Tipping in restaurants.

[Judson1]

My daughters a USC rising junior. She has been a waitress at a place for the last two years. She always likes to share her day with my wife and I so of course we listen.It’s amazing how generous some people are and at the same time how rude others are. I sort of always knew there were people who didn’t tip. But hearing her stories has me thinking about it more now. She says there are times when people will tip $20 on a $30 bill. And other times when everything goes right, they run her to death, and some party just refuses to tip a dime. Or the green beans weren’t like grandmas and they tip 2cent. I have never not tipped. If the waiter is terrible they still get at least 10%. But 95% of the time they get 20%. I’m not fussing about what percentage is given. But in my opinion, if you can’t afford to or refuse to tip stay your ass at home.

 

[gamecox4982]

I tip based on quality of food, efficiency and accuracy of the server.

 

[yankacock]

My daughters a USC rising junior. She has been a waitress at a place for the last two years. She always likes to share her day with my wife and I so of course we listen.It’s amazing how generous some people are and at the same time how rude others are. I sort of always knew there were people who didn’t tip. But hearing her stories has me thinking about it more now. She says there are times when people will tip $20 on a $30 bill. And other times when everything goes right, they run her to death, and some party just refuses to tip a dime. Or the green beans weren’t like grandmas and they tip 2cent. I have never not tipped. If the waiter is terrible they still get at least 10%. But 95% of the time they get 20%. I’m not fussing about what percentage is given. But in my opinion, if you can’t afford to or refuse to tip stay your ass at home.

My Daughter had two standout experiences in the Tipping realm. The first one was when an elderly gentleman in a party of 6 left a $20 tip, and the son in Law went back, took the $20, and substituted a $5 bill.

The second one: A man, his wife, and young daughter ran my daughter ragged serving them, and then they left without paying their Bill or leaving a tip.

We had one Waitress that would steal the Tips of others. Fired once we knew who it was.

 

[kio57]

I typically tip 20% but I stepped it up during the shutdown for take out orders.

People who don't tip really should just do buffets or fast food.

 

[Spurrierisking]

I'm sure some (many?) will disagree but the act of tipping just seems so antiquated and a way for restaurant owners to cut cost. IMO, it needs to be done away with. Just pay people a living wage and most of these tipping or lack of stories go away. With that said, I generally tip 20% unless the service is just extraordinarily bad on the waiter/waitress' part then I will do 15%. I never not tip and I don't punish the server for things that aren't their fault like food not being cooked correctly or long wait times.

 

[kio57]

I don't punish the server for things that aren't their fault like food not being cooked correctly or long wait times.

This is SO true. I was a cook at The Villa during college. If a wait staffer crossed us their food came out slow and at different times. As a grown man I understand how childish and petty that was. Food prep issues are not the servers fault.

 

[JDishnell]

I worked in a restaurant starting in 9th grade for about 10 years, so I'm quite familiar with how it works. It's not a hard concept. Good food, good service, affordable prices. It's beyond me why so many restaurants tank.

I tip based purely on service, though that is probably outdated since most restaurants split tips. But service is all I have to go on. I don't penalize the waitress for lousy food.

Nevertheless, I will simply NOT leave a good tip for poor service. We had horrible service a few months ago and I didn't leave any tip at all. It killed me to do it, but what would be the point? We had to practically BEG for service, even walking up to the hostess station 2x to ask for service. You give me crappy service and still walk away a tip? No way.

I will, however, tip very generously for good service.

That said, I don't expect much. Keep my drink filled without me having to ask and get the food out in a timely fashion. That's it.

My #1 pet peeve with servers today is when your drink is empty and you haven't received your food yet and the server asks "would you like a refill?" Obviously. I'm not going to go the rest of meal without a drink. Think. If a server brings me a new drink without having to ask or having to sit for 10 minutes with an empty glass, they up their tip considerably.

We don't eat out much anymore b/c service pretty much sucks everywhere.

One of the worst things is having a server who is super friendly but totally awful at their job.

 

[fowl_mood]

I typically tip 20% but I stepped it up during the shutdown for take out orders.

People who don't tip really should just do buffets or fast food.

I'm with you on all counts, though I may go 18% in non pandemic times.

 

[JDishnell]

Personally, I think it's a disservice to the server to leave a good tip for lousy service.

 

[uscgrad1991]

I always tip even if the service is bad. If you don’t it’s more of a reflection on you instead of them. How I do is based on the percentage of the bill and how good the service is. I’m not going to reward crappy service with an a normal tip. Just like I’m not going to reward above average service with a normal tip.

 

[USC ANDERSON]

I struggle with what is appropriate tip. So many subjective factors. I think that a restaurant ought to pay servers decent wage and include the overhead in price of meal thereby eliminating tipping altogether.

 

[paladin181]

I always tip even if the service is bad. If you don’t it’s more of a reflection on you instead of them. How I do is based on the percentage of the bill and how good the service is. I’m not going to reward crappy service with an a normal tip. Just like I’m not going to reward above average service with a normal tip.

I tip in flat amounts, not %. After all, does a waiter at Ruth's Chris work that much harder than one at Texas Road House or Applebee's? No, they don't. But based on % tips, they'd make double. So I pay tips on a flat rate, starting at $5 per person in my party (so $20 for my family) and it goes down as they tally up errors. I try not to punish kitchen mistakes, but gratuity is that, a thank you for going above and beyond. I have high standards, but I am generous if those are met. So it usually works out. My tips are about $10-$12 most of the time. I also still advocate for the abolishment of tipped wage reductions, because on an abnormally unlucky or bad night, a person will walk out with $2.13 an hour, and that's not right. Pay the people what they're worth instead of relying on tips at best, and pocketing a % of those tips at worst.

 

[world famous 3rd base hecklers]

My daughters a USC rising junior. She has been a waitress at a place for the last two years. She always likes to share her day with my wife and I so of course we listen.It’s amazing how generous some people are and at the same time how rude others are. I sort of always knew there were people who didn’t tip. But hearing her stories has me thinking about it more now. She says there are times when people will tip $20 on a $30 bill. And other times when everything goes right, they run her to death, and some party just refuses to tip a dime. Or the green beans weren’t like grandmas and they tip 2cent. I have never not tipped. If the waiter is terrible they still get at least 10%. But 95% of the time they get 20%. I’m not fussing about what percentage is given. But in my opinion, if you can’t afford to or refuse to tip stay your ass at home.

People who are rude and don't tip anything have never worked as a waiter or waitress...

I enjoyed my time as a waiter in Atlanta back in the 80's...

Hard work, but it was fun...

So I try to give more on tips if it's great service and normal amount for so-so service...

 

[MookieBlaylock9]

I tip based on quality of food, efficiency and accuracy of the server.

I don't think the waiter should held responsible for the quality of food.

 

[MookieBlaylock9]

If someone is a good person, I tip well. I guess I tip more if they go above and beyond. I don't have too high of standards. I've been a waiter, and it's not fun.

People suck. My wife worked at a breakfast place, and the people after church were cheapskates. Being a waitress for breakfast sounds like a PIA - all of those condiments and special requests.

 

[ToddFlanders]

On the rare occasion I'll tip less than 20%, but that's only if the server has been rude or dismissive. In general though I don't go into a restaurant seeing it as my job to rate the service and give my score via tip amount. I think it's a weird system. I just know that I make a better living than they do and there are so many factors outside of their control that can make the evening "not perfect" - so I'll pay the 20-25% that I expect when I go out to eat.

On the flip side, an exceptionally good server will get an exceptionally good tip.

And I never tip less than $4 for any amount under $20. $8 tab, $4 tip. Writing anything less than $4 makes me uneasy - they still took time to serve me and the difference to me is probably a lot less than the difference to them.

 

[JDishnell]

Tipping seems antiquated, but those I have known who were good servers made bank on tips. Most people will leave a reasonably good tip for good service. Some will leave great tips. Few will leave lousy tips. Servers can make considerably more from tips than they would just with an increased hourly wage.

There have been some restaurants who experimented with doing away with tips and increasing the hourly wage and the servers raised holy h*ll.

Besides, the vast majority of servers grossly under report their tips for tax purposes.

 

[paladin181]

Tipping seems antiquated, but those I have known who were good servers made bank on tips. Most people will leave a reasonably good tip for good service. Some will leave great tips. Few will leave lousy tips. Servers can make considerably more from tips than they would just with an increased hourly wage.

There have been some restaurants who experimented with doing away with tips and increasing the hourly wage and the servers raised holy h*ll.

Besides, the vast majority of servers grossly under report their tips for tax purposes.

I don't understand, why do away with tips? Just raise their pay to at least minimum wage and increase the food costs accordingly. Then let people tip as they see fit.

 

[JDishnell]

I don't understand, why do away with tips? Just raise their pay to at least minimum wage and increase the food costs accordingly. Then let people tip as they see fit.

Previous poster suggested that.

I would maybe be in favor of raising their wage and then tipping being used truly as a reward for good service. But it would only be a matter of time before tipping was expected to mandatory again.

Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but I just can't see giving a server a $20 tip for less than 1 hour of work when they did a horrible job.

FWIW, I typically go in expecting to tip 20% (though I agree with your previous rational on tipping flat amounts) and increase/decrease it proportionally based on service.

 

[Spurrierisking]

Tipping seems antiquated, but those I have known who were good servers made bank on tips. Most people will leave a reasonably good tip for good service. Some will leave great tips. Few will leave lousy tips. Servers can make considerably more from tips than they would just with an increased hourly wage.

There have been some restaurants who experimented with doing away with tips and increasing the hourly wage and the servers raised holy h*ll.

Besides, the vast majority of servers grossly under report their tips for tax purposes.

What type of restaurants did they serve at would be my question? If most people tip based on percentage of the bill, and you work at a high end/exclusive restaurant, of course you will make more than your person serving at the local sit down BBQ joint

 

[bosoxcock]

Tipping is a scam and we fall for it... how about these owners paying their employees a livable wage and stop making the patrons feel obligated to chip in and pay their hard earned money to the owners employees

 

[JDishnell]

What type of restaurants did they serve at would be my question? If most people tip based on percentage of the bill, and you work at a high end/exclusive restaurant, of course you will make more than your person serving at the local sit down BBQ joint

I worked at a family-type meat and 3 joint in Tennessee (somewhat like a Lizard's Thicket). Several of the waitresses made nice livings, afforded good homes and a nice car. Retired at a decent age. But they put their heart and soul into it. They didn't get rich, but they made a solid living.

 

[JDishnell]

Tipping is a scam and we fall for it... how about these owners paying their employees a livable wage and stop making the patrons feel obligated to chip in and pay their hard earned money to the owners employees

It's the nice thing about traveling in Europe. Tipping isn't even a thought.

When we lived in Japan, I tried to tip once and it led to a very awkward exchange. The server thought I accidentally left money on the table. Tried to tip a taxi driver once and he flat-out refused (politely).

It's just too ingrained here though. Even wages were raised, it would only be a matter of time before it was expected to tip again.

And, at your high-end restaurants, they wouldn't be able to raise wages enough to offset no tips.

 

[Gamecock Lifer]

I tip based on quality of food, efficiency and accuracy of the server.

Tip for service, You should leave the quality of the food out of it. The server did not make the food... If you don’t like what you ordered send it back or ask for a refund. Obviously if the server is not accommodative of your request it can become a service issue...

 

[MookieBlaylock9]

I tip in flat amounts, not %. After all, does a waiter at Ruth's Chris work that much harder than one at Texas Road House or Applebee's? No, they don't. But based on % tips, they'd make double. So I pay tips on a flat rate, starting at $5 per person in my party (so $20 for my family) and it goes down as they tally up errors. I try not to punish kitchen mistakes, but gratuity is that, a thank you for going above and beyond. I have high standards, but I am generous if those are met. So it usually works out. My tips are about $10-$12 most of the time. I also still advocate for the abolishment of tipped wage reductions, because on an abnormally unlucky or bad night, a person will walk out with $2.13 an hour, and that's not right. Pay the people what they're worth instead of relying on tips at best, and pocketing a % of those tips at worst.

I have literally never thought about a flat tip. It makes sense to me.

 

[andersoncountycock]

Where I live we have a couple of restaurants that do not allow the employees to keep tips,if they get a tip they have to give the money to the owner and the owner uses it to help with payroll at the end of the week. Sad but true.

 

[bucketdad]

I expect fair service when I dine in at a restaurant. My expectations are low... so it doesnt take much to impress me.

Fair will get you 15%. Good will get you 20% and if the wife looks at me and says "that server was good"... that will get you 25%.

 

[JGH 35]

I have always had an issue with tipping by a % of the bill. A wait staff will normally spend a total of 15 minutes on your one table of 2. If the food is expensive and you end up with a bill of $100 that creates a tip of $20 at a 20% rate. That equates to an hourly rate of $80/hour. For much of my life I did not make $80/hour myself, so I find it unreasonable to pay someone more than I make to serve me. It doesn't make sense.

 

[Gradstudent]

I tip 15 to 30% based on the service, if they suck and never refill my drinks and dont pay much attention I still give 15%, anyone can have a bad day.

If the food is super affordable, and the tip would be small, I will tip more then usual, a restaurant like Lizard Thicket would be an example.

It works out well especially if you forget your phone or something, if you tipped something and walk back in , you can get it back and its not in the water cup.

My wife will get pissed at poor service and say dont tip, but i always do

 

[polo-loco]

Unless the service is bad, it's 20%. End of story. If you don't do that, you're the type of person that doesn't take your shopping cart back at the grocery store. In other words, you suck.

 

[Harvard Gamecock]

I usually leave 20%. Rarely will I give less than that.
Only one time I left nothing, service was so bad I had to speak with the manager. Long story but it was really, really bad, and the waitressed lied to us twice.

 

[uscgrad1991]

I tip in flat amounts, not %. After all, does a waiter at Ruth's Chris work that much harder than one at Texas Road House or Applebee's? No, they don't. But based on % tips, they'd make double. So I pay tips on a flat rate, starting at $5 per person in my party (so $20 for my family) and it goes down as they tally up errors. I try not to punish kitchen mistakes, but gratuity is that, a thank you for going above and beyond. I have high standards, but I am generous if those are met. So it usually works out. My tips are about $10-$12 most of the time. I also still advocate for the abolishment of tipped wage reductions, because on an abnormally unlucky or bad night, a person will walk out with $2.13 an hour, and that's not right. Pay the people what they're worth instead of relying on tips at best, and pocketing a % of those tips at worst.

I guess I should have clarified my post better. I actually do the same thing. I do use a percentage up to a certain point then I stop. I’m not going to leave a ridiculously high tip just because I’m in a fancy restaurant.

 

[Gamecock Lifer]

I tip in flat amounts, not %. After all, does a waiter at Ruth's Chris work that much harder than one at Texas Road House or Applebee's? No, they don't. But based on % tips, they'd make double. So I pay tips on a flat rate, starting at $5 per person in my party (so $20 for my family) and it goes down as they tally up errors. I try not to punish kitchen mistakes, but gratuity is that, a thank you for going above and beyond. I have high standards, but I am generous if those are met. So it usually works out. My tips are about $10-$12 most of the time. I also still advocate for the abolishment of tipped wage reductions, because on an abnormally unlucky or bad night, a person will walk out with $2.13 an hour, and that's not right. Pay the people what they're worth instead of relying on tips at best, and pocketing a % of those tips at worst.

Sorry I see It the exact opposite way. Having been a server at a wide range of restaurants, I can tell you that fine dining servers ABSOLUTELY DO work harder on each individual table (and typically provide drastically better service- sure one offs aside, I am speaking broadly) than the server at Texas Roadhouse. They have more complicated procedures in fine dining, a ton more set up pre-shift work, usually more specials to memorize, they are asked to be more attentive to the needs of each guest and in the end are given less tables per night than a server at a fast casual kind of place so that they can provide a higher level of service. So, if I get way fewer tables/people In a shift and folks are employing the flat amount tip practice you described, it would be almost impossible to make a living wage as a fine dining server. Fine dining you might get 4-5 tables in a moderately slow night if you only get sat one full round or one full and a partial section second round.. Most are two tops... So that is $50-60 a night maybe? The same person serving at a “pack em in” food trough kind of place like Texas Road House is probably giving AWFUL service by comparison and is making 3-4 times as much. Not very fair at all TBH.

As to whether they “should” pay servers more and rely on tips less? Yeah they probably should, but the fact is they do NOT in America, we all know it, we all know we SHOULD tip if we are going out and I hope my illustration above shows why the percentage method is much more fair. Doesn’t mean you cannot tip more or less based off situation.

Which leads me to my biggest point: I have not been service industry for a long time now but I beg all of you- if you are too cheap to tip, STAY TF HOME. Especially now. They are literally putting their lives on the line to serve you, Fighting restrictions that prohibit the restaurants from even getting busy enough to make money and it is way more frustrating for them than it is for you. Worst case, if you go out and can’t get sat quickly or have some other minor inconvenience due to safety measures... You should EXPECT THAT, and be ready to deal with it... So, Please- be nice, be patient, and Tip WELL Or- again- stay HOME.

 

[Forever Fowl]

There was a law against tipping in SC at one time. Could be still on the books for all I know.

 

[Kuga1414]

Typically tip 20% unless service is terrible. If the server is awful then I will leave nothing and hope that they will understand the reason. Leaving a small tip just leaves the impression that you're a bad tipper. No tip sends a message.

 

[Boom4life]

I'm sure some (many?) will disagree but the act of tipping just seems so antiquated and a way for restaurant owners to cut cost. IMO, it needs to be done away with. Just pay people a living wage and most of these tipping or lack of stories go away. With that said, I generally tip 20% unless the service is just extraordinarily bad on the waiter/waitress' part then I will do 15%. I never not tip and I don't punish the server for things that aren't their fault like food not being cooked correctly or long wait times.

No, no, and no. Have you ever spent any amount of time in California or Canada. Service in a restaurant is absolute terrible. You never get refills. Waiter comes to take your order and deliver your food that’s it. I prefer the tip based system because servers have to work for their tip so they pay attention.

 

[Boom4life]

Sorry I see It the exact opposite way. Having been a server at a wide range of restaurants, I can tell you that fine dining servers ABSOLUTELY DO work harder on each individual table (and typically provide drastically better service- sure one offs aside, I am speaking broadly) than the server at Texas Roadhouse. They have more complicated procedures in fine dining, a ton more set up pre-shift work, usually more specials to memorize, they are asked to be more attentive to the needs of each guest and in the end are given less tables per night than a server at a fast casual kind of place so that they can provide a higher level of service. So, if I get way fewer tables/people In a shift and folks are employing the flat amount tip practice you described, it would be almost impossible to make a living wage as a fine dining server. Fine dining you might get 4-5 tables in a moderately slow night if you only get sat one full round or one full and a partial section second round.. Most are two tops... So that is $50-60 a night maybe? The same person serving at a “pack em in” food trough kind of place like Texas Road House is probably giving AWFUL service by comparison and is making 3-4 times as much. Not very fair at all TBH.

As to whether they “should” pay servers more and rely on tips less? Yeah they probably should, but the fact is they do NOT in America, we all know it, we all know we SHOULD tip if we are going out and I hope my illustration above shows why the percentage method is much more fair. Doesn’t mean you cannot tip more or less based off situation.

Which leads me to my biggest point: I have not been service industry for a long time now but I beg all of you- if you are too cheap to tip, STAY TF HOME. Especially now. They are literally putting their lives on the line to serve you, Fighting restrictions that prohibit the restaurants from even getting busy enough to make money and it is way more frustrating for them than it is for you. Worst case, if you go out and can’t get sat quickly or have some other minor inconvenience due to safety measures... You should EXPECT THAT, and be ready to deal with it... So, Please- be nice, be patient, and Tip WELL Or- again- stay HOME.

well said.

 

[heelzfor2]

Usually tip 20% but during CV19 been doing about 50% to try and help out the local restaurants.

 

[Gamecock Lifer]

Usually tip 20% but during CV19 been doing about 50% to try and help out the local restaurants.

‘Attaboy!
Seriously ya’ll- service industry has been hardest hit by this and is receiving the least help. Please- Be nice to your servers... Extra nice right now!

 

[carolinamike79]

Both of our daughters waitressed in high school and throughout college. Hearing and seeing how hard they worked prompted us to leave 20% pretty routine