Tipping restaurant servers

[Adamn]

The wife and I recently took her parents out to dinner at a nice steakhouse for helping us out while our son was in the hospital. The bill came to $342 and we left $415 including the tip which is a little over 20%. I always tip at least 20% and have no issue doing so as long as the service warrants it.

I’m not complaining or anything but I read something in another thread about the service industry getting customers to pay their employees wages and I got me thinking. The reason I am a generous tipper is because I know most restaurants pay very low hourly wages and the servers make their money on tips. I have to imagine that higher end restaurants are able to pay their staff decent wages and since I’ve never worked in that industry I don’t know if they do.

Should the tip percentage remain the same regardless of what the bill total is?
If I get lunch and spend $10-12 I don’t leave a $2 tip I’ll leave $5 which is obviously more than 20%. So in the case where the bill is several hundred dollars is it ok to slightly reduce the percentage or is that saying to my server that I didn’t think they did a good job?

 

[john11gt]

20% is 20% homie

 

[cobracide]

15-20% pretax, regardless of the total amount. If service is very exceptional I may go over 20% but that's rare.

 

[Adower]

I tip 20% for great service. If the service sucks better believe the tip will.

 

[q6543]

My girlfriend is a manager in a fairly expensive restaurant.

At the end of the night they have to payout something like 30% of their nightly tip totals.

That money pays for bussers, dishwashers, and I think the bartender gets like 10% of it.

Point being.. servers don't come close to seeing all of the tips they actually make.
They still earn around 250 to 300 on a busy night after payouts.

 

[FIVEHOE]

just depends really. I never give less than $5 for delivery and shit. Usually will tip 20%+, but I did just give the regular waiter/bartender dude of the place I frequent $200 in cash as a 'holiday bonus'/my token of appreciation the other day. The places I frequent and the people who are good at their jobs I'll give more than 20%. They will definitely go above and beyond to take care of someone who is a generous tipper. The other day I went in to my regular spot and there was a long line to wait. My regular waiter saw me and cleared a spot for me right away.

 

[HEMIHUNTER]

20% is the usual for the wife and I.
We tip cash.
If the service sucks it’s less then 20%


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[03cobra#694]

20% guy myself.

 

[03cobra#694]

Oh yeah. Seeing as we know a bunch of people in the business, they have a saying here because of the seasonal visitors. "Know the difference between a Canadian and a canoe? Canoes tip."

 

[Outlaw99]

We tip well when felt lead to. Christmas eve we gave our waitress a $250 tip.

Several times throughout the year we will do this.

We're blessed and doing alright and we enjoy being able to bless others.

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[Adamn]

My girlfriend is a manager in a fairly expensive restaurant.

At the end of the night they have to payout something like 30% of their nightly tip totals.

That money pays for bussers, dishwashers, and I think the bartender gets like 10% of it.

Point being.. servers don't come close to seeing all of the tips they actually make.
They still earn around 250 to 300 on a busy night after payouts.

I can see sharing with the bartender and bussers but dishwashers make no sense to me. They have no interaction with the customers so why should they be entitled to a portion of tips?

 

[cobracide]

I can see sharing with the bartender and bussers but dishwashers make no sense to me. They have no interaction with the customers so why should they be entitled to a portion of tips?

Because they make next to nothing.

 

[CobraBob]

I tip 20% minimum unless the service is sub-par. On occasion I've left up to a 40% tip under exceptional circumstances, especially when the food bill is small. Example. If my breakfast tab was $30 and the service was exceptional and attentive, I might leave a cash tip of $10 which works out to about 35%. That is not a lot of money to me, and I know most of the breakfast tabs are smaller amounts than, say, dinner. So the waitress/waiter won't necessarily see a large total with tips. I have been blessed in many ways, so giving someone a higher than 20% tip occasionally because I might feel to bless them is just something I enjoy doing.

 

[Adamn]

Because they make next to nothing.

But that’s not the servers, bartenders, and bussers problem. Their tips are based on their level of service for the customer. Their job is to wash dishes which, unless there’s something I don’t know that goes on, has little to nothing to do with the customers experience. Do the servers share with dishwashers out of pity or is it something that is expected or required?

 

[VegasMichael]

My girlfriend is a manager in a fairly expensive restaurant.

At the end of the night they have to payout something like 30% of their nightly tip totals.

That money pays for bussers, dishwashers, and I think the bartender gets like 10% of it.

Point being.. servers don't come close to seeing all of the tips they actually make.
They still earn around 250 to 300 on a busy night after payouts.

As a former restaurant worker for years that is something many forget or don't know about in re to the server having to tip co-workers. The last restaurant I worked at the servers had to tip out the busser, the bartender and the food runner--all of this while still being paid less than minimum wage per hour. And I honestly never heard of a dishwasher being tipped. It is a mean job to be honest. I used to do it to help out from time to time.

 

[tistan]

I'm too lazy to calculate the tip, so whatever the next full dollar above 20% unless they suck.

I ordered a Papa Jonhs pizza for the first time in years, and I learned something new. It has to be a call center that relays back to the store. The call center person told me 30-40 minutes. 1.5 hours later my order still hasn't arrived. I call the store and select talk to manager option it just rings and rings. I did this a few times before I called back to the order line. I get a guy with an accent and tell him I ordered the pizza but can't get a hold of anyone. He automatically transfers me to the same manager line that no one answers. I get in my car to drive there and I pass the pizza guy coming down my street and he offered no apology for being late. He didn't get a tip, and I will never get another Papa Johns pizza.

 

[Blk04L]

I tip 20% for meals over a certain amount. If it's a small meal(just me and the bill is around 20 pre tip) I may go over 20% depending on service.

Even take out I still tip. Guess it comes from when I was a teen working the front/phones/pick up orders and it was always nice to get a tip added to min wage. And I would make sure repeat tipping customers got their food perfect/ready on time

 

[1 Alibi 2]

I tip because service staff make peanuts.
I tip because I can afford it.
My usual tip is @ least 30%.
I remember my 1st couple of jobs paying nothing.
Imagine trying to live on minimum wage to next time you go out !!
.

 

[ford fanatic]

One of the titty bars in my area years ago used to serve burgers, fries and other regular "bar" food. I used to tip pretty good in that place.

Now it's just the standard 20%.

 

[Dirks9901]

20%. Unless the service is bad. I’m not tipping for shitty service.


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