Proper tip amount at restaurants?

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What is a proper tip amount at restaurants?

  • 10%

  • 12.5%

  • 15%

  • 17.5%

  • 20%


Results are only viewable after voting.

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
I don't know why these posts always come up other than to troll.

It's not rocket science. In the US, 15% is customary for food service. This doesn't mean anything extraordinary. They bring your food and get your drinks. If it's prepared incorrectly have the server get the manager for you if the kitchen can't get it right. It's not the server's fault.

I tend to tip more than 15% and much more if the service is really good. The sad part is too many think servers are rolling in dough so they short them thinking 'the other guy' got them.

I remember back in the food delivery days in high school. I worked for a private chinese food place. We'd average $2 in tips per order plus the quarter to fifty cents per delivery the restaurant paid us (on top of $3.50/hr).

Dominoes guys were paid about double our hourly but only averaged out fifty cents to a buck per order...even though they'd take nearly double the deliveries we did, they'd net out terribly by the end of the night compared to us.

I may have taken 30-40 orders on a busy night and cleared $100. However, it's not like I was making $100 every night. Like any food server, usually 3-4 nights are dead a week and you are just there waiting around.

What would really suck is getting the guy that ordered $100+ in food, insist you carry it all in and help set it up and then hold you around while he checked if everything was right. Customer service and all, we did it. However, nothing would suck worse than him coming back with a buck or telling you to keep the change on something like $119.20 and giving you $120.

Fortunately our boss (the owner) would black list such people. He'd put a note in the system and if they ordered again would have the phone person hand over the call. It was probably borderline extortion looking back at it, but he'd insist on getting food + tip covered up front for us.

Most of the time they'd play the "OMG! I can't believe I did that, I really wasn't thinking and didn't mean to stiff them".
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
$4/hour sounds appropriate for writing down words that come out of my mouth and having an illegal bring out the food.

Regardless, I live in CA where waiters get paid minimum wage ($8/hour) plus tip% on inflated food prices.

I never send back food, am always courteous, and tip higher at the restaurants I frequent regularly.

Hate to break it to you, but all food prices are inflated when you eat out. It's to cover the costs and building.

A $200 plate at Palm Beach Grill has roughly the same food cost as the $9.95 plate at TGIF's, thing is the clientele and location you are eating at are a lot different and usually you get a waiter handling only your table or a couple others rather than 20.
 

erikistired

Diamond Member
Sep 27, 2000
9,739
0
0
Which is what a lot of these penny stranglers don't get: if you take tips out of the equation, the prices are just going to go up. Now that 15% - 20% is built right into your bill and you just lost your voice.

Brilliant!

i don't have a problem with tipping. i'm a very good tipper. what i don't like is the attitude that servers are entitled to it, or that they can give someone bad service if they don't like what the receive. i delivered pizza in my youth, i know how important getting good tips is. i never once expected to be tipped, or held a vendetta against someone who didn't tip.

quite honestly, if i get bad service i just don't come back, period. that's my voice. i could care less about the individual server. what that person doesn't get is that he represents his entire restaurant, not just him/herself. i would be more than happy with servers getting a fair wage and then shutting up and doing their damn job, instead of expecting to get more or less depending on how their day was going or how they felt like treating me.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,357
8,446
126
it takes a lot to get a bad tip from me. like, making me wait 30 minutes to get the bill after asking for it, bringing the wrong bill, then making me wait another 20 minutes to get the right bill, then not coming from my credit card for another 20 minutes. that's a guaranteed 0.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
I usually tip decently... typically slightly over 20% and I prefer the tip to be an amount that brings the bill to an even dollar amount.
 

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
7
81
Hate to break it to you, but all food prices are inflated when you eat out. It's to cover the costs and building.

A $200 plate at Palm Beach Grill has roughly the same food cost as the $9.95 plate at TGIF's, thing is the clientele and location you are eating at are a lot different and usually you get a waiter handling only your table or a couple others rather than 20.

lol. stupid post is stupid. Not surprising coming from you.
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,231
117
116
Hate to break it to you, but all food prices are inflated when you eat out. It's to cover the costs and building.

A $200 plate at Palm Beach Grill has roughly the same food cost as the $9.95 plate at TGIF's, thing is the clientele and location you are eating at are a lot different and usually you get a waiter handling only your table or a couple others rather than 20.

This is very much incorrect. As a former restaurant worker and food orderer I can confirm you are incorrect. Sure, the pur food cost disparity may not be as great as the overall price disparity, but they are most certainly not equal.

KT
 
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Stuxnet

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2005
8,392
1
0
$4/hour sounds appropriate for writing down words that come out of my mouth and having an illegal bring out the food.

Regardless, I live in CA where waiters get paid minimum wage ($8/hour) plus tip% on inflated food prices.

I never send back food, am always courteous, and tip higher at the restaurants I frequent regularly.

If I was in a state where tips employees got full-blown minimum wage, I'd absolutely take that into account and tip less... probably 10% - 15%.

Agreed on not sending back food... always a bad idea.
 

Stuxnet

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2005
8,392
1
0
I don't know why these posts always come up other than to troll.

It's not rocket science. In the US, 15% is customary for food service. This doesn't mean anything extraordinary. They bring your food and get your drinks. If it's prepared incorrectly have the server get the manager for you if the kitchen can't get it right. It's not the server's fault.

I tend to tip more than 15% and much more if the service is really good. The sad part is too many think servers are rolling in dough so they short them thinking 'the other guy' got them.

I remember back in the food delivery days in high school. I worked for a private chinese food place. We'd average $2 in tips per order plus the quarter to fifty cents per delivery the restaurant paid us (on top of $3.50/hr).

Dominoes guys were paid about double our hourly but only averaged out fifty cents to a buck per order...even though they'd take nearly double the deliveries we did, they'd net out terribly by the end of the night compared to us.

I may have taken 30-40 orders on a busy night and cleared $100. However, it's not like I was making $100 every night. Like any food server, usually 3-4 nights are dead a week and you are just there waiting around.

What would really suck is getting the guy that ordered $100+ in food, insist you carry it all in and help set it up and then hold you around while he checked if everything was right. Customer service and all, we did it. However, nothing would suck worse than him coming back with a buck or telling you to keep the change on something like $119.20 and giving you $120.

Fortunately our boss (the owner) would black list such people. He'd put a note in the system and if they ordered again would have the phone person hand over the call. It was probably borderline extortion looking back at it, but he'd insist on getting food + tip covered up front for us.

Most of the time they'd play the "OMG! I can't believe I did that, I really wasn't thinking and didn't mean to stiff them".
Hate to break it to you, but all food prices are inflated when you eat out. It's to cover the costs and building.

A $200 plate at Palm Beach Grill has roughly the same food cost as the $9.95 plate at TGIF's, thing is the clientele and location you are eating at are a lot different and usually you get a waiter handling only your table or a couple others rather than 20.



I don't know, maybe because (judging from the remainder of your post) people still have quite a bit to say about it.

It's funny when people comment how worthless a thread is, then continue to run out of wind vying for the longest post in said thread.
 

Stuxnet

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2005
8,392
1
0
quite honestly, if i get bad service i just don't come back, period. that's my voice. i could care less about the individual server. what that person doesn't get is that he represents his entire restaurant, not just him/herself. i would be more than happy with servers getting a fair wage and then shutting up and doing their damn job, instead of expecting to get more or less depending on how their day was going or how they felt like treating me.

Except your voice of "not coming back" falls on deaf ears unless you're accompanied by a noticeable portion of the rest of the clientele. If a server gives you bad service and you don't come back, do you think he gives a shit? He won't even know, much less care.

Now... give him a 5% tip instead of 20%... all of a sudden he knows exactly what you're saying.

I would argue that servers are entitled to a basic tip. In a perfect world, I'd argue that tip should be whatever it takes for them to average minimum wage. I would also argue that, as a customer, I'm entitled to increase, decrease, or flat-out eliminate that tip based on the service.

And like I said, take tips out of the equation and you'll see a combination of the following:

1) food prices go up - servers will get their compensation from somewhere, and you're going to pay it one way or the other... what you call it and how much control you have over it is up to you.

2) those college students with descent customer service skills will work elsewhere, and you'll find your local burger flipper serving you steak in your areas high end joints.
 

Stuxnet

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2005
8,392
1
0
it takes a lot to get a bad tip from me. like, making me wait 30 minutes to get the bill after asking for it, bringing the wrong bill, then making me wait another 20 minutes to get the right bill, then not coming from my credit card for another 20 minutes. that's a guaranteed 0.

Totally agree. I don't think I ask for much, but when I'm done with my meal, I want out. I know servers aren't mind readers, but the check should be delivered shortly before the entrees are finished. One of the worst offenses is bringing the check by and then disappearing for a half hour. You just brought my check... wtf do you think I'm doing at the table right now??? Nothing.
 

erikistired

Diamond Member
Sep 27, 2000
9,739
0
0
Except your voice of "not coming back" falls on deaf ears unless you're accompanied by a noticeable portion of the rest of the clientele. If a server gives you bad service and you don't come back, do you think he gives a shit? He won't even know, much less care.

Now... give him a 5% tip instead of 20%... all of a sudden he knows exactly what you're saying.

I would argue that servers are entitled to a basic tip. In a perfect world, I'd argue that tip should be whatever it takes for them to average minimum wage. I would also argue that, as a customer, I'm entitled to increase, decrease, or flat-out eliminate that tip based on the service.

And like I said, take tips out of the equation and you'll see a combination of the following:

1) food prices go up - servers will get their compensation from somewhere, and you're going to pay it one way or the other... what you call it and how much control you have over it is up to you.

2) those college students with descent customer service skills will work elsewhere, and you'll find your local burger flipper serving you steak in your areas high end joints.

yes, he's going to remember you and spit in your food next time, because he feels that he's entitled to your money.

restaurants go out of business all the time when they get a rep for having bad food or bad service. all it takes is a few disgruntled customers to start spreading the word.
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,231
117
116
yes, he's going to remember you and spit in your food next time, because he feels that he's entitled to your money.

restaurants go out of business all the time when they get a rep for having bad food or bad service. all it takes is a few disgruntled customers to start spreading the word.

That never happened in the many years I worked in restaurants. I honestly think that happens maybe 0.000001% of the time.

KT
 

Stuxnet

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2005
8,392
1
0
yes, he's going to remember you and spit in your food next time, because he feels that he's entitled to your money.

No, you said you'd rather just avoid the place after bad service. I'm saying it would be nice to be able to have an impact - positive or negative - on the server. I'm assuming, of course, you wouldn't return to the restaurant in EITHER case, so your argument is a bit irrelevant. If you had such bad service that you raped a tip, why would you come back? I wouldn't.

That aside, servers see several hundred people a day. Unless you guys had an all out shouting match, he's not going to remember you a few weeks from now, let alone a few months from now (if he's even still working there).
 

Patranus

Diamond Member
Apr 15, 2007
9,280
0
0
At local places I will usually tip based on the amount of time spent in the restaurant in relation to $8.50 per hour.

At real restaurants like Mortons I usually go around 20%, ±5% depending on service.
 

JoeBleed

Golden Member
Jun 27, 2000
1,408
30
91
But continue to tip for average service, thereby perpetuating the problem. It's gotten so bad that servers feel entitled to gratuities for their shit work. How much worse will it get?

Places will start to automatically charge x% tip in your bill. Oh wait, some already do that. never mind... :-/ (if i realize this before eating, i get up and leave)

I'm relatively cheap. my "tips" usually range from 1 penny for really crap service to at maximum $5 for really,really good service and the server just seem plesent. but usually $2 is the norm.
 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
19
81
I double tax usually. Server deserves at least twice as much as govt who i get little utility off of.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
yes, he's going to remember you and spit in your food next time, because he feels that he's entitled to your money.

restaurants go out of business all the time when they get a rep for having bad food or bad service. all it takes is a few disgruntled customers to start spreading the word.

Erik the problem is you. Tips are expected for service. For food service they are expected to get 15%. It's not really an option.

Cheap bastages like yourself have somehow spun the tip system into making 15% only for service above and beyond and 5-10% for normal service. More recently has the discussion that tips are entirely optional and should never be expected come up.

If you are too fucking broke or think the food cost is too high, then eat somewhere else if you can't scrape together 15% for a tip.

It's people like you that ruin service for everyone. You probably have your waiter jumping through hoops, the manager at your table 2 or 3 times and finally walk out not only not tipping, but probably getting your check discounted.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Places will start to automatically charge x% tip in your bill. Oh wait, some already do that. never mind... :-/ (if i realize this before eating, i get up and leave)

I'm relatively cheap. my "tips" usually range from 1 penny for really crap service to at maximum $5 for really,really good service and the server just seem plesent. but usually $2 is the norm.

If you were at least coherent you'd realize you can lower the tip amount at checkout if you desire.

You don't tip based on you feel $5 or $2 is ok. It's based on percent of food cost.

If you think $2 is the norm then do not order more than $13 in food.
 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
19
81
Erik the problem is you. Tips are expected for service. For food service they are expected to get 15%. It's not really an option.

Cheap bastages like yourself have somehow spun the tip system into making 15% only for service above and beyond and 5-10% for normal service. More recently has the discussion that tips are entirely optional and should never be expected come up.

If you are too fucking broke or think the food cost is too high, then eat somewhere else if you can't scrape together 15% for a tip.

It's people like you that ruin service for everyone. You probably have your waiter jumping through hoops, the manager at your table 2 or 3 times and finally walk out not only not tipping, but probably getting your check discounted.

This. +1

And another thing folks is if you have a buy one get one free coupon- you are obligated to calculate tip based on two meals not one since two were served even if you got one free.
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
50,071
744
126
I start at 15%.
If I get so-so service (have to ask for refill), you get 15%
Bad service gets you 10% or less, depending on how bad.
Good service (never running out of anything, especially drink) will get you 20%.
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
assuming the service wasn't terrible, 15-20% depending on:

-where I am
-who I'm with
-how much the bill is (sometimes I'll just round up and not care what the exact percentage is)
-how good the service was
 

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,517
223
106
10%? Cheap asses. 15% unless service was absolutely terrible. 20% for anything decent, more for excellent.