restaurant tipping...

[fitz4521]

at a nearby family restaurant, on weekdays sometimes i get a breakfast that costs $1.35 (includes 2 eggs, hashbrowns/homefries, and toast). so after tax its like 1.45ish. for tips i usually leave double the tax, or 16%ish. so should i leave a quater or even 50 cents for a tip? isnt that kinda cheap? but leaving 50 cents is like a 33% tip...i wouldnt feel as bad if i tipped like a dollar but then thats like a 66% tip...

what would you do?

 

[Rallispec]

if my meal cost a 1.45, id just leave 2 dollars for the price of the meal and tip.

 

[PG]

What does the waitress look like?

Actually, I'd leave at least a buck, don't worry about percentages.

 

[JimmyEatWorld]

I'm with Rali....an even two sounds about right

 

[fitz4521]

well you have to go up to the register to pay then leave the tip on the table, or i would just leave $2 on the table...

 

[dayg]

Right on PG! Right on! I'll leave $5 clams if she's hot. otherwise.... $2.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: fitz4521
well you have to go up to the register to pay then leave the tip on the table, or i would just leave $2 on the table...

then pay at the register and leave the change at the table. heck if its family run then leaving it at the register is fine

 

[LiekOMG]

If your eatting at the counter then i would certainly pay the normal price. But if its being served to you, then leaving $2 would be ok i guess.

Its too bad the use of tips have been so skewed over the years. :|

 

[kranky]

Minimum should be a buck. I know that sounds high for a $1.45 breakfast, but I think you have to bend the percentage rules when the bill is so low.

I've always prided myself on being a good tipper, and a few months I was told that I was being too cheap in some cases. When we go to dinner, we typically don't order alcohol or dessert, so it's one entree and one beverage for each of us. Let's say that makes the dinner tab $17. I would tip about $3.50. It was pointed out to me that the 15-20% rule of thumb is probably too low for a case like that. In a sit-down restaurant that's nicer than a diner, I was told that $5 would be about the minimum for two people having dinner.

It seemed a little high to me on a percentage basis, but an extra $1.50 isn't going to kill me, and if that's the going rate I'm willing to pay it when the service is good.

 

[yakko]

Cheap places are why I don't really believe in percentages. I get better service at the mexican place around the corner from my house than I do at the nice place a couple miles away but I tip the same. At the exspensive place it is like a 20 to 25% tip while at the mexican place it is about 75%.

 

[vi edit]

I tip based on service, not price.

Last time we went out to eat, we were 6 feet from the bar, and about three steps away from the kitchen. The waitress stopped by once to get our orders, a second time to drop off our food, and a third to drop off our bill. Our food was cold, she never once stopped in to see if we needed refills, and she never asked us if our order was right and our food was acceptable.

I don't care if the tab was $100 for the two us(which it wasn't, actually 15% of that), so I left a single $1 tip as my display of unsatisfaction.

If I've got a $5.00 meal, and the waitress treats me like I'm a king, I'll leave a $5.00 tip. Percentages mean nothing, service is everything. I especially hate it when places automatically factor a tip in with large groups. VERY annoying, especially if a you have craptastic server.