What do you tip waitstaff?

[RollTide72]

I almost always tip at least 20%. If I get bad service, which unfortunately has happened the last few times I've been out, I leave 10% and make sure that someone in management knows about the experience.

There is a great place in town where I go have breakfast most weekends. Full or half orders of biscuits and gravy are $.99 and if your order is over $2.00 coffee is a dime! I always get a half order of B&G, side order of bacon and a cup of coffee. With tax it comes out to $2.50. I always leave $5 or $6 on the table. It's a helluva deal and always delish.

 

[dawgball]

We have talked, and we are seriously considering just telling the hostess to make sure we never get either of these two again.

:shrug:

As a former bartender, server, and manager of a restaurant - this is a perfectly acceptable request. Actually I appreciated it as it was a good gauge of performance that I may be missing. I would keep a record for each server that had requests for/against.

On the way I tip, my normal is roughly 20%. I usually round up to the nearest $5 increment and tip 20% on that. I also throw in an extra small amount ($5-10) if my kids made a mess that was beyond the norm.

If service is really bad, the lowest I will leave is 10% because they have a tax obligation against their gross sales.

If you are going to leave a bad tip as a message, though, then it needs to be accompanied with a reason either to the server or manager. If approached properly, the manager will appreciate the feedback.

 

[Morris]

At least 20%.

 

[BobbyBlueChip]

Jack stiffed the bartender at the golf outing . . . . so I've heard

 

[MadJack]

Jack stiffed the bartender at the golf outing . . . . so I've heard

People wanted me to but I took care of him. I didn't have any problem with the guy, not sure why a lot of others did :shrug:

 

[gardenweasel]

I do the same.........My mom thinks a $1 a person is enough :facepalm:

apparently the older a person gets,the more important the value of money is to them.....especially females...

i`m a little loose with tips...which gets me into hot water....i sometimes have to tip extra on the sly...

if it`s a place we frequent regularly and we know the help,they get treated very well...

a little attentiveness goes a long way..people appreciate it...

 

[marine]

You obviously have never waited tables to say that sometimes you give NOTHING!!!! You suck. There are mitigating circumstances to every situation but someone in the chain of getting your food to you deserved SOMETHING! Shame on you UGA, very surprising. You get a sense of the person that will actually stiff people.

This is why i tip 15% or not at all. Servers telling me that it is responsibility to pay their wages. L. O. L.

You are bringing me food. You aren't cooking it in your kitchen, in your house, using your best freaking china plates.

At nice restaurants (you know, the kind that the server doesn't wear a name tag, or slide the silverware rolled up in a dirty napkin down the table at me) tipping goes to 25-30%.

 

[Wineguy]

:mj07:

To each his own, if you want to reward rude service then more power to you. Shame on me and you get a sense for me based on a couple of situations over the span of 10+ years that you have no understanding of:shrug: Wow that is pretty presumptuous of you, but since i have never waited tables I guess I dont understand why it is okay to be rude to customers and why it is shameful to not reward that type of service.

I understand that but at least tip the cook, hostess or others because their money usually comes from the wait staff. Just sayin'.

 

[BobbyBlueChip]

People wanted me to but I took care of him. I didn't have any problem with the guy, not sure why a lot of others did :shrug:

Glad it was just a rumor. Who exactly wanted you to stiff him?
opcorn2

 

[Woodson]

I meet a lot of wait staff as I am on the road quite a bit.

I tip 20% regardless of service as the company is usually paying and I was a server at 17 to 21 and bar tender 22-23.

Regardless of sex, I usually throw in an additional $5 spot out of my on money for tips.

Service industry is a struggle and health insurance is non existent. Most have two jobs with the serving position being for money, and another job being for insurance purposes.

I've met hundreds of people, many I'm still friends with that all started in the server industry.

I think it a MUST for all young people to get a sense of what these people endure.

Good thread subject.

 

[Woodson]

I understand that but at least tip the cook, hostess or others because their money usually comes from the wait staff. Just sayin'.

The expeditor at restaurant gets 10%-20% of all wait staff tips plus additional from the closers. He/She is the person that makes sure the orders are coming through and placed properly with side items and correct.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[layinwood]

20% for me but I take time into account as much as anything. If I'm in and out very quickly, they don't have to refill any drinks and I don't make them work very much it's on the short side of 20%. If it's a normal sit down mill, a couple of margaritas or beers, appetizer, and some other things then 20 is the min. If I'm out for drinks and I'm there for 2-3 hours then I take that into account. I spend 70 with the family on any normal weeknight meel and it usually is around an hour. If I'm out with the guys and the tab for me is 70 but I took 3 hours of the waiters time then I bump it up quite a bit.

 

[redsfann]

I also throw in an extra small amount ($5-10) if my kids made a mess that was beyond the norm.

I've had a few--lets call them "disagreements" with the wife about this situation. She was a server and I was a bartender so we are very good tippers--nothing less than 20%--maybe 10-12% if the service was really bad and a word with the manager on duty--I always want to leave a bigger tip if the kids have trashed our area as they will have to keep someone waiting a little longer as they spend extra time cleaning. My wife says that the 20-25% we leave is enough and I always say no, I'm leaving more.
I tend to grab the check and pay with a credit card so I can write in the larger tip when my rugrats have made a bigger than normal mess.

 

[Sportsaholic]

Don't like to tip, move to Iceland opcorn2


http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/denmar1/qt/tippingiceland.htm

 

[UGA12]

I understand that but at least tip the cook, hostess or others because their money usually comes from the wait staff. Just sayin'.

I hear ya, and IF it is true that the cooks, bus boy, and dishwashers get a cut of the tips then I would handle it differently next time(if there is one). Like I said, my original post should have been worded differently. I was talking about two isolated events over years worth of dining, not "stiffing" a tip because sevice is slow etc.

 

[dawgball]

I don't know the percentages but not all (probably not most) restaurants require any sharing of tips with kitchen staff.

Kitchen staff are not paid on the same scale as servers/bartenders due to this.

When I was managing, I always reminded the servers on really big nights that they couldn't have made what they did without the kitchen staff, but there was no requirement.

 

[the addict]

50-100% unless bad service then I leave 20%

boy i wanna wait ronnie's table!!

great gesture on your part man

 

[The Joker]

I didn't have any problem with the guy, not sure why a lot of others did :shrug:

Yeah me too.....oh wait - he was a dick.

 

[yyz]

Yeah me too.....oh wait - he was a dick.

Maybe he was an off duty cop?

 

[Ronnie]

boy i wanna wait ronnie's table!!

great gesture on your part man

I've been bartending for 15 years and its provided me with a nice living. I just look at it like, what goes around comes around and it usually does. I could write a book about the service industry, got plenty of stories.