"James Thompson" wrote...
I make the mistake of giving a waitress some change which included a nickel a long time ago and she just returned it next to the drink. I now tip a dollar minimum in cash. When I was at the HRH a few months ago I thought I'd tip in gold dollars but I didn't feel comfortable because I think some of the girls thought they were quarters.
I've been told on several occasions that the waitresses aren't fond of getting change because of the weight of coins. Those trays can already get pretty heavy; if they get a large amount of change, it can add a non-trivial amount of weight to the tray. (I'm guessing this was much more of a problem in the past, before ticketless, when people would often reach into their machine trays and grab a few quarters.)
FWIW, although we do tip a buck for each drink, I've also found that simply having a pleasant attitude works wonders with most waitresses. Just giving them a friendly smile and a "Hi, how ya doing?" and a "Thank you" is often enough to get automatic refills, or the extra-tall glasses instead of the tiny ones... plus it just makes for a better experience all around.
--Joe