Poll of the Day > How much do you tip at a restaurant on average?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Also, what do you think of tipping in general? Do you think it should be an accepted practice in your country/area or not?

Probably about 17-18%. I tend to just double the taxes and round up/down from there to the nearest even dollar. For example I had all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ this past Saturday with friends. Bill was $258.87 with taxes being around $22. I ended up tipping $41.13 for an even $300.

miki_sauvester posted...

Also, what do you think of tipping in general?

It should not be expected in my opinion. It should be extra payment for exceeding the expected work load and I feel the wages of the workers should not at all be influenced by whether or not said workers will get tipped or not.

miki_sauvester posted...

Do you think it should be an accepted practice in your country/area or not?

Seems like a touchy subject in the States. In other countries, I've heard it is almost insulting to tip. My friend tried to tip once in Japan and the workers insisted he take back the money.

As mentioned above, I'm fine with it being a practice in the States but I feel it shouldn't be expected. Whenever I go to Cold Stone for example, it baffles me a bit to find a tipping option just for them scoping some ice cream into a bowl. Kinda the same for tipping the bartender but at least with them they might give you a bit more if you they know you tip well. I can understand it with mixed drinks but not so much for pouring a beer.
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15% .. even thou tipping is a broken practice here in the US
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My dad taught me to do 20% so I've just always divided by five and done the closest dollar amount.

20%, nothing if the service was bad. And left a negative tip once when the service was beyond horrible.
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If I'm paying cash I'll just roundup to next best bill (so if the meal costs $16.57 or $19.21, you're getting a $20)

If I'm paying debit... nothing 'cuz why?
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25%
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I just postmates everything now

Usually tip the delivery guy about two bucks
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I tip based on service. but its usually around 5 bucks I tip. I don't eat at expensive places. so 5 bucks is usually well above the standard 15%
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20% or more, but I have worked as a server

If the service is not great I go down to 15

It's not a fun job
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At least 20%, but usually more. I usually figure out 20% then add enough to make the total nice round numbers. (i.e., if the total is $11.77, I'll give them $3.23, which is actually 27.4%).

When my SO and I were first dating, we used to go to the Sizzler every Friday evening and he'd tip up to 50%. The wait staff would bend over backwards for us. "Here, have a whole plate full of cheese bread." "Here's a pitcher of iced tea. You can keep it at your table."

20% normally but I won't tip anything for awful service
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I round up to the nearest dollar than add 4-5 bucks.
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Too much.

I still tip around 20% but all positions in WA get paid min wage ($12 an hour) base.

So servers here make more then probably 80% of the people tipping them, and just as much without tips as about 40%.
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wolfy42 posted...

Too much.

I still tip around 20% but all positions in WA get paid min wage ($12 an hour) base.

So servers here make more then probably 80% of the people tipping them, and just as much without tips as about 40%.

That sounds true but it's not exactly like that. Most servers work split or half shifts, which still takes up a whole day in terms of availability, but now you're paid for only part of it.

Shifts get cut all the time, last minute. You could have been doing something else (or probably picked up a shift elsewhere)

You can't rely on any stable hourly so tips need to make up the difference. For some it works out well. For others it's really not much above minimum wage in the end.

And all those folks working places where tipped positions can be paid below normal minimum, yeah, they need it more
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0%. Although I don't eat at restaurants and tipping isn't really a thing over here.
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Doctor Foxx posted...

wolfy42 posted...

Too much.

I still tip around 20% but all positions in WA get paid min wage ($12 an hour) base.

So servers here make more then probably 80% of the people tipping them, and just as much without tips as about 40%.

That sounds true but it's not exactly like that. Most servers work split or half shifts, which still takes up a whole day in terms of availability, but now you're paid for only part of it.

Shifts get cut all the time, last minute. You could have been doing something else (or probably picked up a shift elsewhere)

You can't rely on any stable hourly so tips need to make up the difference. For some it works out well. For others it's really not much above minimum wage in the end.

And all those folks working places where tipped positions can be paid below normal minimum, yeah, they need it more

It may be different where you are, but here, the friends I have that have tipping jobs (waiters and bartenders) make FAR more then any of the rest. One past roomate would come home RAVING mad because customers did not tip much that day. He considered the 12$ an hour as nothing. Meanwhile I had 4 other roomates who made around that as their total wages (If he made less then $200 any day he worked (in addition to his base pay) in tips, he was super mad. He also didn't work full time, or usually for full 8 hour shifts.

And he didn't work at an up scale place just McMennis in downtown olympia. Bartenders tend to make even more, and there was a GF of one of my roomates that worked at Bud Bay Cafe (upscale with min orders over $20 each), who made serious bank.

So yeah, it depends on where you live, but in some places servers or people with positions that include tips are making bank. More then Attorneys for sure (in their first 5-10 years at least), and many other jobs, without needing any degrees etc.

The worst part of the job around here is the extreme competition to get one of them, even serving pizzas at places (that have tip jars) tend to be in high demand because even at $1 per customer on average, you still get at least $10 extra in tips an hour, which is $22 total (and I highly doubt they claim the tips in the taxes since they are in cash).

Since Min wage jumped 3$ an hour in the past few years here, most of the low end jobs (about 40% of em) all pay right around $12 now......which makes jobs that tip, by FAR the easiest way to make more money.
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I feel like servers should be paid an appropriate salary so they don't feel the need to extort money out of customers for "standard" service, out of fear that the next time you go there you're going to have spit in your food.

But because that's not the case I usually tip 20%, unless the server was terrible, in which case I tip pocket change as a deliberate "fuck you" and then never go to that establishment again.

I also think it should be illegal and prosecutable for servers to post receipts online in an attempt to anonymously shame what they consider "bad" tippers, because I tend to assume there's always two sides to every story, and it tends to make me assume the server are themselves a complete piece of shit that probably didn't deserve a tip in the first place, and who are basically trying to harass other people as a form of cowardly petty revenge.


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Start at 20% minimum. If the total is fairly low, Ill go higher.
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I work on a sliding scale.

-20+%: An excellent meal where the server did something above and beyond to make the experience enjoyable - was friendly and sociable, very fast and attentive with drink refills, that sort of thing (or, on the flip side, if something happens with my party that makes us a pain in the ass to deal with, I'll boost up the tip just to compensate the server for putting up with us). If I order a light meal my tip might also wind up here, because I always feel cheap if the tip is less than $4.00, so that's my minimum, even if the meal was only ~$12.
-17-18%: My usual standard tip for a good meal with no complaints. This is how I tip most often.
-15-16%: My tip if there were some minor complaints about the experience, but nothing major. Things like food being slow arriving (relative to how busy the place is, that is), server not refilling drinks very often, etc.
-10-12%: There was a significant problem with the meal. Food was cold, order got lost or screwed up, wait staff was rude, etc. I'm a pretty laid-back guy, so it's rare that my tips go this low - however, when they do, I usually don't go back to the restaurant for a few months afterwards. If it seems like it was just a bad day, I might bump this up to a 15% and chalk it up as a one-off, but I'll note the restaurant in my mind and if the experience is repeated the next time I'm there, I don't come back.
-0%: A complete and utter disaster of a meal with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Terrible food, obnoxious and inattentive wait staff, long waits, etc. I've only given out a 0% tip twice in my life (aside from those places that don't accept tips, of course) and both times the restaurant really went out of their way to earn it.

InfestedAdam posted...

My friend tried to tip once in Japan and the workers insisted he take back the money.

Hospitality is Serious Business in Japan, to a ridiculous extent, and yes, in most places tipping there is considered rude (since you're essentially offering to "pay extra" for something they consider within the minimum scope of what they're supposed to be doing for you - you're either implying that you're wealthy enough not to care or that their service is so shoddy that bare essentials warrant extra praise and service).

To give you an idea of how crazy they take it, I was once running late for a meeting in Naha and my cab fare came out to 3467 yen - just shy of $35. I quickly handed the guy 3500 yen and got out of the cab... only to suddenly hear shouting behind me. The driver actually got out of the cab and chased me down so he could hand me my 33 yen change (about 35 cents).
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Shrug, not to get on a soap box here, but I think profit sharing should be the norm in the US for everyone.

Basic pay (per area) around the cost of living (so it's higher in places where rent is higher etc) + a % of profits the company/store etc makes split between all employees.

I've said this before, it's seriously not fair the way many of the jobs work right now. Same amount of customer service skills for many jobs as waiters for instance, and I would argue MORE skills and harder work for those working in the kitchen, but FAR less pay.

I happen to know quite a few people working as wait staff, and about 5-6 working in the kitchen. Those in the kitchen are LUCKY to get 10% of the tips, yet the tips are often largely based on the quality of the food etc and the skill of the cooks. How is that fair?

In fact, I looked for such jobs (cooking myself) as...well, I like to freaking cook. Why didn't I take them?

After checking quite a few places and talking to people working there, the pay is just abysmal. You get basic min wage or close, and get a small fraction of the tips, which most places split with all non-wait staff.

So your lucky to get about $15/hr as a cook...at the same place where the waiters are getting $40+ an hour (35$ an hour in tips only....throwing back 10% to the cooks etc.....nets 44$ for waiters and 15$ an hour for cooks/dishwashers/seaters etc).

It's not fair....but just ditching all tips wouldn't be fair either.

What should be done, both in restraunts etc, is the place should charge a flat 10% of the bill in "service fees" so the actual bill is 10% higher, and that should be split equally among ALL staff working at the time. Main problem is that cash tips will likely still go poof and not be shared equally (maybe if cameras were used or something? Shrug).

Same should be done across the board for most retail etc jobs. Fast food included. Work fast food, get $12 base + split 10% of all profits during the hours you work there with other employees. If you have ever worked fast food, that could easily double your base pay right there and the harder your working, the more money you make.

It also incentivises your employees as the better the company does, the better service they give etc, the more money they all make.

That is WAY better then the current setup, even in states like mine where tip jobs still get full min wage. That should be a federal law across the board in all stats (fed min wage at least should always be the minimum you can pay).

And I don't wanna screw with my friends who are very happy with waiter jobs etc right now, but honestly, I'm happy for them, but it's not even close to fair to other people making way less. If they split 10% of the profits from meals with other employees etc, they would end up probably getting 5% or so per bill max.....but EVERYONE would get that 5%, customers would be paying 10% or so less on average as well (always paying 10% and not 18-20%), and the gov would actually get more taxes out of it as well.

Oh and before someone starts yelling "Socialism!!!", profit sharing is not socialism, not at all, it's just plain and simply smart, a good way to boost profits of a company, encourage employees to do their best, and help ensures loyalty in employees as well (less likely to jump to another company/job that pays more, if you are getting a good return from your current one. It's good for everyone.
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I watched my dad never pay attention to percentages but instead, tip anywhere from $0-$5 max, no matter how expensive the food is. I picked that up and follow the same reasoning except that I usually do $2 max cause well, I make a good bit less than my dad did and have a bigger family.

15-20%
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I don't know.When I go to eat on my own server probably thinks I am lonely or not going to tip. I always leave a $5 I really don't like to tip. Some family members always throw down a $20 and I think there crazy. I don't see the need for tips in the world. Just pay em what the min wage is and if people want to leave a tip that will help there soul than let it be. I feel like the world like oh my servers not getting min wage and only allow on tips that kind of fucked up. Just my opinion

10% since minimum wage for all workers is $15 per hour now. Really shouldn't even be a thing at all.
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It depends on service. If the server is attentive without smothering me (i.e. asking how everything is after every third bite and usually while I'm chewing said bite) and keeps my drink refilled then they get a set flat amount. I don't follow the whole 'tipping schedule'.

I have tipped $.02 to servers who basically took my order, took forever to bring me my drink, then brought my food when it was lukewarm to almost cold and then plopped the bill down in front of me after mostly ignoring me throughout the entire time I was there.

Buffets where you get your own drink and the only thing they do is take away the dirty plates they get $1-2 or less depending on how speedy they are with removing the empty plates.
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You know you not a vip right? Why would the server care about your ass? getting paid basically nothing and been doing the job who knows how long. If server had a good day might take care of your ass or if had bad day probably wont care. We all human who knows what going through there mind. That why I say just pay em min wage instead oh tips will help for the bills. I don't get tips.

I live in Australia, our employers pay people for the work that they do for them rather than what is effectively free labor. If it's a particularly good experience, though, I'll tip.

Basic pay (per area) around the cost of living (so it's higher in places where rent is higher etc) + a % of profits the company/store etc makes split between all employees.

I wish I had the time to address just how awful an idea this is beyond the obvious surface issues.

What should be done, both in restraunts etc, is the place should charge a flat 10% of the bill in "service fees" so the actual bill is 10% higher, and that should be split equally among ALL staff working at the time. Main problem is that cash tips will likely still go poof and not be shared equally (maybe if cameras were used or something? Shrug).

This one's not so bad.

15%
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I dont go to restaurants and bars to do math and make judgement calls. 20% is easy to do in my head(10% x 2)and I just round up to the nearest dollar from there.

TimeForAction posted...

I dont go to restaurants and bars to do math and make judgement calls. 20% is easy to do in my head(10% x 2)and I just round up to the nearest dollar from there.

If the total is $54.76, move the decimal one to the left giving you 5.48 then double that to 10.96 or 11. Bam 20%.
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If you don't tip at least 15%, don't go out.
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sitting and being served at a restaurant:
bad service: 0%, ok?
average service: 15%, ok?
great service: 20%, ok?
(same goes for delivery)

carrying out food myself:
$1, ok?
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Why do so many of you repeatedly go to bad restaurants that you list tipping at 0% as an option?
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Aculo posted...

carrying out food myself:
$1, ok?

I do tend to tip less for to-go/take-outs. When I tip, I tip for the quality of the service. The cost of the food is what I expect to cover the labor and ingredients put into making said food.
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InfestedAdam posted...

Aculo posted...

carrying out food myself:
$1, ok?

I do tend to tip less for to-go/take-outs. When I tip, I tip for the quality of the service. The cost of the food is what I expect to cover the labor and ingredients put into making said food.

true, same. mind you, if it's a big chain, i'll go tipless too... but most of the places i pick up food from are local, so i just give them a buck just because, ok?
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Zangulus posted...

kangolcone posted...

Why do so many of you repeatedly go to bad restaurants that you list tipping at 0% as an option?

Who said anything about repeating? Not to mention tipping isnt customary in a lot of places and is seen as weird.

Two people (thought it was more at first read through) mentioned tipping 0% for bad service specifically. I was just wondering where they were because the only time I would have ever considered tipping 0%, we walked out before ordering food. Just curious as to the stories I guess.
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Ive only tipped 0% one time

I was out to a sports bar with two of my friends. I was being flirty with our server, she made a comment about how I was silly. Me and another friend of mine order sandwiches. My other friend ordered a burrito with sauce over it. She never brought us silverware. The place was dead, but she came over twice since we got our food and we asked for silverware and she kept forgetting. Two of us could eat but the other couldnt without a fork at least. The place was dead and we can see her flirting with the cooks back in the kitchen, even jumping up on some dudes back, so it wasnt an issue of her being swamped. By the time my friend got his silverware his food was cold. Hes a nice guy and didnt want to say anything. Weve all worked in a restaurant and know theyll just comp it and he could get a free one but he didnt want to go through the hassle and just ate it. He actually ended up tipping, but under the tip line I just put Im silly =P and left.

The only time I have not tipped at least that I can remember is when the food was so bad, I couldn't (or wouldn't) eat it.

In which case I would still pay for it, but not tip. I don't like sending food back etc, and I have eaten in places where the food is just so bad, I wouldn't want anything else from that kitchen anyway.

Mostly Chineese food, but there have been a few other types of places as well.

There was actually one mexican place that put rancid (Actually rancid/off) salsa on the tacos. I actually did request a refund (which they didn't want to give me) because they put that horrible taste in my mouth. Think that is the only time I ever did. I got a refund btw, and I usually don't push for things like that. It was so bad/disgusting though, I wonder if they did it on purpose because I was not mexican or something *shrug*.

Can't believe they normally served that to people, but there was nobody else in the shop, so maybe it was a front for something and not really meant to serve food.
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If I don't like my food or it's cold or disgusting I always complain and have it fixed or taken off my bill. I just don't get people who pay to eat something they don't like when getting it fixed is always an option. And I used to be a timid little mouse that could barely talk to human beings but I still got my food made right, dammit. :P
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Just curious as to the stories I guess.
I've known and heard a lot of people say bad food as why they tip 0%. But that's not the servers fault so shorting them is the wrong way to go. They shouldn't get screwed over. If they give you bad service, then absolutely give them 0%

I ate at Applebees in Nov. Server forget we existed. 20 minutes for drinks. 40 minutes for appetizers. We had to flag her down constantly.

6 of us in the "party" but 5 sets of silverware. One drink she can't remember and had to ask 3 times. Brought us the completely wrong orders (instead of 3 ribs and 3 burgers it was 2 chicken and 2 burgers and 4 salads and whatever else). Never got the apps btw, which were thankfully comped. They got lost somewhere in the building.

You get the idea. Asked for the check and she said she'd be right back! She went for a smoke break. $0 tip earned that night. Over 2 hours to eat and so much more frustrations than what I listed
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Oh, I have many times just left if I was not served within 15-20 minutes with no good excuse. A pet peave of mine actually is when a server ignores me (usually eat alone) to serve larger parties that got there after me. I'll usually let it slide for one table with 2-4 people, but not if the server does it twice (very rare) or starts taking orders from a large table that sits after me (6+ people).

I just get up and leave, did that last week actually, server not only decided to help a table of 4 that sat after me, but proceeded to chat with them for 10 minutes about grocery shopping, tv shows etc.

When she was finally done, did she stop by my table to even ask if I needed something, or get a drink order (still no water she just ignored me after I was seated), nope. So I got up and left, went somewhere else instead (won't go back it was an Itallian place anyway and my sauce is better then most (which is actually what I did, went to safeway and got the makings for my own sauce. Cost me about $6 for enough for me and my two roomates (3$ in ground beef 1$ bell pepper, 1$ pasta (Barrillia was on sale $1 for a pound) and a bit of sausage (1/5th of a package..which costs 3$), along with 1 thing of Prego garlic and herb sauce as a base).

Was delicious, and probably spent about as much time making it as I did waiting for that server.
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wolfy42 posted...

(won't go back it was an Itallian place anyway and my sauce is better then most

wolfy42 posted...

(which is actually what I did, went to safeway and got the makings for my own sauce. Cost me about $6 for enough for me and my two roomates

2 open parentheses without closing them...
wolfy42 posted...

along with 1 thing of Prego garlic and herb sauce as a base).

...and then you end the paragraph with close parentheses without reason.
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kangolcone posted...

Two people (thought it was more at first read through) mentioned tipping 0% for bad service specifically. I was just wondering where they were because the only time I would have ever considered tipping 0%, we walked out before ordering food. Just curious as to the stories I guess.

My stories: At one point I and four friends went into a restaurant where we were literally one of two tables there. The server was generally unfriendly, took 20 minutes to take our drink orders, 45 to take our food orders, and our food didn't come until we'd been there for an hour and a half (by which point it was cold and disgusting). In that 90 minutes we were there, our drinks had been refilled precisely once. After we finished eating, it took her another 20 minutes to bring us the bill which, in spite of asking for it to be split, she brought all on one and claimed she couldn't go back and change it.

So no tip there from any of us.

Second time we (different group) got a super-rude waiter who lost our orders, didn't figure it out for an hour, then when our food came another hour later (i.e. two hours after we'd arrived) two of those meals were the wrong order. Again, no tip.

And no, I never went back to either of those restaurants.
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Depends on the service.

If you served me like shit or made mistakes, you're getting less by the mistake or the attitude.
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Everybody can have a bad day and come off less than hospitable.

All in all, most restaurant staff understand the need to be friendly so if you find yourself constantly getting "terrible" service, you might want to consider that you are a "P.I.T.A." customer. Most restaurants are fine with losing those.
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Aculo posted...

sitting and being served at a restaurant:
bad service: 0%, ok?
average service: 15%, ok?
great service: 20%, ok?
(same goes for delivery)

carrying out food myself:
$1, ok?

considering the road I live on is a piece of shit I always tip well IF I can even get someone to deliver out here.
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