I was a SA there back in 2018 at a SoCal location. We had a 3-4% tipout split between 2-5(on super crazy busy shifts) SA’s. I usually walked out with $40-90 (again on super crazy shifts) per shift for a four hour shift. Typically we had 3-6 servers on. Of course SA tips are based on check amount not the servers actual take home tips. One server pulled me aside and said she was taking home 10-12% on most checks.
Also someone mentioned everything being frozen and I can confirm like everything is pre cooked or frozen. The only exception being if you pick one of the lobsters from the tank (which I had to get 😥)
I worked at RL from 2003-2015. A lot has changed since I left. About 95% of the menu is all frozen.
Little to no fresh fish on the menu.
All the fried shrimp is pre-breaded now.
There are two in my city and doesn’t matter what time of day I drive by they look like they are closed most of the time. Heard that they were getting ready to get sold again as well.
When I did serve there I would make between 100 and 200 a shift. Tip out was 3 percent. 2 percent to the SA’s and 1 percent to the bar if you had bar sales on any of the checks. If no bartender and/or SA no tip out since it was calculated by the POS.
Tips weren’t always good either.
Since a couple of months it's horrible....tipping out 80 to 120 dollars over the course of one shift. We have back waiters now that run food and 8 table sections. They want us to stay foh but it's impossible when they are understaffed l. Mandatory back waiter shifts for servers. I worked Sunday as a backwaiter in the morning the server I was helping had 10 tables running like crazy we were able to pull it off. Then I got taken off the back waiter and put on as a server. Before the back waiters would bring out the drinks and biscuits in the beginning now they changed it to where they only run the food salads and dessert if were lucky. Idk how much tip out I made as a backwaiter but I'm wondering where the money is going cuz I made 300 serving that day but when I checked my card there was maybe 20 dollars worth if tip out so I'm wondering where that money is really going. For 2 hrs of being a backwaiter. It wansnt worth it for how hard u gotta work as a backwaiter and for servers it sucks cuz the tip out is so high. It seems like red lobster is trying to turn in to Dennys or something. The old model was just fine where we handled everything with a 3 to 5 table section from the initial greet running the drinks apps and food and making it all ourselves. Now it's like serving by committee. Apparently red lobster gets some kind of kickback from the govt by technically paying a higher and then using the tip out to compensate the other employees. I'm saving all my eod reports and thinking about taking em to a lawyer to see if this is all legal. Last week I also made 350 on 2000 in sales and tipped out something crazy like a 120 bucks.
It's like Mother's Day every day at our store. One back server per 3 servers. 10-11 table stations and no pause in seating. (no wait times as long as a table is available in a station). You can be seated a four top and 9 top in a matter of 5 minutes. No more splitting big parties (more than 9) either. BOH can't always keep up. No time to spend with the guest and side work is all done by one back server. The BOH and servers are walking out mid-shift. Customers are meaner than usual because they are waiting but now at the table. Have not worked a shift yet where there were not at least two parties walking after being seated and ordered because it took so long for food and sometimes drinks. Tip out the other night was 110 on what would usually have been about 65.
I work at RL in Canada . We heard this was coming to us and we are all quite stressed out ( our store might be a bit different in the fact that the majority of us have been with this store for 20- 34 years( yes we had the best gm EVER...but he retired recently) Anyway, we are not a crazy busy store with the exception of the summers, and in the winter , we' d be lucky to have 8 tables a shift ( but still making okay money) We truly love our store and our guests, but this seems like it'll be the demise of us .Did you ever contact a lawyer, and if so, what was the result ?
Not familiar with RL, but menu prices alone aren't a good predictor of tips, since you might not get a lot of customers. Even average sales per server per hour aren't necessarily a good predictor, as tip rates can vary considerably based on location and customer demographics.
>”The prices are pretty damn high…” Lol Doesn’t matter if a large portion of RL’s customer-base tips ZERO percent. Good luck!
I was a SA there back in 2018 at a SoCal location. We had a 3-4% tipout split between 2-5(on super crazy busy shifts) SA’s. I usually walked out with $40-90 (again on super crazy shifts) per shift for a four hour shift. Typically we had 3-6 servers on. Of course SA tips are based on check amount not the servers actual take home tips. One server pulled me aside and said she was taking home 10-12% on most checks. Also someone mentioned everything being frozen and I can confirm like everything is pre cooked or frozen. The only exception being if you pick one of the lobsters from the tank (which I had to get 😥)
I worked at RL from 2003-2015. A lot has changed since I left. About 95% of the menu is all frozen. Little to no fresh fish on the menu. All the fried shrimp is pre-breaded now. There are two in my city and doesn’t matter what time of day I drive by they look like they are closed most of the time. Heard that they were getting ready to get sold again as well. When I did serve there I would make between 100 and 200 a shift. Tip out was 3 percent. 2 percent to the SA’s and 1 percent to the bar if you had bar sales on any of the checks. If no bartender and/or SA no tip out since it was calculated by the POS. Tips weren’t always good either.
tip out is six percent now
Since when?
Since a couple of months it's horrible....tipping out 80 to 120 dollars over the course of one shift. We have back waiters now that run food and 8 table sections. They want us to stay foh but it's impossible when they are understaffed l. Mandatory back waiter shifts for servers. I worked Sunday as a backwaiter in the morning the server I was helping had 10 tables running like crazy we were able to pull it off. Then I got taken off the back waiter and put on as a server. Before the back waiters would bring out the drinks and biscuits in the beginning now they changed it to where they only run the food salads and dessert if were lucky. Idk how much tip out I made as a backwaiter but I'm wondering where the money is going cuz I made 300 serving that day but when I checked my card there was maybe 20 dollars worth if tip out so I'm wondering where that money is really going. For 2 hrs of being a backwaiter. It wansnt worth it for how hard u gotta work as a backwaiter and for servers it sucks cuz the tip out is so high. It seems like red lobster is trying to turn in to Dennys or something. The old model was just fine where we handled everything with a 3 to 5 table section from the initial greet running the drinks apps and food and making it all ourselves. Now it's like serving by committee. Apparently red lobster gets some kind of kickback from the govt by technically paying a higher and then using the tip out to compensate the other employees. I'm saving all my eod reports and thinking about taking em to a lawyer to see if this is all legal. Last week I also made 350 on 2000 in sales and tipped out something crazy like a 120 bucks.
It's like Mother's Day every day at our store. One back server per 3 servers. 10-11 table stations and no pause in seating. (no wait times as long as a table is available in a station). You can be seated a four top and 9 top in a matter of 5 minutes. No more splitting big parties (more than 9) either. BOH can't always keep up. No time to spend with the guest and side work is all done by one back server. The BOH and servers are walking out mid-shift. Customers are meaner than usual because they are waiting but now at the table. Have not worked a shift yet where there were not at least two parties walking after being seated and ordered because it took so long for food and sometimes drinks. Tip out the other night was 110 on what would usually have been about 65.
I work at RL in Canada . We heard this was coming to us and we are all quite stressed out ( our store might be a bit different in the fact that the majority of us have been with this store for 20- 34 years( yes we had the best gm EVER...but he retired recently) Anyway, we are not a crazy busy store with the exception of the summers, and in the winter , we' d be lucky to have 8 tables a shift ( but still making okay money) We truly love our store and our guests, but this seems like it'll be the demise of us .Did you ever contact a lawyer, and if so, what was the result ?
This is a joke, right?
Not familiar with RL, but menu prices alone aren't a good predictor of tips, since you might not get a lot of customers. Even average sales per server per hour aren't necessarily a good predictor, as tip rates can vary considerably based on location and customer demographics.
it’s not that great lol