Board 8 > I never know how to tip at like quick casual places

(+) Yeah! (+)

At "sit down" places I'll tip a bit over 20% by default, but what about, like, Starbucks and other places where the food comes to a counter and you get it yourself? If they have a tip jar I'll usually throw in about a dollar a person, if they have me sign a receipt I'll usually also round up to the next dollar, but if I don't have appropriate cash on me i usually don't sweat it. And I'm at golden corral and Google says i should tip like normal even though it's a buffet.

Been a while since we all argued about tips, so what do y'all think specifically on the relationship between full and partial service tipping?
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If I'm picking up my stuff at Starbucks, nothing, maybe the coins if I paid in cash.

If it's a buffet, and they clear the plates from my table, maybe 10-15%.
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I honestly almost never go to places where you're expected to tip anymore because of the whole arbitrariness of it all (You HAVE to tip X%! No no, you have to tip Y%!) just ruins the experience for me.
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I usually tip $1 for every $5 spent every time unless the service was really really bad. If I get free stuff, Ill tip more than that.

I only tip at places with waiters/waitresses. The exception is at one of my favorite places to eat (Hawaiian bbq joint).
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Fast food gets nothing. Sit-in restaurants get approximately 20%. I would consider a buffet the latter because generally there are people walking around setting/cleaning tables and taking drink orders.
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At my usual places I tip like a quarter per $4. They appreciate anything and everything they get.
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Never tip anywhere you don't sit down and get service from a waiter, unless you personally know people that work there.
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For restaurants, if the service was good enough you always tip at least 15%. 20% or more for a waiter/waitress that did really good.

For a place like Starbucks where you aren't waited on but they have a tip jar at the counter, I won't tip unless it's a place I frequent and really enjoy. For example, there's a place not 5 minutes from my university that I love going to because they have great food and the employees are nice. I will almost always drop at least a dollar in their jar.
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Starbucks I usually don't tip at, but local coffee shops I'll tip a dollar per order (though unlike dine in restaurants, I would say tipping is totally optional for coffee shops)
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BlueCrystalTear posted...

At my usual places I tip like a quarter per $4. They appreciate anything and everything they get.

6%? You're American right?

That's pretty lousy

Tipping as it is in America is a really awful system but that's not really an excuse to tip poorly unless the service is awful.

Honestly if you cant do bare minimum 10%(really, 15, but I'm being lenient) or don't want to partake in the shitty system, don't go to food service places.
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pxlated posted...

BlueCrystalTear posted...

At my usual places I tip like a quarter per $4. They appreciate anything and everything they get.

6%? You're American right?

That's pretty lousy

Tipping as it is in America is a really awful system but that's not really an excuse to tip poorly unless the service is awful.

He is referring to take out places where you are not expected to tip anything. It is not lousy.
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Where did he say anything about take out
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pxlated posted...

Where did he say anything about take out

It is what the topic is about. For take out or where you go without waiters.

"At "sit down" places I'll tip a bit over 20% by default, but what about, like, Starbucks and other places where the food comes to a counter and you get it yourself?"
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Right but that's the topic creator, not what Andy specified.

And you should still tip at buffets. Maybe not as much but people are still cleaning up after you. People are still making your food. And 9 times out of ten they're being paid jack all
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pxlated posted...

Right but that's the topic creator, not what Andy specified.

And you should still tip at buffets. Maybe not as much but people are still cleaning up after you. People are still making your food. And 9 times out of ten they're being paid jack all

Buffets should be considered a normal restaurant for tipping purposes. Yes.
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I always make sure to explicitly specify I am referring to the discussion topic at hand every time I post. About the third time someone randomly told me quantum physics didn't work like that when I was talking about tipping I got fed up.
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It's funny becasue I feel like the Fast Food workers do more then a typical waitress, but I rarely tip them.
Though if I go to Sonic and they deliver the food to the car sometimes I'll throw a buck or two their way.
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Lopen posted...

I always make sure to explicitly specify I am referring to the discussion topic at hand every time I post. About the third time someone randomly told me quantum physics didn't work like that when I was talking about tipping I got fed up.

Plenty of posts discussed tipping in general. And the topic at hand is actually buffets. That was Tom's question, what to tip at golden corral

Edit: it's even broader than that actually

"Been a while since we all argued about tips, so what do y'all think specifically on the relationship between full and partial service tipping?"

Thanks for being a dick for no reason, though!
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Tipping at 20% just seems excessive to me unless the waiter did a phenomenal job. Restaurants already charge 18% if you have a big party, regardless of service level
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barreldragon88 posted...

Tipping at 20% just seems excessive to me unless the waiter did a phenomenal job. Restaurants already charge 18% if you have a big party, regardless of service level

Never tip on top of gratuity. That is the tip.

I usually tip 15% unless they did something noteworthy to go above and beyond or to really make my experience suck.
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Yea, I would never tip on top of gratuity unless I firmly believed the waiter deserved more. I just think it's so silly when they impose that gratuity level and the service can still be shit
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I don't tip unless I sit down and am served. (Buffets count since clean-up is a service)
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barreldragon88 posted...

Yea, I would never tip on top of gratuity unless I firmly believed the waiter deserved more. I just think it's so silly when they impose that gratuity level and the service can still be shit

It's so waiters don't get fucked over. Most people don't know you are supposed to tip on your bill before taxes also. *shrug*
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As far as tipping at take away places, it generally depends on how busy they seem to be, or how busy I think they generally are on that day/shift. If I know the place is always slow around then I will throw change I get back or some spare change in the jar. If its busy I will give 10-15%

Having worked at a place that didn't wait tables but was always slammed on the weekends (lines wrapping around the parking lot slammed), I know how much it sucks not to get tipped because people assume you didn't do anything to earn it. But we are still cooking your food and making your drinks as fast as we can while still being quality to reduce that time waiting in line as much as possible. All while standing in a hot kitchen. Walking away from nights like that with bad tips sucks, especially when you're making minimum wage.
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Whoa whoa why did you respond to my post I didn't specify I was talking to you
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lol lopen
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Lopen posted...

Whoa whoa why did you respond to my post I didn't specify I was talking to you

Dunno why you're being a dick! I hope your day gets better, though
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I usually tip a buck or 2 at Starbucks if I ordered anything other than regular coffee.

At like Qdoba or Subway or whatever where they assemble the food I tip like 10% because those jobs suck.

McDonald's or Jack in the Box I only tip if it's 4 am.
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barreldragon88 posted...

Tipping at 20% just seems excessive to me unless the waiter did a phenomenal job. Restaurants already charge 18% if you have a big party, regardless of service level

I honestly started tipping 20% because I didn't feel like doing the math for 18%
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It's weird to me how much people get hung up over percentages. The vast majority of the time I just tip a flat $5 since that feels appropriate to me for most of the places I go to. If it's obviously a fancier place or I receive fantastic service I'll bump it up to whatever feels right.
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