Steve Dublanica

Less an expose, like the famed Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, Waiter Rant is more snapshots and vignettes taken from the life of a waiter in an upscale restaurant of New York. There are some chapters which cover the more salacious elements, such as the obligatory sex-under-the-table and spitting in the food, but mostly it focuses on the human aspects: the couple who could barely afford their Valentine's Day dinner, a woman who had a stroke while sitting at a table, the lonely tale show more of a woman succumbing to a desperate alcoholism.

Throughout most of it, the Waiter himself remains human, showing deep interest and empathy; these are clearly people, not characters to be exploited. My only complaint is near the end, where he seems to become a tad more egotistical and a tad bit eye-rolling in his navel-gazing. While he does admit that his attitude suffered due to personal changes in his life, and the growing realization that being a waiter was failing to fulfill him as a person, it rings a tad hollow. He starts quoting Sartre casually in conversation, idly drawing comparisons to Philip Marlowe, and alternates between admitting that his relationships with the other staff have suffered and professing not to care. There is an almost defensiveness in his writing in the last few chapters, as if he were aware of his faults but desperately tried to excuse them - I hate to say it, but it is very easy to see how, if these were only what he chose to represent, he might very well have become insufferable to his colleagues.

Still, overall, and especially in the first three-quarters of the book, he has a singular charm. His writing is sparse, but effective. This is not really a book about waiting in general, but of a man who is a waiter - unlike Bourdain's work, which felt universal, this definitely has a focus. It has a protagonist, the author himself, and follows his life. Being a waiter is certainly what he talks about most, but it's in relation to how it affected him. Again, less an expose, more snapshots from a man's life while he was a waiter.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, one which had an unexpected depth to it beyond laughing at absurdist stories of the underbelly of restaurants. show less

Brilliant, really. I've never worked as a server, but my mom did and my daughter does. I've heard a lot of insider stories, but these are written masterfully and with such great humor.

I've mentioned this book (or a story in it) many times in conversation since finishing it less than a week ago. It doesn't matter if you're a waiter or not. It's a satisfying read. You will learn a lot about yourself, and might think twice about eating out again.

I can't help but think Steve and I would have show more been BFFs in an alternate universe. He's the perfect combination of snarky and serious. He's got a good head on his shoulders. And he has a great command for the English language, or an amazing editor. Or both. Could be both. I highlighted a lot in this ebook and intend to go back and re-read a lot of the gems! show less

I read the Waiter Rant blog ‘back in the day’. I never read the Waiter Rant book – no real reason, just never picked it up. Waiter Rant was/is great and funny because Steve Dublanica is one of those guys who know how to tell a story and his work at the restaurant kept him well supplied with characters to tell stories about. Sooooo, a book on tipping?? Where’s the great stories in that?

I picked up the book intending to just scan it to see where he was going with the whole tipping show more thing and I was hooked. I read the whole book in about 3 hours. When the stories stopped coming to Steve, he went out and found some stories. He went and talked to people in all kinds of occupations about tipping. Personally, I’m a middle aged married woman and I doubt I’ll ever need to know what to tip sex workers and strippers, but Steve made it interesting to read about anyway!

I don’t necessarily agree with all of the “Tipping Guru’s” advice on tipping, though. You see, he asked the recipient what THEY thought they should be tipped. Everyone thinks that they’re overworked and underpaid, so naturally they ALL thought they should get at least 20% - all the time. A busy bar where a bartender doesn’t have time to do or say more to a customer except “What can I get for you?” doesn’t warrant a $1 tip for opening a beer – in my opinion. That’s $120 an hour!

But again, getting people talking about tipping is the whole point of the book! show less

Tipping. It's so confusing and this book aims to shed some light into the mystery.

The book skips restaurants because that was served in an earlier book of his. Instead we jump into shoe-shiners, bathroom attendants, people who man (or should I the gender neutral word "human" as a verb?) the door, and taxi cab drivers. Steve even dives into the world of "escort services", gentleman clubs and even an S&M dungeon. So, if you ever wondered how much to tip at your local S&M club, you can ask me. show more :)

Mainly, Steve gives a human face to people we avoid or just refuse to see. The book is less breezy than I imagined. Like other reviewers mention, there's a lot of social commentary here. And he points out a lot on the shady world of kickbacks. Next time at Vegas, I have an idea how to EARN money just by jumping into a cab. But as they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Actually, a rule of thumb ... tip 20% on anything. For Xmas tips, just tip the cost of a normal business transaction. Or if you want to boil it down even more, just treat people, all people, with respect.

And next time, instead of just pretending he doesn't exist, I'll tip the bathroom attendant. show less