Cheap meal at Chevy's

[AlleyDove]

I used to do this all of the time.

Go to Chevy's and you get chips and salsa free. You also get tortillas free. Ask for a side of black beans (a couple of bucks), these are veg*n. You can also get a side of guac or sour cream for a couple more bucks. There you go, all you can eat, pretty much :D A full meal for a couple of bucks(depending on how many sides you want)
soo delicious! :)

[Michael]

Why not just go to Taco Bell? Or the grocery store?

Chevy's portions are so big why not just split a meal with someone else?

[sarahjayn1980]

I hope you tip well because just because you're frugal / cheap / broke doesn't mean the wait staff can afford for you to take up the table ordering sides.

[*AHIMSA*]

A few thoughts:

A hot meal in a restaurant is a nice thing, much better than a boc of crackers and a wedge of cheese (which would cost about the same at a grocery store as these foods mentioned above at a restaurant)

Tipping should be optional and be based on excellent service.

Sometimes I make a meal from sides.

Poor people have to eat too.

[sarahjayn1980]

I order sides a lot, too, but I wouldn't go out to eat purely because the tipping would push it out of my price range. I think if the service is good and you sat in a waiter or waitress' station, you should leave them a reasonable tip based on how long you were there. Not the cheapness of your meal.

[Dirty Martini]

A hot meal in a restaurant is a nice thing, much better than a boc of crackers and a wedge of cheese (which would cost about the same at a grocery store as these foods mentioned above at a restaurant)

So go to the grocery store and buy something warm from the deli.


Poor people have to eat too.Which is why you should tip your server(s) well. :p

[AlleyDove]

I don't understand why you guys seem so opposed to eating at Chevys :confused:
Sure, you could go to the grocery store.
Sure, you could go to Taco Bell :rolleyes:

But if you want to go out, which is what I like to do, then I'm sharing a cheap option for quality Mexican food.

geez!

[*AHIMSA*]

So go to the grocery store and buy something warm from the deli.

That's not a "hot meal in a restaurant". :tired:


Which is why you should tip your server(s) well. :p If I have good service, I do tip well.

[Dirty Martini]

I don't understand why you guys seem so opposed to eating at Chevys :confused:
Sure, you could go to the grocery store.
Sure, you could go to Taco Bell :rolleyes:

But if you want to go out, which is what I like to do, then I'm sharing a cheap option for quality Mexican food.

geez!

I like Chevy's and there's nothing "wrong" with pigging out on free chips & tortillas. But it's rude and tacky, and there are other options allowing you to eat a similar amount for a similar price.

I just think that if you're going to go to a restaurant and spend $3, don't go to a place where the average bill is at least four times that much (not including drinks).

put yourself in the server's shoes - imagine bringing someone several baskets of chips, several bowls of salsa, several tortillas, and several drink refills - all in separate trips. And then for all that work, hardly getting any compensation. You wouldn't like it - why do that to someone else?

[jaynesh]

I do this all the time at Chevys, and it costs me as much as it did to get the full meal when they used to have the veggie fajitas on the menu. I get charged for the tortillas and the gaucamole is expensive. I usually get rice and that corn stuff too. Its good and I dont have to dissect the meal they have on the menu asking them to change things and add things. I love Chevys. Yum. Maybe I'll go there soon.

[Fritemare]

I like Chevy's and there's nothing "wrong" with pigging out on free chips & tortillas. But it's rude and tacky, and there are other options allowing you to eat a similar amount for a similar price.

I just think that if you're going to go to a restaurant and spend $3, don't go to a place where the average bill is at least four times that much (not including drinks).

put yourself in the server's shoes - imagine bringing someone several baskets of chips, several bowls of salsa, several tortillas, and several drink refills - all in separate trips. And then for all that work, hardly getting any compensation. You wouldn't like it - why do that to someone else?

I really don't understand why you are being so rude and getting so worked up over someone finding a cheap way to eat out at an expensive place. I've gone to a Mexican place before, just ordered drinks and ate the free chips and salsa with my friends. Sometimes we order guacamole, sometimes we don't. I don't tip people extra because my meal was cheap and they had to make more trips. I tip by how good the service was, and how much I spent on the meal. I've gone out to a place and seen other people doing the same exact thing. It really isn't that uncommon.

[Dirty Martini]

I do this all the time at Chevys, and it costs me as much as it did to get the full meal when they used to have the veggie fajitas on the menu. I get charged for the tortillas and the gaucamole is expensive. I usually get rice and that corn stuff too.

That's a lot different than ordering a side of beans, and getting the chips, salsa, and tortillas for free.

[Dirty Martini]

've gone out to a place and seen other people doing the same exact thing. It really isn't that uncommon.

So if you saw a lot of people flipping off the servers you'd think it was okay? :rolleyes:

[*AHIMSA*]

Flipping off the servers and being a regular, paying customer are hardly the same thing.

[Marie]

That's the kind of regular customer servers hate. :p

[Fritemare]

You know, this has gone from discussing a frugal/cheap meal to bashing the OP's idea. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to bother posting in this thread anymore. Tired of arguing, and I'm deleting my post above this one.

[sarahjayn1980]

I wasn't bashing the idea when I merely suggested that I hope the servers are compensated for the time they put into serving you (based, of course, on the quality of their service) even though your meal may have been cheap. I've always believed that if you can't afford to tip, then you can't afford to eat out (in America where tipping is standard practice.) Sure, its nice to have a hot meal served to me, but if I can't afford it, I can't afford it.

[Sketchy]

...I'm not going to bother posting in this thread anymore. Tired of arguing, and I'm deleting my post above this one.

If you delete the previous post how will we know if you have deleted the previous post? Would we then think that your post previous to the previous post should have been deleted?

Just yankin' your chain, but I have to agree - the Chevy's Grazing has crossed the line from frugal to cheap, and this kind of behavior is what leads to a 'minimum charge' at restaurants. I agree with Ol' Dirty - I would be a little annoyed if was the server who had to truck out chips and salsa to a table that was almost certainly leaving me no tip - I don't think a tip is expected, it is dependent on service, but if my server is bringing the free s*** all night I would definitely want to leave a tip worth more than my $3.00 side order

[*AHIMSA*]

I would be a little annoyed if was the server who had to truck out chips and salsa to a table that was almost certainly leaving me no tip - I don't think a tip is expected, it is dependent on service, but if my server is bringing the free s*** all night I would definitely want to leave a tip worth more than my $3.00 side order

Uh, then it would seem the tip IS expected, isn't it? In your scenario, it seems good service is not given (or grudgingly given) to tables who don't spend a lot of $$$ and therefore are assumed to be poor tippers?

[sarahjayn1980]

Uh, then it would seem the tip IS expected, isn't it? In your scenario, it seems good service is not given (or grudgingly given) to tables who don't spend a lot of $$$ and therefore are assumed to be poor tippers?

No, that's not what was said. How a server feels and how they act can be two seperate things. The server might feel jipped, but still provide good service.

[Garnett]

I gotta agree with Sketchy.. a lot of people really depend on tips as a part of their wages. I'd be pretty pissed if I were spending part of my shift bringing someone oodles of free stuff and I got nothing for it.

[*AHIMSA*]

How a server feels and how they act can be two seperate things. The server might feel jipped, but still provide good service.

I have yet to observe that phenomenon, not just with food service either (especially with massage therapists).


I'd be pretty pissed if I were spending part of my shift bringing someone oodles of free stuff and I got nothing for it.
But you wouldn't be getting "nothing" for it. You'd be getting the wage you agreed to accept as a worker. Tips aren't guaranteed. They are extra and not to be counted on or expected.

[sarahjayn1980]

I have yet to observe that phenomenon, not just with food service either (especially with massage therapists).

Wow. Then you deal with some fairly unprofessional people. My dad's a therapist, and he is always professional and courteous with all his clients. He down right can't stand some of them (they are public figures who I've happen to have met or people from the gym he works at, he doesn't discuss his clients with me), but he always treats them nicely. I know this from comments from the clients themselves. I'm sorry you've experienced such unprofessional people.


But you wouldn't be getting "nothing" for it. You'd be getting the wage you agreed to accept as a worker. Tips aren't guaranteed. They are extra and not to be counted on or expected. (emphasis mine)

I agree you shouldn't count on tips as this thread clearly shows some people are rude, but if you provide good service you should expect a tip. Tipping is part of our culture because our wages for people in the service industry (at certain positions) is so low. Imagine everyone adopted this no-tip or low-tip jip philiosophy. I'll order a coke for $1.95 and eat 20 bowls of chip and dip and leave you . . . .40 cents for trucking things to me all night. With your $2.10 wage you made . . . $2.50! Let's even say you had 10 more tables that did the same as me . . . . $6.50 (assuming we all eat in 1 hour). You've made minimum wage working your ass off! Stop complaining! How many people do you think would wait tables then? Or, wait tables and be able to put food on their own at home? Not all wait staff are teenagers saving up for their car - - some are family men and women who need to feed their child.

[codemonkey]

I definitely think that if you get a really cheap meal of side dishes you should tip based on the service you receive. I mean, if I had a $3 meal in a real restaurant and the server totally ignored me and never refilled my drink, she's not getting a great tip. If she does a great job and keeps my drink and salsa dish full and I give her a $3 tip, I still got a great vegan meal for $6 and tipped the server as if I'd gotten a $20 entree.

I read an article somewhere that vegetarians should be generous in their tipping because it can be so easy to put together a cheap meal with side dishes and we don't want to be known in restaurants as "those cheap vegetarians who don't tip well". They recommended basing your tip on the average price of a meal in the restaurant.

[codemonkey]

Speaking of eating out on the cheap, my husband and I like to go to Chili's and split the veggie fajitas. It's not on the menu but they actually have a button for it on the cash register. They'll gladly give you extra guacomole and pico instead of sour cream and cheese and they'll give you extra tortillas for free. It's plenty of food for two people and even after sodas, tax and tip we end up spending about $15.