Actually Holly, that's the way that some restaurants are setup here... even at the hugely popular, Starbuck's (around here anyway) you pay for your order when you order, then wait for the foodstuff to be either delivered to your table or merely brought up to the counter (and they may or may not call out that your order is ready by name/number... the customer sometimes has to keep their eyes open for their order)... also, different restaurants have different wait times between the paying and your receiving the foodstuffs... it could be immediate or it could be several minutes.Unbelievable...perhaps someone needs to retrain them and make them understand that tips are given for excellent service.. not as a random gift *sheesh*