Pre-Dig Gig, Rehash Bash and other Cooler events

Yes it was me that brought this up and was eating at me Since I heard about it at The Pearl Show!

and At that time the People that were talking about it said that something would be said about it! and nothing Was now I figured it HAD TO BE BROUGHT UP!! So we could figure it out! And Like it has been said by others Not show up and have to pay to get in to something that has ALWAYS BEEN FREE!!! and should remain that way!

as far as asking for Donations that's fine I don't have a problem And with the fact that it was said that we would not pay out of Spite I wouldn't pay it Because I don't have the money to pay for that and would like to spend it on what I want to If that means I Buy A $4 drink and tip a buck then that's what I will do if I buy Food for $15 and eat it that's what I am Choosing to spend my money on!

But all I knew about it was Me2 and BFG were there 100% and that's why I didn't say who I thought was there! because then I would have been accusing someone of knowing that Had NO IDEA! about it! And as Jake would point out that's Slander and not something I do I wait tell I get as much as I can then bring it up! But time was a problem like it has been pointed out also this has been set up for 26? days now and yesterday is the First Most have heard of it at all!

But no we know and Knowing is half the Battle!! G.I.JOE!! lol

Ok so we got it figured out and we know that There is NO FOOD AND NO COVER and it is UP TO US TO TIP AND get OUR OWN FOOD!! And we also know there Are no Drink specials or food Specials so it is Set in stone that this is over for me as far as Discussion it goes!!

YES I STARTED IT!! SO WHAT!!!

I think the only who should pay a cover is Neck. We have to put up with his nonsense so it seems only fair.

seconded!

3rd Moved!!

It is now on the books as of 1-11-10 from this point on Neck has to pay to get in to the Pre-dig lol!!

add; Except Neck to the header at the top and you're golden. :wink:

Heaven forbid I nit-pick a little more... here's another poke in the eye to deal with...

At the top of this page you've got everything at the top stacked on top of each other like Jenga blocks so it's bigger than my screen gets. Just sayin' take out a couple line breaks between the pics and it'll look more purty...

How much should we charge the Giraffe?

wait now we are talking about someone else lol!!

$5 is fare!! lol

Lets just not let him in

Sorry it got out of control CM. I know how frustrating that can be! I wish I could contribute cause a girl gotta eat :pbpt: unfortunatelty, a girl also gotta feed her teenage boys!

Some good news: Reg is gonna be my date. Now I won't have to be dancin' with myse-elf. Wait... Isn't that song really supposed to be about masturbation? I take it back. I wouldn't have been dancing with myself. Dang.

great choice! I've done that at karaoke before, too :cool:

<sigh> I love that statement! I didn't look back to your post, but principle would be the correct choice

Thought Ragman was going with Neck

:smile:

so very true!!!!

oh now crap....

:frown:

so a few people are stuck in for ponying up 250 bucks.....

makes me feel bad....well not really since you guys put this your on your own tab imho....

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200807/20080702dm_bus_500.jpg

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Politics/Images/man-being-thrown-under-bus.jpg

http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/chili/files/2009/09/thrown_under_the_bus.jpg

I'm glad everything is cleared up in here.

yeouch!

I've been run over by a car before but never a bus.

Something to keep in mind regarding the whole $250 offer- $5 chip in.

1) A lot of people coming and going at different times. Some stay just an hour or 2 and leave - they probably wouldn't chip in.

2) Alot of people come early order a meal while the kitchen is open and usually leave early- so they won't be around after 10pm to chip in.

3) This offer is really only applicable to people who stay until bar closing and get the munchies later on. I can only recall one year where I stayed past 1am and I don't remember there be more than 20-30 people the last couple hours.

4) Assuming that enough people arrive later on and want in on the apps deal - I'm assuming that $250 only gets a set amount of food and is that amount going to aptly feed 50 people? It's not the same as a buffet where it's all you can eat for a set price for each person. You might run into a scenario where a bunch of people chip in, some people get a lot of food and some may not get much -if any.

** I don't have any strong opinion either way you choose, I just don't want anyone get stuck with the bill if you don't have enough chip-ins. Or some sore feelings if people chip in and don't get any food.

** For future PDG's where ever they may be - may I suggest the option of a buffet? The restaurant decides how much it is per person and keeps the food coming all night. That way people can come choose whether or not to eat and not feel obligated. It's easier (no wait staff) and faster and usually cheaper.

nicely written - thanks for your input

I like AW's suggestion of Degidios for future PDG'S. I know Yarussos has been great but I don't think they would give up the whole place for a Saturday night. Fri and Sat are the most profitable nights for restaurants because if high turn over. We would have to spend 1000's to make it worth their while.

DeGidios is big and cheap and has a huge kick ass bar. Very warm and cozy decor. Family joint. I have not seen the banquet room but if it's big and they're willing to negotiate the details I say what the hell?

Maybe next year, prior to all the debate, a couple of people can go to say 2-3 places find out what they're willing to do and for how much, post all the details first and then put the choices up to a vote.

Well From what I have heard and seen from Yarusso's is that they want to set up big parties and stuff on Fri and Sat.!! And if I rember from there web site it says the same thing! so I dont think that it is s far off base as me may think!

OK Edit this After looking at there web site I read it wrong!! lol but I would be willing to bet with the way they want us there and the way they have gone out of there way they will help us I bet!

if no one wants to I will talk to them I have goting to talking to Freddie in the past and he is a good guy and remembers me! so I am willing to talk to him! at a later date if every one wants me to??

but that's up to you guys! I think it better to try and talk to him this year and figer it out before next year!

I've worked in a few restaurants. There is a huge difference between setting up a "party" at restaurant vs. what we need which is more like a banquet/reception. Parties (I'm using these terms as restaurant lingo) usually involves reserving a table for 8-20 people and they are seated in the main dining area with other customers. While the "party" make stay longer than the average customer, they usually are not an all night type of thing, and the restaurant continues to run as usual. A banquet/reception type of party usually has a larger number of people, usually needs a separate area, allows for people to come and go when they like, and goes for many hours. The restaurant usually knows the range of profit they will make from it, from either room rental and/or per capita food and drink sales.

People have been saying that for Yarusso's to work they would have to shut down the whole restaurant to accomodate us. I just don't think we would spend the kind of money they would need to make it profitable for them. Isn't the whole point to give them our "business" so they can make "money".

Just sayin... can't speak for Yarusso's but I don't see a win-win scenario there.

I nominate Yarusso's for the first non-potluck Re-Hash Bash (if / whenever that will happen). I think a Non-Superbowl Sunday afternoon would work there. I'd like to try it.

You know, this whole "discussion" about $5 is so far out of my realm of thought that I'm really not sure what to say, but I do think it's ridiculous that those of us who were at Obb's are being blamed. All of you were invited but didn't show up. I just didn't think $5 would cause people to completely flip out. I'm one of the ones that is willing to throw in $50, but if I'm going to risk that kind of dough I'd better be able to gain from it. In other words, if we get MORE than $250, those of us who fronted the money get to do with the extra as we see fit. Otherwise forget it.

One other point I'd like to make. This group is very good at crapping where they eat. The group is just too big to make this a "free event" while having the expectation that any bar/restaurant would want us without renting a room or charging a cover. Think about Obb's. He probably grosses somewhere in the neighborhood of $600,000-$800,000 a year. If we come in and spend $1,500 on night a year, that is at the most 1/400 of his yearly gross. It wouldn't be tough for him, or anyone for that matter, to say "These people are way too demanding. It isn't worth it." If we keep burning bridges, we're going to end up paying out our noses for a place to have the pre-dig. Mikey says "There are a lot of people who would love to have us". Name one besides Yarussos. Even so, if they start hearing demands, that will quickly change to "We don't really want you."

Case and point. I was at McGoverns in the SUMMER of 2006 with a buddy of mine who wouldn't know what the Cooler Crew was if you asked him. One of the waitresses asks me "Aren't you a member of the Cooler Crew?" I say "yes". She then proceeds to ask me what the group has against tipping adequately. I didn't know what to say, and reading between the lines, that would explain why McGoverns doesn't want us. Throw sour grapes at me if you like, but that's why McGoverns doesn't want us.

McGovern's didn't want us from day one Jake. Once the group took up more space than one table, it was worse.

And tipping - to get good tips, one should get good service. I tip more than adequately if the service is good and don't tip much, if at all, if the service stinks. Tips are to show appreciation for good service. You have to ask for something three times, something comes off the tip. That happens several times, the tip goes down accordingingly.

1/400???

ok yeah...sure...

lets see 365 days a year....

one of his most packed nights out of the year... (try like 1/150).

every bar owner knows he makes most of his money on weekends.

but...

ok...I get your point...

if you get a profit...keep it...I don't care...

yeah i'll stiff a waitress for a tip...(if they suck)

This question is probably going to make a bunch of you laugh at me, but can/will someone sober cab me and make sure I get home ok? I plan on staying at my mom's on Maryland and phalen parkway.

Even if I can give someone cab fare before I drink and someone makes sure I get in a cab?

I don't drink a lot and don't want to end up drunky and stranded. I can even crash at someone's house if that's easier.

Again... Dork here!

If we stiff waitresses, we aren't welcome. Regardless of service. If you want a facility to be adequately staffed, you better be prepared to pony up some cash. Despite what many in this forum think, you will never get something for nothing.

Kitch, I'm at Obb's at least once a week for dinner. Jimmy does well, don't kid yourself. Busy bars such as Obb's tend to be cash cows. If it's more hassle than it's worth, he won't do it, just like any other business owner in St. Paul.

That being said, see you all Saturday night.

You'd be more or less on my way home so I could give you a ride if you need one.

some good points Tater...

tipping is a strange beast, because its not a one-dimensional measurement that goes into the computation of a tip. sure you have things like lousy service factoring in, but i think oftentimes the circumstances of the environment aren't brought into consideration either. if you receive lousy service in a room where there's one waitress handling 150 people, it takes really really lousy service to take it out on the server. most of that problem is the fault of management. i've been to pdg's at mcgoverns where there's plenty enough wait staff to handle the crowd and yet the service is still lousy. in those cases, the waitresses earn their lousy tips. that's the nature of the restaurant business.

honestly, the tip situation has nothing to do with whether or not we are welcome anywhere. if the management, knowing the size of crowd that shows up and the volume of business done in the hours of the predig doesn't account for that with adequate staffing, we're not welcome even before the tip situation comes into play.

as for getting something for nothing, that's hardly the case. if we go by jana's assumptions, that people are spending 15 bucks a head on dinner, times the (very conservative) 100 people that come through in the course of an evening (there were 44 of us in the pdg picture that the wc photographer took last year, and that was taken very late in the evening), thats $1500 in sales from food. probably another $1500 or more in drinks over the course of the evening. interestingly enough, no restauranteur ever became successful and profitable by not including staffing expenses in the price he charges the patrons (those expenses are actually cheaper for a place like obb's because the minimum wage is lower for tip-earning staff than it is for the rest of the population). which is why jimmy's not wanting to have wait staff downstairs for us is a big red flag for me about whether or not we really *are* welcome there, even with the appetizer offer that's been mentioned, simply because that's going on after the kitchen closes anyway.

now, would any other place be different? who knows. no one will until the question is asked.

my $0.02.

and with that, let the pdg commence.

It seems Neck wants to run this whole show again. Noboby really wants him to be there. So I say make the idiot pay the whole $250 if he wants to be there or tell him to go to Buggs and leave us alone. By the way who put Neck in charge? Who cares what Neck wants?

So what do you do when service is bad?

furthermore, who is this "we" that kept getting mentioned? i've seen a lot of "you" posts lately, and a lot of complaining about "we". go figure.

Tip. It's mandatory. You're messing with someone's livelyhood when you don't. If service is shoddy, it's probably a result of circumstances beyond his or her control.

To quote Donald Trump: "Seeing someone who doesn't tip adequately is a sure sign of a loser"

Even if I get absolutely TERRIBLE service, they're still getting 15% from me.

I'm not going to get into a bitchfest with you. I'm throwing in my $0.02 just like everyone else, I'm sorry you have a problem with it.

Tip. It's mandatory

citation or it didn't happen. they're called "gratuities" for a reason. get over it. if there are circumstances beyond the servers control (like the kitchen staff burned the entire order for the table and has to recook it) the server oftentimes knows about that, and if they communicate it to the patrons, most people are sympathetic to the cause.

Neck don't throw in your $.02 throw in your $250

X2

There is nothing to get over. I was stating that according to one waitress at McGoverns, that was the reason they didn't want us. Do whatever you like with the info. Defend actions, deny actions, I don't really care. When in 5-10 years this group is forced to cough up a bunch of money for a location to have the pre-dig, you can't say that nobody saw it coming.

Again, my $0.02, sorry if you're not a fan Ares.

jake i'm just looking for some reference somewhere that says that tipping is mandatory. you made the claim, now put your money where your mouth is. just because something is expected doesn't make it mandatory and there's a whole lot of people in the service industry who need to understand that.

X250 Neck

Ok. Let me clarify my statement since you're having a hard time reading between the lines. Donald Trump said it, I just happen to agree with it 100%.

"Tipping is mandatory. Someone who doesn't adequately tip is a sure sign of a loser"

From his book "Think Like a Billionaire"

I totally disagree. If my service sucks as a direct result of my server, at the very most, they get 5%, oftentimes, it is less. If that makes me a loser, than I know a lot of losers who actually work in the food service industry. If the server sucks, they don't get tips and then need to figure out how to do better at their jobs. If someone works in business, and they can't sell a product, they get fired. If we are using Donald Trump as the barometer for what is status quo in the world then we are in trouble. If you are getting terrible service and still tipping 15%, I will have a table ready for you when I open my restaurant.

"I don't tip because society says I have to. Alright, I tip when somebody really deserves a tip. If they put forth an effort, I'll give them something extra. But I mean, this tipping automatically, that's for the birds. As far as I'm concerned they're just doing their job."

Mr. Pink Reservoir Dogs Neck seems to like quotes

see. that wasn't that hard, was it?

now, lets talk about what is and what is not adequate, because you'll also note that the donald doesn't say that a 15% tip is mandatory. unless you omitted that part of the quotation.

i've been in situations where 30% has been adequate.

i've also been in situations where a penny was adequate.

in both casaes, the servers got adequate tips. why? because adequacy is a 100% objective decision on the part of the patron.