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Balthazar boss slams English people for being the worst tippers

13 April 2023 By Jessica Mason

NYC restaurateur Keith McNally has complained that English people are the worst tippers “especially if they’re middle or upper class”.

McNally, who according to his Instagram account, is “ashamed to be English” and although he didn’t reference a specific incident in his post, added that this was not a “complaint” but a “fact”.

In an outraged Instagram post featuring a Union Jack flag, the London-born owner of celeb hotspot Balthazar, raged: “I wonder why English people are generally the worst tippers in NY restaurants? Especially if they’re middle or upper class. This is not a complaint, just a fact. (Even the Scots generally tip better than the English in NY restaurants)”.

McNally, who famously fell out with actor and presenter James Corden at his restaurant last year responded to one respondent, who tried to defend English diners, by stating that his view was based on his experience and even went so far as to outline why he thought them to be ungenerous.

IG user @sisiscarlett, defending McNally’s generalisation, claimed: “It’s because we expect to tip as appreciation for exceptional service and not to subside low wages.”

However, in response, McNally reiterated that it was a class issue and added: “I don’t believe this is the reason. Time and again my servers have given English customers perfect service only to often receive way less than the standard 15% tip. I think most middle and upper class people tip abominably because subconsciously they want to keep working people in their place as they’ve done for hundreds of f***ing years.”

McNally, who according to reports, was born in Bethnal Green in London’s east end in 1951 to Joyce, a cleaner and Jack, a dock worker and amateur boxer, moved to New York in 1975 to become a director, before working in restaurants led him to his current position as restaurateur.

In the US, it is customary to tip service workers anywhere between 15-25% to note both gratitude and acknowlegment of the role they have played in assisting to make an experience a good one.

Last year, a US bartender received a life-changing US$200,000 tip from a generous customer, only to be denied the colossal sum of money by the bank.

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