Restaurant Tipping Etiquette

[nfitz]

I wouldn't tip 25% how matter how great the service is unless the total bill is really small and you just round it up.
Imagine a $200 dinner for 2 and $50 for the tip. That's crazy.

Yes it is. But if my meal is $10, a $2.50 tip doesn't seem like a lot; I might leave $15 if it was really good service. But if the meal is $200, I'm not ever leaving a $100 tip. I can't imagine it EVER being more than $40, and more likely closer to $30.

 

[ksun]

Yes it is. But if my meal is $10, a $2.50 tip doesn't seem like a lot; I might leave $15 if it was really good service. But if the meal is $200, I'm not ever leaving a $100 tip. I can't imagine it EVER being more than $40, and more likely closer to $30.

yep. that's exactly what I meant. 25%+ tips are completely fine for smaller bills, because the difference between 15% and 25% or higher is just a matter of couple of bucks, not gonna make me any poorer or the waitor any richer. But when the bill is large, it ceases to reward the waitor for such a high percentage because just because the food is more expensive doesn't mean his service is worth 10X more.

 

[ttk77]

Somewhat of an aside, but when did tipping at a fast food restaurant become a thing? Several times over the past week I've seen people giving tips to the Timmies employees.

 

[James]

Somewhat of an aside, but when did tipping at a fast food restaurant become a thing? Several times over the past week I've seen people giving tips to the Timmies employees.

Yeah I don't understand the whole notion of tipping at a fast food place or tipping when you're picking up and order or for takeout. The credit card machines will still ask if you'd prefer to tip by $ or % and you just have to not feel guilty about punching in "0" as a tip amount.

 

[gabe]

Somewhat of an aside, but when did tipping at a fast food restaurant become a thing? Several times over the past week I've seen people giving tips to the Timmies employees.

Yeah i have noticed that at Tim's and Starbucks. Some independent coffee shops have "tip jars" beside the cash. I don't tip them since they are basically cashiers who pour us cups of coffee. They make minimum wage, if not a few bucks more. Unlike full service restaurant servers who make below minimum wage.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Yeah I don't understand the whole notion of tipping at a fast food place or tipping when you're picking up and order or for takeout. The credit card machines will still ask if you'd prefer to tip by $ or % and you just have to not feel guilty about punching in "0" as a tip amount.

I just saw that at Hero Burger on the weekend. I had to think whether or not I should leave a tip for takeaway.

 

[James]

The whole notion of tipping in North America is still an issue of debate. Just came across a new article on CNBC on this very subject. One NYC organization in this article is essentially going to raise their menu prices by a little over 20% in order to compensate for the tip.

Have we reached the tipping point for restaurant tipping?

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/16/g-point-for-restaurant-tipping.html

 

[PinkLucy]

Will they pay their staff better?

 

[the lemur]

Here's a silly "news" story regarding tipping...or lack thereof by Mark Zuckerberg while honeymooning in Italy.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/zuckerberg-sparks-tipping-debate-after-skipping-gratuity-in-rome/article2448383/?utm_medium=Feeds: RSS/Atom&utm_source=Life&utm_content=2448383

So, for once an American observes the local custom, people get upset because he didn't behave the way they expected of an American? I give up.

I could be wrong but Italy is one of those countries where in lieu of a tip, restaurants sometimes have a minimum order amount per diner. France is another one.

 

[the lemur]

Yes, lets ban tipping so that we can get the kind of service you get in Europe! You know, where they couldn't care less if you died waiting for food or not.

Again with the mythical "Europe" where everything's the same from one end to the other.

 

[Tewder]

You're being more than a little pedantic about this - and tipping in France is the cultural norm only it's called 'service compris' and is charged automatically - but go ahead and split some more hairs if it makes you happy.

 

[the lemur]

You're being more than a little pedantic about this - and tipping in France is the cultural norm only it's called 'service compris' and is charged automatically - but go ahead and split some more hairs if it makes you happy.

Service compris is not the same as tipping (pourboire) - the former you don't have a choice in; the latter is customary but really just amounts to rounding up the amount of the bill and leaving the change on the table.

That's in contrast to practices in Scandinavia (generally no tipping at all in excess of the service included, unless you think service was exceptionally good) or in Germany and Austria, where you usually might give 5% or 10% directly to the server by indicating how much change to keep (not by leaving it on the table), unless the server decides independently that the change doesn't need to be returned to you ...

where they couldn't care less if you died waiting for food or not

I guess that's why no one goes to restaurants when they visit any European country. Ever.

So, yeah, I'm being pedantic about how things are "in Europe" when clearly everything is exactly the same in each country. Mm-hmm.

 

[James]

Here's a Toronto Life interview with one restaurateur who has done away with tipping in his restaurant. Hemant Bhagwani is implementing a 12% administration fee in place of the tip and distributing the extra revenue amongst his entire staff at his restaurant, Indian Street Food Company, near Bayview & Eglinton.

http://torontolife.com/food/restaurants/six-in-the-six-hemant-bhagwani/

 

[ksun]

Yesterday we went to a restaurant and received a bill that automatically adds 18% of tips.

Yes, there were six of us and I know that is what the normal practise is. But do restaurants have the right to charge, outrightly, 18% tip? And 18% applies to the after-tax amount, which makes is more irritating. It was not a large bill and I am fine with tipping reasonably, but just don't feel comfortable with such forced tipping.

 

[Skeezix]

I believe restaurants can charge you what they want as long as it is made clear before you order. Was there a reference to 18% in the menu? There typically is.

I agree that adding 18% to the after-tax amount, while it may be legal depending on the circumstances, is inappropriate.