To not get off track, to the OP
It all comes down to you. if you realize that your friend only left 5%, then leave the additional tip that you think the server should have gotten.
though you did not pay, you were still a customer, and the final bill reflects the whole party.
personally, if someone is treating me out to lunch, i always insist on atleast leaving the tip.
When I was a teenager and my friends and I would go out to eat, they would only leave 5$, and I always used to stay behind and leave extra cash for the server.
Simply because i just know. its that simple. Some people know, others don't. And if you don't know than at least have the courtesy to not eat at a restaurant with servers.
Like i said, go to Mcdonalds, taco bell, burger king.. where the people giving you your food are making at least minimum wage.
I work for an Upscale Mexican restaurant in NYC.
You said you don't want to hear about how the fish was caught, thats cool.. but some do!!
Recently we got a review that said this
" if you want to explore an entire culture through smoky salsas, tortillas made by hand, and a mole whose origins are as old and mysterious as the Oaxacan hills, they’ve got that "
When people say, that a waiter exceeded.. they are not talking about doing backflips, they are talking about how they engaged in the time of your stay.
I can easily go to a table, and ask them if they are ready to order and leave it at that, or I can also go and help them by describing dishes or telling them about our specials. answering any question that they have, if they have a food allergy, I can arrange their whole meal. They are guests at our restaurant and I am there for them. Rachel Ray left me a 400$ tip once.
Of course this is because I work at an upscale restaurant, where we don't even care if we get bad one tip that night, because you are just one table, out of hundreds that we get. As a 20 year old kid, I would rather work as a waiter, making 1,200 a week, than at a retail store making 350 a week.
If you're a waiter and you're miserable at your job, thats your fault. go to an upscale restaurant, where people always tip 20%, and where you get to eat the food that people pay 50$ a plate for free
Just to give you an idea
check out how much gratuity i got from one bill