Restaurateur Keith McNally says English are the WORST tippers

2023-04-12

Steady on! Famed NYC restaurateur Keith McNally slams English people for being the WORST tippers … ‘especially if they’re middle or upper class’

New York City restaurateur Keith McNally has slammed his fellow Brits for being terrible tippers – and says’ he’s ‘ashamed to be English’
He famously started a feud with Brit talk show host James Corden for throwing a tantrum at Balthazar, and in the past also banned Graydon Carter
McNally didn’t reference a specific incident in his post. In the US, it is custom to tip service workers anywhere between 15 to 25 percent

New York City restaurateur Keith McNally has slammed his fellow Brits for being terrible tippers – and says’ he’s ‘ashamed to be English’.

In a blistering Instagram post featuring the Union Jack, the London-born owner of celeb hotspot Balthazar, who famously called out James Corden for throwing a tantrum over an omelet last year, slammed his countrymen: ‘I Wonder Why English People Are Generally The WORST TIPPERS in N.Y. Restaurants?,’ he raged.

‘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 didn’t reference a specific incident in his post and has not responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. In the US, it is custom to tip service workers anywhere between 15 to 25 percent.

McNally’s post comes just two weeks after a separate incident where a New York City waitress- who did not disclose where she worked – slammed a table of European diners for leaving a $70 tip on a $700 bill.

Keith McNally says he’s ‘ashamed to be English’ after calling out Brits for being terrible tippers

One woman commented on McNally’s post that low tips were because ‘we expect to tip as appreciation for exceptional service’

One user suggested English people’s poor tips are because of bad service but Keith says upper class subconsciously want to keep the working class down

Despite counting British-born Vogue editor Anna Wintour a Balthazar regular, McNally launched a blistering attack on English people labelling them the worst tippers

Turning to old stereotypes regarding Scottish people being stingy, McNally believes English are worse tippers:

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‘Even the Scots generally tip better than the English in NY restaurants.’ he said.

One IG user explained the English lack of tipping: ‘It’s because we expect to tip as appreciation for exceptional service and not to subside low wages.’

But McNally responded he thought it was a British class issue:

‘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’, he said, adding:

‘I think most middle and upper class English people tip abominably because subconsciously they want to keep working people in their place as they’ve done for hundreds of F****g years.’

Aside from celebrity hotspot Balthazar in Soho, McNally also owns popular restaurants Minetta Tavern and Morandi.

He regularly posts photos of himself with his famous guests, including Anna Wintour and Sienna Miller.

Yesterday, McNally revealed a mystery celebrity who dined at Morandi for dinner left wait staff a $1000 tip.

‘Servers were thrilled to hear that X was coming in tonight. X is phenomenally generous and usually leaves over a grand for the tip. X decided to sit in a booth today. (He usually goes for a window table.) X left a $1000 tip to server Mercedes.

It’s unclear who the mystery celeb diner is.

McNally asked ‘I Wonder Why English People Are Generally The WORST TIPPERS in N.Y. Restaurants?’ (He’s pictured with English actress Sienna Miller in February)

Last year, McNally famously confronted British talk show host James Corden over his ‘abusive’ behavior towards servers when he sent back an egg yolk omelet for having traces of egg white in it. He claimed his had a food allergy.

However, after 86’ing Corden – a term used in the restaurant industry meaning to stop serving a person, or to kick them out – McNally has since revoked the ban.

Following claims that Corden was ‘abusive’ to staff at Balthazar, McNally posted a lengthy Instagram post calling the comedian and actor out for his alleged behavior.

McNally said Corden called him to apologize ‘profusely’.

Declaring that ‘all was forgiven’, he said: ‘Having f**ked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances. So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar. No, of course not. But….anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere’.

His celebrity-loved restaurants attract the likes of Mick Jagger, Cher and Andy Warhol, but McNally has strict rules for how he deals with customers at his eateries – including not to give stars any special treatment.

‘Never get them drinks on the house, always talk to the person they’re with more than them,’ he told the Sunday Times.

‘Famous people get really p***ed off by over-elaborate service. They just want to be left alone.’

Not hovering around tables and always repeating orders back to customers to ensure no mistakes are made, are also part of McNally’s requirements he sets for his servers to make sure that diners have the upmost experience at the restaurant.

‘Be friendly, but never chummy,’ he began in a lengthy Instagram post, which he titled, ‘Rules for restaurant serves.’

‘Always repeat the customer’s order back to him. Skate sounds like Steak after one martini.’

McNally famously started a feud with fellow Brit James Corden after the talk show host threw a tantrum when egg whites were spotted in his wife’s egg yolk omelet

Corden and Julia in 2018. He claimed she told Balthazar staff she had a ‘serious food allergy’

McNally was born in Bethnal Green in east London in 1951, to Joyce, a cleaner and Jack, a dock worker and amateur boxer.

In 1975, he moved to New York where he had the intention of becoming a director, but soon turned his sights to restaurants after working in a series of kitchen jobs from oyster shucker to busboy.

Five years later he opened up his first restaurant, the Odeon in Tribeca, with his first wife Lynn Wagenknecht and his brother Brian.

The Odeon soon became the ‘center of the downtown art scene’, with Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Anna Wintour, Lorne Michaels and the cast of Saturday Night Live among its regulars.

The Cockney who became king of New York’s restaurant scene: How Keith McNally, 71, the twice-divorced boss of celebrity hotspot Balthazar, refuses special treatment for stars and hands out free champagne but ‘never to Al Pacino’.

McNally moved to New York in 1975 before opening his first restaurant The Odeon, in 1980

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