How much do you tip at restaurants?

[JJJ's Ulcer]

You wash just the tip of dishes.

 

[Thundercrack85]

What happens if you only have enough to pay for the meal, but not for a tip?

Then you don't leave a tip.

But I have a hard time believing people can afford 200 dollars in food, and not a dime for a tip.

I will say that Americans should never make jokes about the Dutch, Scots, or Jews.

In the Netherlands, Scotland and Israel, waiters are paid a real wage.

America has become a cheap country.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Obviously it depends. I've been thinking a lot about this lately.

At "order at the counter" type restaurants I dont generally tip at all. Especially if they "call" my number and i have to go pick up my food. Soda fountains are also generally a good sign that tips are unnecessary.

At restaurants where there's actually waitstaff, I generally tip a couple bucks per meal. 2-3 dollars per $10 order. Seems to me that's more than fair.

Bonus bucks awarded to above and beyond service:
- drink refills without asking
- having the meal split onto two plates if the intent is to share
- not overbearing with the "How is everything going" -type questions

I am also definitely the type to restrict a tip for poor service. This can include (but is not limited to):
- unhygienic actions/appearance (wiping nose on sleeve, coughing in or around my table/food/drinks/companions)
- bad attitude (sighing, arrogance)
- lack of knowledge of the menu (i'm a vegetarian and if i ask if there are anchovies in the caesar dressing they should know or be able to find out)

At bars I will generally always tip a dollar per drink. It's not my fault if they charge $12 for an ounce of vodka therefore making one dollar less than 10% tip. There's no way something like that is worth $14-15. But if a bartender is friendly or hooks me up in anyway its an instant $5 bill in his/her pocket.


It's obviously very subjective but in the end I'm not under the impression that my gratuity is mandatory just because a waiter/waitress is paid poorly (worth noting I've worked in the food industry). That's like saying I should tip the register clerks at Wal-Mart because they have crap jobs.

 

[ComicChick]

i'm a very good tipper. i don't ever really sit and do the percentage math, but i usually tip a minimum of 20-25%

if the service is "regular" or even sub satisfactory, i still tip decently. i know a lot of factors can be the reasons why service is slow without being my waiter's fault, like how busy it is, short staffed, etc.
if the service is really great, i definitely make sure that they know it.

a few weeks ago we had a dinner meeting at a restaurant. there was hardly anyone in there, but our waitress was amazing. she was prompt, polite and made sure everyone's drinks were never below half, all orders were given to the correct people without even having to ask to make sure. my order was only about $8 but i tipped her $10 because she was great.

today after our tournament some of us went to a new place to eat. our waitress was amazing. very friendly, personable, knew the menu back and front, she gave us recommendations when we asked because we'd never been there before. she had all of our drinks constantly full, cleared empty plates and wasn't overbearing at all. i coach teenagers, so it was the 3 coaches and about 7 teens and usually people dread that cuz a lot of young kids don't tip or tip well. she broke down all of our tickets for us and everything without any problems.

I paid for 3 of us and the order came to $40 and change. I tipped her $15 and wrote on the receipt that she was a great server. one of the girls asked me why i tip so much when we go out and i told her that tipping is expected, but when you have good servers who go above and beyond the minimum expected to do the job, you reward them for that.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

25-30% for really good places OR if I'm drunk OR if I like the waitress OR all of the above.

20ish% for okay, average places.

10%-15% for crappy service

Less for those rare, offensively awful dining experiences.

Only one time service was so bad, I gave no tip at all.

 

[BatmanVSuperman]

You're kidding right?

10% is easy - just move the decimal to the left 1 position.

$10 * 10% = $1

20% is easy, double 10%, so $10 * 20% = $2

15% - halfway between 10% and 20% = $1.50 (out of $10).

I do 18% for standard/good service. As for calculation, it's very easy mathematically to just pull out your calculator on phone, and multiply the total by .18

For example, $25*.18= $4.50

 

[charl_huntress]

20%

 

[MrMaooz]

 

[random_havoc]

Unless service warrants otherwise I do about 17% here in Canada and 20% in the US (waiters are paid less hourly there).

I had both my best and worst waitress experiences at the same meal. At a sports bar my friends and I had a waiter that was terrible (bad attitude, forgot one of my friends' meal entirely). I asked the manager for a new waitress, and the new one was awesome. Not only great attitude and service but she gave us little shoulder massages.
My friend whose meal had been forgotten got his for free so he put what the meal was going to cost him directly into a tip for the second waitress.

 

[BatmanVSuperman]

BANNED!

 

[Xeno]

What happens if you only have enough to pay for the meal, but not for a tip?

In that case you either order a meal to go (carryout) or patronize some other fine establishment where tipping is not expected (McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, 7-Eleven, etc.).

 

[Star]

people who don't tip are crotchety losers

 

[BatmanVSuperman]

Typically if you can afford the meal, you can afford the tip. If not, you shouldn't be dining in.

 

[terry78]

people who don't tip are crotchety losers

Star always gets tips.