A heads up for the Tampa Bay servers and bartenders out there… A recent Reddit thread has popped off with some heartwarming stories about our generous local celebs, and some horror stories about some others. It started off as an innocent question on the online forum after the OP (original poster) saw a similar thread about an former Bucs player, “Question for Tampa service workers, which local celebrity has a reputation as a bad tipper?”. The question lead to hundreds of stories from current and former service workers in the comments. Let’s see what they had to say.
A lot of people will argue that the tipping culture has gotten out of control. And while I agree that you shouldn’t have to or feel obligated to tip for every service exchange, like a cup of coffee or a pick-up to-go order, tipping your server or bartender for a sit-down meal should start at 20%.
Speaking from experience, unless you work in Hyde Park or the fancy spots in Downtown Tampa, it’s pretty rare to see Tampa celebrities out on the town. However, in my experience of serving and bartending around Tampa Bay, I was lucky to run into some big names, and had mostly good experiences.
Back in high school/early college days I worked at BD’s Mongolian Grill in Oldsmar (now Craft Street), and one of our regulars was actually Keenan Thompson! Keenan would come in every other month, I even remember seeing him on a Saturday afternoon and thinking to myself “Shouldn’t he be in New York for SNL?” Anyway, he would often get his food to go and still tip our bartender 18-20%.
On the other side, I also had the privilege to meet a former Buccaneers coach while I was working at a Carrollwood restaurant. He came in with his family (about a 12 person party). I split the table with a coworker and it seemed that everything went smoothly! Only to see he left us 18% tip at the bill, which, is okay (especially for pre-covid standards). But with good service and a local reputation, I think me and my coworker expected a little more. Someone else even commented a similar story in the Reddit thread.
What other Tampa celebrities do locals consider ‘bad tippers?’ Without throwing names and people under the bus, many said that some former Buccaneers players had some bad reputations. One of them having filed for bankruptcy back in 2012. If that’s true, it’s a real bummer. I won’t go into details about other people’s experiences, but you can read them here.