What do you tip?

[RubyDimples]

I've noticed on social media and these last couple years people are being outed for being bad tippers at restaurants. Pictures are taken to out these individuals and its done by receipts. I'm wondering fellow forum folks, what do you tip when you go out to eat? Please don't hold back

 

[BarbieLuv]

Whenever I go to a sit-down restaurant, I generally aim to leave 50%, regardless of how good/bad the service was. Being that I know how it feels to live almost solely on tips and happen to be fairly well-off financially (and have been a server before and now how hard/stressful it is), I like to make the server's day by tipping a huge percentage. If they were awesome, then it's just a bonus for going A and B the C of D to refill our drinks/be polite, and if they didn't have very good service, then I generally assume they're having a bad day (not hard to have one of those being a server) and hope that it'll cheer them up.

I also like going into places where there's a tip jar that's usually ignored by the clientele (so mom and pop restaurants that don't have an eating area, frozen yogurt shops, etc.), buying something and dropping a $20 in there. That's the perfect amount to ensure that whatever 20-something happens to be on the cash register will be able to get pizza and beer after getting off their shift.

The only place I don't tip is on camsites, which is rather ironic. :lol:

 

[Gen]

I also like going into places where there's a tip jar that's usually ignored by the clientele (so mom and pop restaurants that don't have an eating area, frozen yogurt shops, etc.), buying something and dropping a $20 in there. That's the perfect amount to ensure that whatever 20-something happens to be on the cash register will be able to get pizza and beer after getting off their shift.

I love this! I remember getting SO excited when I was a takeout girl in a restaurant, I had a tip jar but nobody ever tipped. One day I had $12 in there and I was SO fucking stoked.....and someone stole it :crybaby: Still mad about that.

Anyway, up in Canada we don't have the same super low wages for servers that I've heard you guys do. Most of our provincial minimum wages are between $10-11 but liquor servers (bartenders or servers who serve booze) it's between $9-9.50. So sliiiiightly less but not by much. Generally 15% is considered a good tip, I always tip a base of 20% but I'll go down to 15% if the service sucks. I tip more if the server is super nice/good at their job. I also tip more if I'm at a cheap restaurant, because I used to be a diner waitress and that was harder work than all the pricier places I worked in, and people tip less at diners because obviously it's so cheap.

When I go to the States I make sure to tip more because I've heard that over there, servers make like $2 an hour in some states? And I know not everybody tips so I try to budget more into my tipping.

 

[Diana Blake]

I always tip 20%, especially at places where people have forgotten that tipping is actually important. (Places like Sonic come to mind) My grandmother spent many, many years working as a waitress and always stressed how important is was to tip. She knew and made sure we understood just how hard it is to stay on your feet all day with a smile for, in many cases, less than minimum wage.

If someone goes above and beyond I like to tip a lot more. A couple days ago I was at one of the bars in Vegas and I saw a sign in the front advertising some New Year's drinks. I thought it was odd that they'd have a sign like that out still but decided to give it a shot anyway because one of the drinks just sounded amazing. Go in and, of course, the bartender informs me that it's an old sign that hasn't been taken down by staff yet. He tells me he probably couldn't even make it because there were special ingredients to the drinks that they don't keep stocked in the bar year round. So, I resign myself to picking something else out while Mr. Nerd gets his standard double of Dewar's neat. Well, as I'm trying to decide what to drink the bartender comes back up and he's managed to fenagle a near exact replica of the drink I wanted despite not having all the ingredients. And it was delicious. (This is also why I preach ordering drinks from older bartenders, they know their drinks) Our tab was $20 for the two drinks and I left a $10 tip.

Mr. Nerd and I also really like leaving tips two and three times the size of the bill when we notice our server seems to be having a bad day/has an unfair amount of tables.

 

[YelloMit]

I've never been a proper restaurant before. Most fanciest place I've been is McDonalds. :lol:

But I would say that if the food is good and the service is good too, a small tip wouldn't hurt you and would make them happy.

 

[LilyMarie]

Usually around 10%, depending on the service, how long everything took etc.
In Germany, waiters who do it as a student job usually make about 8-9€ (like $9-10), and older, full time waiters generally make much more, so the situation isn't as catastrophic as it seems to be in America.
Tipping 5-10% in restaurants is normal here. I think the method of tipping is different too... You usually just round up your amount to a full euro, so if your food was 27.60 for example, you hand them 30€ and say "thank you", and then they'll know that they can keep the change as a tip. Or, if you want some change back: assuming your meal was 22.50€ and you only have three 10s in your wallet, you can give them those and say "25", and then you get 5€ back.
That was your completely useless bit of knowledge for today :handgestures-salute:

 

[LuckySmiles]

20% minimum and up. I usually go by how much I was expecting to pay for the meal and if its cheaper than I expected that goes to the staff. If I go out and expecting the bill to be at least $100 + tip. Say it came to $90. I'd still tip $30. I also like round numbers.

Food delivery to house $5 minimum. Even it its like $10 worth of food. I didn't have to leave the house.
Bars $1 per drink. Or 20% of tab and up.

I'd never stiff someone. Worse case scenario 10% and that's happened like once.
most issues are management related and staff pool tips. And if your server was off or kinda tudey that day, but someone else kept an eye on you for them. Then service was redeemed IMO.

My dream is to be the millionaire (that hit the lotto or something :lol: ) to be kind of cold to staff and then tips absurdly for funsies. :-D I had a wealthy family like that where I worked when I was very young 19-ish. and not very speedy but I worked hard. The wife was a former server and was like watching me almost spill drinks. They would order a bunch of stuff tip 30-40% on a big bill. And then pull you aside and give you another $40 and be like, "that's just for you. put that straight in your pocket that doesn't go in the pool"
I always remember that I want to be those people. And randomly tip tons on tiny bills in slow places for fun.

Also I understand not everyone has a ton of money to tip. But I've always been under the impression that you'd take that out of what you order, not of the tip. Like if a bill might be getting up there, I'd skip an extra $5 drink instead of taking $5 out of the tip etc. Not everyone thinks like that though. Like I wouldn't dine at a place if I knew I couldn't afford to tip accordingly.
And If someone else buys me a meal I usually insist on taking care of the tip.

I also hardcore judge dudes on their tipping and treatment of workers when first dating. It can be kind of a deal breaker. :shhh:

 

[Red7227]

I've pretty much stopped tipping since I've started paying with a card. That said though tipping has never been a significant part of income. Most servers here are on $15 plus with $20 plus being pretty normal.

 

[Shaun__]

I always try to tip around 20%, but I would much rather their wait staff just had there base pay raised to a livable level so I did not have to bother with it. Paying people less than minimum wage is just stupid.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

It depends on what type of restaurant and the service.

Usually I do 20%. But there have been times i've been so annoyed at the service i've left none. But it's pretty bad at that point. If i'm to where I want to talk to the manager and am tempted just to leave without even paying the service was so bad...they aren't getting a tip.

And some places like a Chinese buffet where you serve yourself, I don't at all.

But on the flip side I will go over the 20% if it's really good.

So, it depends on the situation... :lol:

 

[AshleyNicole_]

I usually tip 20% if the service was good and less if it was bad. I was a server and absolutely loved it to the point where I am going to go back part time. Tipping is important.

Also, I HATE when people complain about servers minimum wage. Our states minimum is $2.65 per hour and I used to make more hourly than even the managers in the restaurant in tips. Servers are the highest paid employees in most restaurants despite the low minimum wage AND most don't claim all their tips (only the minimum they have to claim up to regular minimum wage) so most of what they make is tax free. I'm not saying this is the case all the time, but if you're good at your job then it mostly likely is the case.

 

[Crumb]

... I'm wondering fellow forum folks, what do you tip when you go out to eat? Please don't hold back

honestly, it depends. and I don't base it on a percentage when and if I tip something.
good service, gets a tip. generally a flat dollar amount depending on the service. generally between $5-10 and of course, if she's cute or not cause yeah, I'm a perv. good cute female servers will always get a bigger tip from me than the good charismatic male servers.
bad service, doesn't. I don't feel obligated to pay someone else's wage. it's not my fault that they chose a job that pays next to nothing and has to rely on gratuity's.

don't get me wrong, I also have and do work in the service industry as a taxi driver. if I'm a grumpy old sod and only drives from A to B, then no, I don't expect a tip and am ok with just getting my hourly wage, BUT.. if I'm cheerful or talkative or help with groceries etc... basically going above and beyond the call of duty, then yeah, I hope for a little something extra, but again, don't expect anything. A gratuity is just that, someone showing gratitude without obligation.

with that said, I've also tipped my gas jockey's at full serve stations when they check my oil/tires or clean my windshield without being asked. and my barber when I feel he's done a fine job

one last thing... if I ever catch some place automatically adding a gratuity onto my bill without my knowledge, I'd flip my lid at them, and it would pretty much guarantee no tip, even if the service was excellent, and the loss of my repeat business.

 

[Sansa]

At least 20-25% usually. I always take 10% of the bill, double that, and then round up to the dollar if the service was fine, and I'll throw on extra if the service was extra good or if I was being the indecisive pain in the ass customer that I am. Sometimes 30% :lol:

Anything under $10 always gets at least a $2 tip, more if it means just spending an even $10, and if a bartender gives me a free drink, I usually tip them the amount that the drink would have been.

If service is absolute atrocious, they don't get a tip, but I only recall doing this once ever, and that time was astoundingly bad.

 

[JimsX]

I hate tipping. Absolutely despise it. It's just a con for restaurant owners to pay their employees less. And sadly people have accepted that and actually look down on the people who refuse to buy into it, rather than at the employers who are exploiting their workers. Blows my mind. Now I am in Alberta, Canada with a decent minimum wage ($10.20 and $9.20 for liquor servers). But still, I don't buy all the arguments:

It's a hard job. I don't doubt it. Lots of jobs are hard. But other workers don't expect (or in some cases, demand) extra money. You know what the wage is when you take the job (speaking of Canada here).

Food costs will go up. Baloney. If that was the case then Canada would have greatly increased prices compared to the US. And all the countries that don't have tipping at all would be accessible to the super rich. That is not the case. I was in Taiwan last year, a country with no tipping (although cabs and restaurants add 10% automatically during Chinese New Year week. No big deal). My gf and I went to restaurants daily, including a michelin star restaurant. So without tipping the food should have been crazy expensive, huh? Nope, dinner for 2 was 20 bucks.

This extended to our hotel too. Nobody expected tips. The doorman always rushed over to help us with our bags. The desk clerk RAN outside when she saw us get out of the cab to push my wheelchair up the insanely steep ramp. :lol: We called the desk at 2 am to ask for bottled water. The clerk was at our door in under 5 minutes, gave us the water with a smile and disappeared before I could say anything. What a concept! Doing your job because it's your job!

A couple years ago my family went out for dinner. The waiter got 3 orders incorrect, forgot what he went to the kitchen for twice, and dropped 1 of our plates. My sister, a waitress at another restaurant, got mad at me when I refused to pitch in for a tip. In what industry, except restaurants, does someone fuck up repeatedly and still deserve more money. Pretty sure if I forget to do a task or break my work computer I would not be getting a bonus.

Finally, even the argument that servers in the US are criminally underpaid does not hold water, since the law requires employers to top them up to minimum wage if they do not make enough in tips.

All that said, I will tip if a server goes way above and beyond, but I see no reason to give extra money for one simply doing one's job.

And yes, I do tip MFC models :lol:

ETA: The tipping as a percentage of the bill is also whacky. Why should a server bringing me a $20 steak get more money than a server bringing me a $10 burger? He/she walked the same distance and the plate weighs pretty much the same. Not much extra work.

 

[Teagan]

Being a server in many places I usually tip 25-50% at a restaurant. $3 plus change to round up to delivery people. $5-7 for nails or pedicure people. $1 plus change to round up per drink at a bar.

I have never once not tipped someone. Ive never had that bad of service where it was solely the waitresses fault of things. If food takes to long that's the kitchen, if drinks take to long that's the bar being backed up, if the food is wrong then again the kitchen. None of that is to blame on a server though I had tons of people blame me when I was one. People yelled at me for wait times, I had food thrown at me for a tomato being on their plate (I didnt even bring it to the table), and people being outright rude and condescending over things I had no control of. AND they didnt tip me for it which is unfair. The kitchen still got paid and so did the bartender so really they were just hurting the one person who was nice to them and did actually do their job lol.

I also think some people dont get that as a server I had to claim 10% tip on every table I waited on. Regardless of what they gave me. So when someone tipped nothing or less than that I literally just paid to wait on that table. It's bullshit. I had people tell me to my face that the service was great but sorry they cant afford to tip. Then you get your ass to McDonalds cause tipping should be part of your allotted night out money or you dont go fucking out.

 

[VeronicaChaos]

Finally, even the argument that servers in the US are criminally underpaid does not hold water, since the law requires employers to top them up to minimum wage if they do not make enough in tips.

That absolutely does not always happen, and I can say this with experience having been a server that got paid 2.15/hr in a restaurant where people were really bad at tipping.

Edit: I feel like tipping is part of the fun of going out. It's a really fun way of connecting human-to-human and saying thanks. Also, the service you get will absolutely be determined by how much you tip. If you don't tip, don't go to the same restaurant twice, forget about it. But I know I get great service from some of my usual places because I tip well and I think pretty much everybody wins.

 

[JimsX]

Finally, even the argument that servers in the US are criminally underpaid does not hold water, since the law requires employers to top them up to minimum wage if they do not make enough in tips.

That absolutely does not always happen, and I can say this with experience having been a server that got paid 2.15/hr in a restaurant where people were really bad at tipping.

Oh I believe it does not always happen, but it should by law.

 

[LuckySmiles]

I have never once not tipped someone. Ive never had that bad of service where it was solely the waitresses fault of things. If food takes to long that's the kitchen, if drinks take to long that's the bar being backed up, if the food is wrong then again the kitchen. None of that is to blame on a server though I had tons of people blame me when I was one. People yelled at me for wait times, I had food thrown at me for a tomato being on their plate (I didnt even bring it to the table), and people being outright rude and condescending over things I had no control of. AND they didnt tip me for it which is unfair. The kitchen still got paid and so did the bartender so really they were just hurting the one person who was nice to them and did actually do their job lol.

thisss. Unless a server is a total cunty mccuntface, which I feel like hasn't ever really happened, I don't take the tip out on them. Because poorly timed service is 99.9% a management issue. I've been the server, the bartender, and the manager. If the server took too long to get to your table for your drink order/welcome/ the hostess probably didn't even tell them you're there/ manager didn't staff enough servers, while the same server is arguing with the kitchen about the cheese someone else didn't get on their burger. etc. etc. and didn't see you sit right away. It's totally the kind of job where when it's busy you're literally running around going fuck fuck fuck fuck my life fuckity fuck... but you're presenting yourself as "HEYYYY :-D HOW'S EVERYONE DOING TODAY :-D :-D " back into the kitchen "fuck fuck fuckk my life fuckkk fuckk" it's a level of stress in a busy restaurant on a weekend night, I have never felt that kind of stress than anything else ever. But when you're that busy you hustle your ass off and earn every penny.

I didn't care if I made $70 for a 12 hour shift on a monday when I didn't do very much work, because Friday night I might have made $300 in 6 hours running around like a batshit crazy woman.
But it can be a lot of fun. If you have a busy place where everyone's making money with comraderie it's a fuckton of fun. And I absolutely believe the differential in pay through tips earned is important to that level of service.
If I made the same $12 standard hourly rate for that level of intensity on a friday as I did for little to no business on a monday. Fuuuck that. Not worth it. Rather take low money days than be underpaid on a Busy as fuck day.

The percentage of the bill usually correlates to the quantity of food and drink and amount of work done. You're going to be running around a lot more for a table of 8 who's bill is $400 than a table of two who's bill is $60. Sooo yeahhh. Bigger tip then.

 

[SaffronBurke]

I tip 20% minimum at a restaurant. Frequently more. My husband would complain when we'd have stellar service and I'd tip 30%+, but hey, that server earned it.

I usually tip $3-5 for delivery, often rounding up the change, too.

Getting my hair or nails done, I tip at least $5.

Usually $2-3 for a drink.

At the strip club that I go to, you can sit at the stage and the dancers will put their boobs in your face and/or play with your boobs if you're a girl for $1. I usually put down $3-4.

 

[ramblin]

Finally, even the argument that servers in the US are criminally underpaid does not hold water, since the law requires employers to top them up to minimum wage if they do not make enough in tips.

That absolutely does not always happen, and I can say this with experience having been a server that got paid 2.15/hr in a restaurant where people were really bad at tipping.

Oh I believe it does not always happen, but it should by law.

The honest places do top them up. And then they terminate their employment. (stateside - i realize the tax/wage structure behind tipping is vastly different in different countries)

I tip 18-20% at restaurants in groups, more if I'm alone, $1 a drink for beer, shots or one-liquor-one-mixer drinks, and at least a dollar in the tip jar per person at counter-service places.

 

[SaffronBurke]

Was going to mention this in my previous post, but forgot.

When I was host/server at a hotel, the bar manager came up to me one day, pissed, and said that she'd heard Oprah and Rachel Ray telling people to tip 10% when they eat out. The manager was pretty upset about hearing that, because 10% is actually considered a bad tip, 15% is "average".

 

[MemberEd]

I tip 20% rounded up or down depending on how happy I was. I always leave the tip in cash and never add it to the CC bill (I really don't know why). I have gotten some hard looks from servers because they didn't see a tip on the bill but I imagine they get over it.

 

[NoelleBright]

Was going to mention this in my previous post, but forgot.

When I was host/server at a hotel, the bar manager came up to me one day, pissed, and said that she'd heard Oprah and Rachel Ray telling people to tip 10% when they eat out. The manager was pretty upset about hearing that, because 10% is actually considered a bad tip, 15% is "average".

Oprah's boyfriend Stedman came in to eat where I used to work and I can confirm he at least is a bad tipper.

 

[HarmlessSquirrel]

Generally I tip people. Maybe a particularly helpful parrot on occasion.

When I was host/server at a hotel, the bar manager came up to me one day, pissed, and said that she'd heard Oprah and Rachel Ray telling people to tip 10% when they eat out. The manager was pretty upset about hearing that, because 10% is actually considered a bad tip, 15% is "average".

Yeah, I'd always heard that 15% is the standard in the U.S. I won't go below that unless the person is outright rude, and I can't recall the last time that happened. Usually I at least round up from there to the next dollar and maybe add something on top of that, especially if the service was good or the meal was inexpensive (since it's pretty much the same amount of work regardless of the price of the food).

 

[JessieWolfe]

I always tip 20%, but never less than 5$
Actually I once has TERRIBLE service at this random restaurant. It took 20 minutes for us to be greeted. Then we waited 30 more minutes and still didn't have any drinks, no word from our server. Then when she got back and we asked about our food she got all pissy and said we never ordered
We just left. Complained to the manager who didn't seem to believe we had been there that long. (Even though we checked in at their restaurant on a social media site the same time we got seated)

But other than that one time I always tip at least 20% or 5$, whichever is highest. If I have crazy good service, or if it looks really slow in the restaurant I pay more 50-100%. I don't go out to eat often so when I do I enjoy tipping

 

[NicoleRiley]

I tip 20%+ for great/amazing service, 15% for decent/good service (or bad service where it's obvious that the server is so overloaded with tables and it's most likely not their fault), and 10% for bad service. I should also add that I'm in Canada.

I worked in a restaurant for 5 years with 3 of those years as a server. So I understand the stress.

Also, not sure how many places this is common, but I always had to tip out a percentage of my sales each night. I'm not even sure what the % was, but it was a percentage of my SALES and not my tips. This never happened to me, but I could actually end up owing money if I didn't make enough in tips in order to pay out the % of my sales required. So if I served tables who all thought "nah, I'm not going to tip" I'd have to pay the % of sales to the rest of the staff (kitchen, bussers, hosts, etc.) even though I made $0 in tips. I get that tipping is your choice, but I'm just pointing out a practice that people might not be aware of.

:twocents-02cents:

 

[Johndoe91]

You guys are making me feel cheap... Lol

I usually do the math for 18% and go as close to that as possible with the bills I have on me. I don't tip bartenders more often than I'd like to admit, Ive never bought a drink that cost more than $3, and when I remember to i throw a couple bucks on the bar when I go to leave (typically closing time).

If I can add to the topic, I'd also like to ask who tips people outside food service, IE barbers/stylists, gas station attendants and the like?

 

[ramblin]

I don't tip bartenders more often than I'd like to admit, Ive never bought a drink that cost more than $3, and when I remember to i throw a couple bucks on the bar when I go to leave (typically closing time).

If I can add to the topic, I'd also like to ask who tips people outside food service, IE barbers/stylists, gas station attendants and the like?

When I used to live in a state with gas station attendants I never tipped. As far as I know in that particular state it wasn't expected, and frankly I would have been happier pumping my own gas.

I only get my hair cut a couple times a year and usually round up quite a bit. I think $20 for a quoted $12 last time.

Cab drivers I usually round up to the nearest $5 and tell them to keep the change, making sure it's at least 10%, usually 15-50.

Strippers get $2-$4 a song if I'm at the stage, free drinks/food if they sit with me, much more if I'm happy with the service. Private dances are all over the map - if know how much the club charges them I'll base everything on that.

Buskers get a dollar if it's worth stopping for a song, 10-20 and maybe a meal if I sit with them for an hour to sober up . Similarly MFC musicians get a minimum of 20 tokens a song if I listen to it, sky's the limit if I'm impressed.

I *always* tip bartenders consistently from the first drink, not just because I love them, but because it gets me faster service, better pours and more willingness to put up with me at the end of the night if I tie one on.

 

[curvyredhead]

20-25%

However, I tip the same regardless of the drink price. When I lived in fl, drinks were like $4-$5....so my tips looked huge. However, here in NYC where the drink are like $13-$15...my tips look like shit. I usually do $3 for the first one...and $2 for each drink or shot after that.

 

[IndicaDesires]

Being a server in many places I usually tip 25-50% at a restaurant. $3 plus change to round up to delivery people. $5-7 for nails or pedicure people. $1 plus change to round up per drink at a bar.

I have never once not tipped someone. Ive never had that bad of service where it was solely the waitresses fault of things. If food takes to long that's the kitchen, if drinks take to long that's the bar being backed up, if the food is wrong then again the kitchen. None of that is to blame on a server though I had tons of people blame me when I was one. People yelled at me for wait times, I had food thrown at me for a tomato being on their plate (I didnt even bring it to the table), and people being outright rude and condescending over things I had no control of. AND they didnt tip me for it which is unfair. The kitchen still got paid and so did the bartender so really they were just hurting the one person who was nice to them and did actually do their job lol.

I also think some people dont get that as a server I had to claim 10% tip on every table I waited on. Regardless of what they gave me. So when someone tipped nothing or less than that I literally just paid to wait on that table. It's bullshit. I had people tell me to my face that the service was great but sorry they cant afford to tip. Then you get your ass to McDonalds cause tipping should be part of your allotted night out money or you dont go fucking out.

I tip the same way. 25-50% I always leave at least 20. Even for bad service. Everyone has off days. However, I have twice left 20% with a note attached saying that I would have gladly tipped more if the server had had a better attitude. I feel like that sends more of a message than not tipping at all