How much do you tip waiters?

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by m5james

If the management is too cheap or greedy to hire the correct amount of people and/or schedule enough people during busy times, then you've gotta get your pound of flesh somehow. Tips are earned, not deserved...so if it takes longer than usual to get my food, more than likely due to management running a skeleton crew, I don't blame servers for doing little things for the greater good of the restaurant. Servers are looking out for their best interests just like management is, but if the customer isn't happy, then everyone losses.

That isn't what his post said or what I was responding to.

[m5james]

You asked if it's OK for servers to steal. Are you OK with management stealing from servers ability to be able to provide good service by being understaffed, which ultimately puts the blame on the cooks/servers and affects their tips? I highly doubt servers are leaving off drinks, sauces, etc unless there's other underlying issues that makes them feel like they need to save face somehow to maintain their ability to get a good tip.

[infinitekidM2C]

20% rounded up or down at my whim...i once left a nickel because the waitress was annoying and couldn't get my simple order right..

[c1pher]

My answer isn’t in the polls, so I’ll just answer here. I honestly have no limit on my tipping. I may leave you nothing if you are terrible, but you really have to treat me poorly for me to stiff you. I have done that less than five times in my entire life. However, if you treat me really well, I may leave maybe 50% or more and I will ask for you the next time I visit. And you know what, they remember me and take even better care of me. They understand what business and good service is about. I also usually tip a little extra during the holidays.

Also, some nice sit down and eat places are really inexpensive so I don’t feel it’s fair to follow a percentage. I typically never leave less than $5 if you’re a decent waiter/tress. I go to a Mexican restaurant and my wife and I get out of there for like $18. I don’t want to leave a $3.60 tip. I mean it’s not even worth their time. Also, when restaurants run specials and you pay less, following the percentage rules, typically screws the waiter. So I generally tip higher in those cases to make up for the lower bill.

I just try to follow the rule of treating people how I want to be treated. I also feel blessed to be where I am in life, being able to eat out etc and realize not everyone can. If you take good care of me, I try to help you out in return.

[IrvineTim]

15-20%

[PoorLurker]

[RickFLM4]

Generally 20% for good to excellent service, which is most of the time. Bad to mediocre service (such as ignoring the table or bringing the wrong food) would be 10% - 15%. I also have higher expectations of service in more expensive restaurants.

Not sure how great service would need to be to go to 30% or 50%, as some suggest in this thread, but quite sure I have never experienced it.

[Spa2k]

20-25% for good service, although that varies. I once gave a high school age server a $20 tip on a $12 bill in a diner because she was just so damn nice and really cared about her job. Another time when the service was absolutely putrid, I asked the server for a sharper knife so I could cut a penny in half for his tip.

[Memaxndapickel]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

So you pay them to cheat on (steal from) the restaurant?

So a little backstory on how it gets to that point (30-40%). I have been working in restaurants since I was 16 and by 21 was a full time BOH and FOH manager. I have since changed fields but I digress.

So in the many restaurants that I worked in, we always gave servers some ways to get extra money in addition to them being awesome servers( like comping soft drinks, desserts). Think of it as building clientele. The situation would go something like this...

A family comes out to eat at your restaurant 2 or more times a month. It could
Be because of the serivce or the food. Well if the food is great and the customer also finds an awesome server that takes great care of them while dinning out they usually continue to come to said restaurant for years all the while requesting that one server that took care of them. That's how a friendship between server and diner starts.

An example would be....

My little family of three frequents a restaurant by us. A long time ago we met an awesome server at the establishment and would only go on days he worked, because the server was seriously just that good. Being in the restaurant biz I always tipped well, but he got extra because he was hands down one of the best I have met.

As time went on a friendship was built and we started to get little things like drinks taken off, free dessert. His tip also started to go up.

Now here we are years later and he is still the best server... has an app come out for us as soon as we seat, drinks are already on the table, and my son calls him an uncle.

We dine often with big parties and the owner of the restaurant treats us like family. I give my server holidays gifts like I would my mailmen.

[alanz]

15% mostly
in good mood 20%

[MKSixer]

My mom worked as a waitress when she was in HS and college and always told me how tough it was. My floor is usually 15% unless it is completely crappy service and I will usually go to 25% for especially good service.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by Mingwan

First off, I always ask for a female server. They’re better at customer service. I give 25-40% if they give me their number. 3-6% and a bad review if they don’t give me their phone number.

Harvey, is that you?

[walterbrooke]

I feel like it's becoming socially unacceptable to ONLY tip 15%

[UncleWede]

Do you REALLY take out your calculator, and figure out what x% is??????

[Spa2k]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Do you REALLY take out your calculator, and figure out what x% is??????

Nope, I'm smart enough to cipher that one in my head.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

So you pay them to cheat on (steal from) the restaurant?

This is probably not the case in lower end diners and chains like Denny's or iHop, but it's always been my understanding that there are certain things that are at the discretion of the server, like drinks, that can be removed from the bill, especially in higher end establishments. These aren't hired monkeys to be micro-managed. Servers are the direct conduit to the restaurant. No one is stealing from the restaurant, these are acceptable courtesies to earn repeat customers and most servers are intelligent enough to choose when and how to use these courtesies.

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by RABAUKE

If the service is ok, 15%. If the service is good 18-20%. If the service stinks somewhere between 0-10% depending on how bad it was.

This pretty much. Usually I take my tip from someone else's table and place on mine however

[Orange fever]

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

[are0lies]

Guys, in light of the how much to tip, I have this question. Because nowadays so many places add a tip space on there billing (fast foods etc.), do you tip them, and if so, how much?

[Banana Hammock]

Originally Posted by are0lies

Guys, in light of the how much to tip, I have this question. Because nowadays so many places add a tip space on there billing (fast foods etc.), do you tip them, and if so, how much?

Fast food, nope unless it's a place I frequent and I actually like.

Sit down restaurants, It's been along time since I've seen a bill without a line for the tip so I tip as usual. If they were being cheeky and included per-calculated tips, I always make it a point to double check their math. If I catch them trying to cheat, I'll automatically give them a smaller tip.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by are0lies

Guys, in light of the how much to tip, I have this question. Because nowadays so many places add a tip space on there billing (fast foods etc.), do you tip them, and if so, how much?

I do not frequent fast food that often any longer. When I do I ususually pay cash. However, if I paid with a card, I would not tip at fast food even if there was a space provided for one. There is no waiter or table service. Just someone taking an order and someone else dropping it in bag to hand you with an empty cup to fill yourself. They make standard minimum wage (not waiter hourly rate than can be reduced due to expected tipping).

[jaye944]

not read every reply, so here's a question

1> WHAT are you tipping for...

* Service
* Quality of food


2> whom are you tipping ?

* Waiting staff/server
* kitchen staff

So here is the thing, the "whole" shabang is based on team work,
from the chef, the line cooks, even the pot washer, busboys, and the servers

ANY thing can fall down on one sloppy part OR be let down by one sloppy part,

Tipping your waiter on great service, sure, was the food fantastically cooked,
are you going to tip the cook? wait what about the guy who peeled the spuds and did a fantastic job on garnish.
Wait, the washroom was sparkling? Whom you gonna tip for that?
The glasses are sparkling clean, you going to tip the pot washer boy.

The food is disgusting, but the server was AAA+ how do you tip ?

feel free to chime in..........