CURRENTLY SERVING:

People have been sending in this one all day, and with good reason: In Phoodie’s short life, this would definitely stand as the worst PR gaffe we’ve seen. After a review ran of Northern Liberties’ new Paraguayan eatery Arbol Café in City Paper back in February, someone purporting to be a server commented on the review, revealing that the owners pooled, and then kept, the servers’ tips. Classy, right? None of gained much traction, for some reason, until earlier this month, when readers began a long, good comment-drubbing of the restaurant’s policy and its lame justification for it. But today, Arbol’s problems got even worse: Consumer watchdog blog (watchblog?) Consumerist picked up the story, wondering aloud that while we can all agree this practice is shaaaaaady to say the least, could it also be… ILLEGAL? Either way, for shame, Arbol. For shame. But for the rest of us, if you’re curious, here’s that iPhone tip calculator shown at right, you know, if you want to see how much your server isn’t getting.
Consumerist: Obviously Someone Took That Steve Buscemi Rant In Reservoir Dogs A Little Too Seriously