And perhaps an addendum to my mantra as previously stated......" and don't believe an eager waiter who tries to enlighten me!" A service charge in a restaurant is a tip regardless of what they call it or try to tell you.....

The only caveat to all I've said previously about this topic is if I go as a group I fully expect the 'house' to add a generous tip to the bill and I have no problem with that.

In an earlier life a gazillion years ago, I worked in a restaurant and made awesome tips, but not by trying to con or take advantage of the paying public. Serving tables is hard work but if you do a good job and try your darnedest to be nice (even though there's always that one table).......you can and will generally be well taken care of by John Q Public. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />