Fee for Portofinos an Chops??

[LounVal]

I read or heard somewhere the fee you pay at these restaurants is actually the tip. Last time we ate at the dinner club on The Glory we left a hefty tip along with the fee. Did we double tip??

[jonbgd]

Portofino is $20pp

Chops is $25pp

The dinner and tips are included in the price

Well worth it for Portofino

we also tip on top of that if it is exceptional service

and yes you double tipped

[bouhunter]

Here we go again.......

 

Yes your servers get part of the fee, but not all of it.

[beachchick]

Here we go again.......

 

Yes your servers get part of the fee, but not all of it.

 

Perhaps it seems repetitious to us, but the fact is that RCI doesn't really explain how the specialty dining fee is used/divided. Unless someone specifically asks, how are they supposed to know if the surcharge is primarily for the food/venue or primarily to tip the waitstaff or equally divided? So, IMO, there is no "here we go again yet another question about how to avoid/reduce tips." This particular question regarding tipping is specific to one situation and isn't about the regular daily tips or about decreasing/increasing them.

 

To answer the question: We've always had such outstanding service in the specialty restaurants that we tip over and above the surcharge. We did that even before we knew a bit about how the fee is split because we felt it was appropriate, not because anyone suggested/told us to do so. Although the service we've had in the main dining rooms has generally been quite good (with the occasional "only okay" or "quite outstanding"), it's in the specialty restaurants where we've felt the service was fully at what we consider excellent (based on decades of experience at everything from four and five star restaurants to tiny hole-in-the-wall-isn't-the-food-fantastic joints). Truth is that some of the most professional service we've had has been in the little joints...We tip accordingly.

 

beachchick

[Macfans]

Here we go again.......

 

Yes your servers get part of the fee, but not all of it.

 

I agree. People ask questions to get answers since the search feature rarely works.