mismatched decor.  But once again, the chairs are uncomfortable!  I hope this isn't a trend in Richmond, or I will need to invest in a booty pop. 


Price - $-$$$:  This is tricky because you can get a vegetarian entree for $6.50, or you can get something with meat in it and pay $17.  The cake was $4.95 for a slice, and the coffee was $3 to start.  Emphasis on the start, do not add ice or sugar, you will be paying a $1 more easy.  That is some expensive ice.


M's Overall Score - 5/5:  I'm biased, I've been plenty of times, and it never disappoints.


K's Overall Score - 4/5: Only because I have only tasted the dessert and coffee, but I do plan to give the full menu a try in the future. Hopefully they will win me over and get a overall score of 5 at that time.

Kuba Kuba

1601 Park Ave. Richmond

Episode #1: Cajun Quest

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Our first visit to Lady N'awlins was a 1 (a fail).  Not cause of the restaurant, but the website had the hours listed till 2am.  We came in around 11:30pm and lo and behold the kitchen had been closed for about 30 minutes and only the bar was open.  So Richmonders, this is not a late night eatery like the website would have you believe.


Moving along, visit #2 to the cajun hot spot was better.  We came on a sunday afternoon and the business was minimal.  You come into the door to a seat yourself policy.  You have a choice of about 10 tables or so, the few tables up front are mostly inhabited by bar attendees so good luck with that.  It's a tight squeeze but we walked past the lively, fully stocked bar to a quiet bench in the back end of the restaurant.  It was adorned with cute throw pillows, which was the only cushion on the wooden bench.  Immediately we were greeted by a young waitress in glasses, who brought us our simple drinks of water and shirley temple.  We do drink, but for some reason not today.  We told her we needed a minute to peruse the menu, and we discovered that the menu has a lovely southern vocab lesson on the back.  Which is a plus to the novice diners who have never heard of an etouffee or a roux.  It even gives a biological lesson on the differences of the alligator and crocodile.  Needless to say I found that to be quite informational.


We were greeted again minutes later by the second waitress (presumably because our initial waitress' shift had come to an end). We ordered the Taste of N'awlins which showcases three bouillon bowls, one jambalaya, one gumbo, and one red beans and rice.  We also ordered the cornbread and fries for the toddler that joined us at dinner.  The wait was pleasantly brief, about 15 minutes or so which actually zoomed by as we read the glossary on the menu.  The presentation was simple.  The bowls laid out horizontally on a rectangular platter and was garnished with some fresh spinach leaves sprinkled randomly on the plate.  The cornbread was deliciously sweet and the french fries while lacking a crunch were generously seasoned and reminded me of carnival fries, which is a plus.   The red beans and rice, while vegetarian, was by far my favorite.  It was mild in spice but not in flavor.  The gumbo was tasty as well, however the jambalaya was super spicy.  If you have a high tolerance for spice you might find it mild, but it set my mouth ablaze.  The plate also came with what looked like french baguette chips.  To be honest I wasn't quite sure if it was stale or lightly toasted, but it worked well with the spicy jambalaya, and was edible.  The server was very informative and on time with tasks.  She listed the desserts for us, among them, bread pudding w/ ice cream, beignets, calas, and bananas foster.  We politely declined knowing we would be back for the $5 po-boy special they have on Mondays.  We shall have desserts then :)


Food - 4/5:  While the baguette chips were pretty they served little purpose for taste.  They should make cornbread a staple instead.


Service - 4/5: The lag while waiting for our order to be taken was quite long, however the service was timely other than that.


Atmosphere - 2/5: The only plus to the atmosphere was the intimacy of it all, dimly lit and quaint.  However the music was alternative rock.  It should have kept w/ the dixieland theme, not too hokey but at least something jazzy.  Also the music was loud for such a small space and actually the music turned off and the speakers buzzed for a moment or two.  We didn't want to be rude and sit on top of the throw pillows, but the seats are hard.  If you have had a recent coccyx injury, get your food to go. 


Price - $$: You can get a decent sized entree for $15 or less .


M's Overall Score:  3/5:  What it lacks in atmosphere it makes up for in taste and authenticity.  But the food is about the only authentic thing about that place.  The food keeps you coming back, and the food was delicious. 


K's Overall Score: 4/5: I agree that the food makes up for the horrible first time experience and the atmosphere that lacked in authenticity for the New Orleans feel. But we will return in the near future... at least for a taste of their po boys lol...

LADY N'AWLINS

2329 W. Main St. Richmond

M & K's Restaurant Ratings

Okay, so if we're going to go all out w/ this food blog we have to rate the restaurants.  We will rate every restaurant based on Food, Service, Atmosphere and then dollar signs for the price.  Every restaurant will have a collective food, service and atmosphere score that K & I agreed on.  Then we will choose our own "Overall" score, and reasons for why we chose the score.  Every rating will come explained, so no worries.  1- is a fail, and 5 is excellence.  & hopefully you know the standard behind the $$$ price rating, lol.  I won't get much into that.  You'll become accustomed as the blog continues on.  Yours Truly, M.

Live. Work. Play.

It's a true love story.  Not for each other, for the food.  K & I met (I'm M by the way) at our current restaurant job, as waitresses, in Richmond's West End near Short Pump.  It was recently that we realized all the beauty and history that Richmond has to offer, and not only that but the endless supply or restaurants.  We had had our fair share of eats at chain restaurants and decided to venture out into the scary but comforting world of local restaurants.  Idk how many times we've walked or driven by a few of the restaurants we are deciding to conquer here and now; you would never know, many of them are smaller than 1000 sq feet and look like the owners live upstairs.  They are truly hidden gems.  Join us as we eat, rate, rant and rave all that Richmond has to offer as well as throw some waitress wisdom your way.  Yours truly, M.