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Aqwabug
Citizen
Username: Aqwabug
Post Number: 2
Registered: 8-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 10:42 pm: | 
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I work as a waitress at a chain style family restaurant. We were having a discussion at work one night about how much we tip, and how much others think is a standard tipping rate. Most people don't realize that as servers, we only make $2 an hour, wich mostly gets taken out with taxes. Pretty much, the only money I make comes from tips. I was wondering how much everyone else considers standard, and what goes into your thought about how much to tip. Thanks!
(sorry i accidentally posted this in the wrong section first time around |
I'm Only Sleeping
Citizen
Username: Imonlysleeping
Post Number: 231
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 9:33 am: |
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20 percent, no exceptions except for truly horrendous service that was clearly the server's (not the kitchen's) fault. There's no excuse for tipping less. If you can't afford to tip decently, you should be eating in a cheaper restaurant. |
connied76
Citizen
Username: Connied76
Post Number: 80
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 10:08 am: |
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15% for adequate, basic service. 20-25% if the service goes above and beyond. 10% if the service is terrible and, like said above, clearly the servers fault (ex. rudeness, complete inattention) |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 9058
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 11:38 am: |
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Twenty percent. I'll round up if that percentage is uneven. If the bill comes to $16.50, e.g., 20% is $3.30, so I'll toss down $3.50 or $4.00. What's another .50 or so to me compared to someone earning a living on tips?
I'm with IOS. On a $25 check, that's a $5 tip. If I can't spring for the whole $5 (rather than $3.75 which is 15%), I need to get take-out or cook at home. It's $1.25 more, for chrissake.
Same with a $150 or $200 check. If we splurge, then we plan on 20-25% on the tip. We can try to mitigate that by going BYOB, but the tip is part of the cost.
For mediocre-bordering-on-barely-there service, we'll do 15%. Sometimes the waiter has too many tables or is just having a rough day. I'll give the benefit of the doubt. Anything worse than that is 10% and a chat with the manager. |
Jersey_Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 1662
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 3:59 pm: |
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Hey I just replyed to this in Arts and Entertainment. I was wondering why it wasn't over here.
I was going to leave a 10% tip for poor placement of a thread.
J.B. |
Darren Say Grrrrrrrr
Citizen
Username: Darrensager
Post Number: 521
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 4:07 pm: |
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20-25%
I paid my way through university by waiting tables. Unless I get really bad service I never go below 20%.
What goes around comes around. Tip well! |
msg
Citizen
Username: Msg
Post Number: 239
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 4:12 pm: |
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With both daughters working as waitstaff, I can appreciate the need for appropriate tipping. I always tip 20% if the server makes an effort and is helpful. Most of the time the kitchen is to blame for mistakes such as long waits and incorrect toppings or sides. Many people don't know that waitstaff has to "tip out" to bus people and bartenders. They assume that the waitstaff gets it all. Also, some restaurants take a percent out of the tips you put on your credit card to make the waitstaff pay the credit card fee. I always leave cash tips even if I charge the bill. Many restaurants wait until the end of the 2 weeks and give the waitstaff their credit card tips at the end of the pay period, leaving the staff with almost no money for the weeks work. Hope this insight is helpful; think twice when tipping or ask what the policy is in that particular place. (By the way, daughter #2 works at Pizzeta Enoteca in Livingston. Ask for Sarah.) |
dougw
Citizen
Username: Dougw
Post Number: 855
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 4:20 pm: |
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I generally agree with the 20% rule however:
What about high end tipping? For instance wine. I tip a smaller % if I had a lot of expensive wine ($100+ a bottle). Also if I am ordering expensive and you do not serve it properly (proper opening, proper stemware and pouring) then expect no tip on the wine. I am overwhelmed at the lack of quality service in high end resturants. If you cannot serve a group of 10 in a high end resturant you should expect little or no tip. If you are good you should expect $300-$400 (assuming a $2,000 tab).
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Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2516
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:04 pm: |
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what is this thing, "high end tipping" that you speak of? |
I'm Only Sleeping
Citizen
Username: Imonlysleeping
Post Number: 233
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:08 pm: |
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If you can afford to drop $100 on a bottle of wine, you can afford to leave a decent tip on it.
Here's what Alan Richman recently had to say on the subject:
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/2006/08/big_tipper_marv.html |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 9071
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:17 pm: |
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It's not the waiter's fault that the mark-up is so high on alcohol. You could say the same thing about a $15 plate of past or a $20 chicken breast.
Under-tipping because the service is poor in a high-end restaurant is one thing. Doing it because you resent the cost of the alcohl is another. Go to a BYOB place.
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dougw
Citizen
Username: Dougw
Post Number: 856
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:25 pm: |
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What a stupid article.
I show you the wine list, you order, I bring the correct stemware, I show you the bottle, skillfully remove the cork, place it near you on the table, pour you 1/2 ounce and await your approval, once recieved I carefully pour for the table.
You give me $90.
Sounds like a great deal for me. |
I'm Only Sleeping
Citizen
Username: Imonlysleeping
Post Number: 234
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:29 pm: |
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If you don't like it, don't order expensive wine at a restaurant. The tip should be considered part of the price of the wine, and if you can't stomach paying it then you should order cheaper wine. The tip is based on how much you spend in total, not on what you think each separate act of service is worth individually. Amazing how some people with a lot of cash have so little class.
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dougw
Citizen
Username: Dougw
Post Number: 857
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:30 pm: |
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Why should you not tip on the wine in a BYOB? Doesn't the server do the same amount of work?
I do not resent the price of wine. I just think that as you run up the price scale a 20% tip becomes excessive. For instance what is the range you would pay for an entree in say Gotham: $20-$50? so the tip for that same amount of effort would be $4 - $10. But a bottle of wine there can run from say $50 - $3,000. I can't see paying a $600 tip on one bottle of wine and I do not think the wait staff expects that. |
dougw
Citizen
Username: Dougw
Post Number: 858
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:35 pm: |
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So one table of 6 comes in and orders $500 of food and $500 for 3 bottles of wine and pays a tip of $200. Another table of 6 comes in and orders $500 of food (let's say the exact same dishes) and $1,500 for 3 bottles of wine and tips $300.
As the waiter which table would you rather serve? |
I'm Only Sleeping
Citizen
Username: Imonlysleeping
Post Number: 235
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 5:40 pm: |
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Er...the second one. Just like I'd rather serve the table that has apps and dessert and orders the porterhouse than the table where they split a salad and have the pasta. But I certainly wouldn't expect those two tables to tip at a different rate just because one ordered more expensive stuff. |
Projects Dude
Citizen
Username: Quakes
Post Number: 198
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 6:10 pm: |
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So understandably a server would happier to earn more absolute moolah, ie. $300 in the second scenario, even though on relative terms he's being 'screwed', ie. only 15%.?
And the server at the second table 'deserves' to earn $200 more in tips (assuming constant 20%) than the first table even though the amount of work is all roughly the same.?
What about BYOB? Certainly you tip something for that. Do people tip by the number of bottles brought/stemware used? Or do you also reference the value of the wine you bring to determine how much to leave behind?
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Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 15398
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 6:11 pm: |
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I also tip about 18% to 20%. As greenetree does, if the bill is low, I add another two or three dollars.
I sometimes -- but not often -- tip extra if the service is very good. And I don't reduce it if the service is bad. I plan to, and then I say what the heck. I don't think any message will get through from a bad tip.
I do lop some off if the bill is high because of beverages. The guidelines of percentages of bills are a rough gauge because there's little else to use. A tip should really be in proportion to how much work the server performed. One expensive item or two is not much more time consuming. It would be more fair if we measured by how much time the server spent, but that's hard to measure. It would be even more fair if the restaurant prices included service and the restaurant paid the staff. But I don't expect that to happen soon. I don't WANT the server's pay to be at my discretion.
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combustion
Citizen
Username: Spontaneous
Post Number: 422
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 7:04 pm: |
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20%, unless.... If you ask if I need change, then I knock it down to 15%. Just my personal pet peeve.
Once, years ago, I was at a resturant with my first husband. The waitress seated us, then went off to talk to another staff member. AFTER we were seated, the table next to us (different waitress) was seated, given menu's, served drinks, their order taken, and their food served. All this BEFORE our drink order was even taken. I sat there looking at my watch for 25 minutes, watching this woman ignore us, completely engrossed in her conversation. Real nice thing to do when you live off tips. Once she finaly got around to taking our order and serving our food, she didn't come back to check on anything, only to give us the bill. That was the second time in my life that I did not leave a tip. I also explained the situation to the manager. |
Aqwabug
Citizen
Username: Aqwabug
Post Number: 3
Registered: 8-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 7:57 pm: |
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THanks for your input....and all you 20%ers need to come to my restaurant. I understand where you get frustrated about having to pay our wages, but state laws say we can get paid under minimum wage if tips compensate for it. But we do still have to tip out to other people in the restaurant. I had a table where the kid puked on me, i cleaned it up, and they still only left 15%....that i think is unaccetable. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 15401
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 8:37 pm: |
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Aqwabug, it's not that I resent paying your wages. I want them to be built into the prices. That would raise restaurant prices, and that would be good. If I didn't have this discretion, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Sorry about the puke. I agree it's an example of a horrible day at work, but we all have those, and my boss doesn't tip me when I have one. I'm salaried, and I don't get paid for any overtime I work. I can't take extra time off, paid or unpaid, but I can work overtime for no extra pay if the workplace needs it.
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Jersey_Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 1671
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 8:37 am: |
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Aqwabug,
I also believe that wait people who compain about poor tips are probably giving poor service and don't realize it. As this thread suggests, many customers ARE paying attention. When I was waiting there were others on the staff who consistently cashed out with more than I did. I didn't complain about it, I watched what they were doing. The tips don't go to 20% by magic.
J.B. |
connied76
Citizen
Username: Connied76
Post Number: 82
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 9:00 am: |
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I waitressed my way all through high school and college and grad school. It was some hard work but mostly it was a socially and financially rewarding job. I did a good job, made good tips and generally took in anywhere from $8-$16 (depending on the restaurant) an hour which was good money 15 years ago for a high school and college kid and far above the standard minimum wage. So, the $2 an hour thing never bothered me because when compared to other jobs I could have gotten as a teen and college student (retail for example), I made considerably more $ with better hours and a built-in social life. I had some bad tippers every now and again but mostly people tipped 15-20% and that was just fine. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 15409
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 11:36 am: |
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Jersey Boy, let's not jump to conclusions. Aqwabug may work in a restaurant of cheapskate patrons. Or maybe MOLers (or those likely to respond to this thread) are uncharacteristically generous tippers.
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