If you TRULY, TRULY want AMAZING SERVICE:

Now when you walk into any restaurant...whether it be an AppleBee's, Hard Rock Cafe, David Burke's Townhouse, Tavern on the Green, Le Cirque, etc. - you can not ALWAYS be sure of the type of service you may receive.. of course chances are that the last 3 places will offer more of a guarantee than the first two I mentioned....
Life is life and things do happen sometimes --- whether it was the waiter's fault or not.
Now this is something that always made me DO EVEN more for the table, not that I didn't
give excellent service most of the time normally...
Let's be honest here --- if you throw up money as you sit down --- I KNOW I can't make LESS than what you just handed me plus there is a very real chance, you will give me a normal tip as well. Any waiter worth anything or human being for that matter that is waiting tables...or close..(as some are not -- not ALL places actually have real requirements to hire you as a waiter..not even functioning is one of them!) WILL do what they must to get you everything you ordered A.S.A.P. & be VERY ATTENTIVE.
Now if the waiter is SUPER - SUPER busy and slammed ...he or she will still do what they can to make your table the priority BUT they still need to be semi-fair! The few times I've been handed money in advance, I've been able to accomodate those who wanted FAST service.
Only 1 out of the 5/6 times it has happened, was I busy but still managaed to be SPEEDY!
I am digressing as this post is NOT about me or my waiting skills. This is about YOU, the customer! You might be reading this post and think that 'there is NO way I should have to do this' OR 'what if they do suck'?! It is a gamble as you really cannot give someone cash and then take it back... If something still goes wrong and it really wasn't the waiter's fault --- the WAITER doesn't cook/make the food and doesn't have access to free drinks/food BUT they can do everything in their power to smooth things over. Most of the time though, your gamble will PAY off for your dining experience...

Every scenario you can think of has happened:

-AMAZING WAITER LEFT NOTHING OR AWFUL TIP
-AWFUL WAITER LEFT AVERAGE OR AMAZING TIP

Also the reverse is true and should be more so....but just like your Server is unpredictable ..
so is the TIP he or she will get from you.
Most diners do not even THINK about how much to leave for the tip until the bill is in front of them UNLESS they:

-Have had an AWFUL experience
-Are CHEAP people who purposely try to nitpick at every little thing you, the waiter does, to have excuses to deduct from your tip.

The point is ---- if you hand a server $20+ before the meal -- that certainly does help!
TRUST ME ON THIS ONE! Now if you handed them the money and they are AWFUL....don't leave more and make a note not to sit in that server's section again!

Ahhhh - now you know why I stopped waiting tables.......mostly because I got to a point where I was 99% right when I gave a table away --- and I couldn't afford to give tables away BUT..
Based on tipping out and what not ---- is it worth it to bust your butt for a few bucks..
AND I MEAN $3-$5 ...
I gave away 10% tippers and less -- maybe 1 or 2 times I gave away a 12-15% table but that is still below the 20% I work for! (Remember that I lose 5% on all tables to tip out like MOST waiters do -- so I don't want to walk away with LESS than 15%!)

D O N E ! I am still here to advise you all out there on the ways of the waiter!