Tipping Etiquitte

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Alistar7

Lifer
May 13, 2002
11,983
0
0
Most chain restraunts shuttle carry out orders through the bar. For the bartender, a tipped employee, taking care of a carry out order is a major pain in the ass. They are not in and out of the kitchen all night like a waiter. If they have to leave the bar to get your food, box it up, add utensils, etc. it can be a serious distraction from their required duties, basically taking care of the mixed drink needs of the entire wait staff/bar patrons.

Because they ring up your purchase on their register they must also declare 10% of the sale total to be taxed against their already paltry tipped hourly wage. If you don't tip you are costing them money, they are literally paying the govt. for the pleasure of serving you. I normally tip 15% on carry out orders, to cover both the tax burden I created on their already severely limited paycheck and a little extra for their extra effort beyond their primary responsibility.

The poll results are astounding, I never would have guessed the % of uniformed, cheap bastards was that high on this forum.
 

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
10,914
3
0
Originally posted by: Alistar7
Most chain restraunts shuttle carry out orders through the bar. For the bartender, a tipped employee, taking care of a carry out order is a major pain in the ass. They are not in and out of the kitchen all night like a waiter. If they have to leave the bar to get your food, box it up, add utensils, etc. it can be a serious distraction from their required duties, basically taking care of the mixed drink needs of the entire wait staff/bar patrons.

Because they ring up your purchase on their register they must also declare 10% of the sale total to be taxed against their already paltry tipped hourly wage. If you don't tip you are costing them money, they are literally paying the govt. for the pleasure of serving you. I normally tip 15% on carry out orders, to cover both the tax burden I created on their already severely limited paycheck and a little extra for their extra effort beyond their primary responsibility.

The poll results are astounding, I never would have guessed the % of uniformed, cheap bastards was that high on this forum.

I was thinking more of this Chinese joint in town that I can get take-out from. They have seating areas that wait on you but the manager will also just hand you a bag in ten minutes if you want. In that case, the cooks do their job and the guy puts it in a bag and hands it to me--no tip.

You're talking about nice restaurants, which I wouldn't order takeout from anyway (why pay $20+ for a meal and not get the atmosphere?)

Also in my experience nobody would declare 10% of the total sale, I've never heard of that before, never seen anyone do it, and I don't really understand the logic of doing it. A bit rarer, but often people don't even report their tips. And if we're talking staff at a nice restaurant here, don't try to give me a sob story about how little they make. Upscale waiters make bank.

edit: see you're talking about chains with a bar. That's kind of specific to get all worked up about, there are many cases where no tipping is required.
 

narcotic

Golden Member
Jul 15, 2004
1,236
0
0
No way! If I pick it up myself I ain't tipping. I do however always tip delivery, usually around $2.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Originally posted by: Farang
Originally posted by: Alistar7
Most chain restraunts shuttle carry out orders through the bar. For the bartender, a tipped employee, taking care of a carry out order is a major pain in the ass. They are not in and out of the kitchen all night like a waiter. If they have to leave the bar to get your food, box it up, add utensils, etc. it can be a serious distraction from their required duties, basically taking care of the mixed drink needs of the entire wait staff/bar patrons.

Because they ring up your purchase on their register they must also declare 10% of the sale total to be taxed against their already paltry tipped hourly wage. If you don't tip you are costing them money, they are literally paying the govt. for the pleasure of serving you. I normally tip 15% on carry out orders, to cover both the tax burden I created on their already severely limited paycheck and a little extra for their extra effort beyond their primary responsibility.

The poll results are astounding, I never would have guessed the % of uniformed, cheap bastards was that high on this forum.

I was thinking more of this Chinese joint in town that I can get take-out from. They have seating areas that wait on you but the manager will also just hand you a bag in ten minutes if you want. In that case, the cooks do their job and the guy puts it in a bag and hands it to me--no tip.

You're talking about nice restaurants, which I wouldn't order takeout from anyway (why pay $20+ for a meal and not get the atmosphere?)

Also in my experience nobody would declare 10% of the total sale, I've never heard of that before, never seen anyone do it, and I don't really understand the logic of doing it. A bit rarer, but often people don't even report their tips. And if we're talking staff at a nice restaurant here, don't try to give me a sob story about how little they make. Upscale waiters make bank.

edit: see you're talking about chains with a bar. That's kind of specific to get all worked up about, there are many cases where no tipping is required.

Some retaurants do 'figure' X% of sales on the waitstaff's reporting to keep themselves from being accused of shorting the IRS. The restaurant/bar business is extremely varied.

This poster used a great example. Many bars here capitalize on a takeout window. Bars are freaking busy places usually everything is quick to serve at far as bar food and bar items. Once they start pushing the full menu through and getting the idiots that don't know WTF they want or want the bartender to run to the kitchen to check this and that, or worse the one's that insist on opening each food item and inspecting it.

Meanwhile the bartender's customers are getting dry and pissed and then take it out on them with no tip or a terrible one.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Originally posted by: narcotic
No way! If I pick it up myself I ain't tipping. I do however always tip delivery, usually around $2.

I delivered chinese food in 1989-90ish and $2 was average then. $2 today is CHEAP!
 

akshatp

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
8,350
0
76
I dont, but last week I had a beer at the bar while I waited for my take out and when the bill came, by habit I calculated 15% of the total bill and left a $6 tip for a $3 beer.. Oops
 

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,755
63
91
It depends. If they are attentive and get me my food as soon as they can, I'll give them a 5-10% tip. If I have to stand around at all, they get nothing.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Why would you tip carryout and not tip at McD's?

Because one is making minimum wage or better and the other is working for tips.
 

altonb1

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2002
6,433
0
71
Originally posted by: Aluvus
If I drove my own car there, who am I tipping and why?

I feel the same way. We rarely get delivery so we can avoid delivery charges and tips--most places within delivery area are close enough for me to just drive to.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,415
14,303
136
Tips are for when you receive a service.

No service = no tip.

And there are a lot more degrading jobs out there than restaurant service. Wow.
 

Buttzilla

Platinum Member
Oct 12, 2000
2,676
1
81
i bartend at a fairly busy mid level restaurant. we can't seem to hold on to any employee for the take out station because the majority of people who come in for take out... i'll be nice here... are unfriendly. now i'm not saying everyone that orders in is, just the bulk of them. people just dont' seem to understand how hard it is to do take out at high volume. handling sometimes up to 15-20 orders all with 4-5 items each, this person whats extra this with no that, another customers dressing/sauce on the side. trying to stay organized while taking customer orders with the phone is ringing. customers crowding around you reaching behind your station to try and grab orders that aren't theirs. dozens of angry eyes glaring at you cause their order isn't ready within the quoted time. there's no way they would understand that it's completely out of your control on how fast the cooks make their food. servers dont' help you organize and box things cause they're busy with their tables.

because nobody wants to work the take out station, management has decided it's the bartenders job now. 2 bartenders every night, bar/take out guy gets 40% of the bar, the other gets 60%. rule for me when i'm on take out. bar customers come first, they take the time to come in, sit down and enjoy a beverage i make for them, then i'd bus/restock, make drinks for servers, last on my list TAKEOUT. now, i'll do whatever i can to get their order out asap, but if it doesn't come out right away, it's probably not me, it's cause the restaurant is busy and orders get backed up. i don't expect a tip from takeout, but it's very very nice to get something. if i see a tip when the customers pay before pick up. i'll out of my way to get their order out first, napkins/bread and butter/fork and knife, bagged and ready to go. if it's super busy, expect to see my manager cause i'm not even going to bother helping you, stand there and glare for all i care, the important customers are sitting in front of me watching the game, enjoying a cocktail/beer.

this is the only job that will suit my school schedule. masters student in biology in the morning, bartend at night, will be going to dental school next year. (paid my way thru my masters program with my job)

sorry for the semi-rant, it was a long weekend, and i got stuck on bar/takeout friday/sat/sun. so it kinda sucked, but hey, money is good.