Restaurant Tipping Etiquette

[Tewder]

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.

 

[Chris2812]

fine by me!!

 

[PinkLucy]

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.

I've always had excellent service when dining in Europe; guess I'm going to the wrong places.

 

[ksun]

I've always had excellent service when dining in Europe; guess I'm going to the wrong places.

Not just Europe. I don't find service in Europe or Asia any worse than in North America either.
Tip shouldn't be an entitlement as if if the patron doesn't tip well, bad service is somehow justified. Bad service is bad work ethics, period.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

This is a bit much - 18% for poor service??????

 

[ShonTron]

To be fair, that's on the pre-tax amount. When you pay with a POS machine at a restaurant here, the % is calculated on the net amount. Even though an 18% tip (which I think is reasonable-to-high for good service post-tax) would be about the same as the 20% tip suggested above.

What bugs me more than the suggested is the qualifications - poor (which I define as inattentive, slow and/or rude/patronizing) service shouldn't be an 18% tip, even pre-tax. (Though if I get poor service because the server is obviously overworked, that's a mitigating factor.)

 

[gabe]

The hospitality industry is heavily unionized in most parts of Europe. Severs don't need tips as they make a livable wage with excellent benefits. I can't see that ever happening over here in North America, especially in the USA where people vote against their own best interests.

 

[James]

Regarding Buffalo Wild Wing's "suggested gratuity" amounts, 18% for poor service vs. 22% for excellent service is illogical. A 4% spread is barely reflective of the difference in effort on the server's part between providing excellent service over poor service.

 

[TheKingEast]

Now if you were a waiter at Buffalo Wild Wings...would you work hard to deliver excellent service? I know I wouldn't.

 

[DTowner]

I always tip on the subtotal, but tip on the high side, usually 18-20% of the pre-tax amount, or more depending. I don't think taxes should be in any tip calculation.

$1 for a drink at a bar is always a good rule of thumb.

As for take-out, I usually avoid tipping, unless some real work is involved in completing my order (a speciality drink, for example).

Exactly. I usually tip (18-20%) on the final post-tax price. I've been told that one should tip pre-tax, but I keep on forgetting. Lol.

Definitely a loonie per drink at a bar.

 

[DTowner]

This is a bit much - 18% for poor service??????

Oh, HELL no. That's just crass. And too much. In my book, excellent service is 20%; good is 18%; adequate is 15%. Poor service is NO TIP.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Oh, HELL no. That's just crass. And too much. In my book, excellent service is 20%; good is 18%; adequate is 15%. Poor service is NO TIP.

DT: I agree with you here on this subject of tipping...My thoughts on service rendered:

Excellent: 20 to 25 percent
Good: 15 to 20 percent
Adequate: (fair) 10 to 15 percent
Poor - NO TIP - as simple as that...

LI MIKE

 

[ksun]

DT: I agree with you here on this subject of tipping...My thoughts on service rendered:

Excellent: 20 to 25 percent
Good: 15 to 20 percent
Adequate: (fair) 10 to 15 percent
Poor - NO TIP - as simple as that...

LI MIKE

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. Money doesn't grow on trees.
For expensive meals, 15% is the max they get since the service is not different from a cheaper meal.

 

[ttk77]

Restaurants that publish a suggested gratuity above 15% either on the bill or on the debit/credit machine get it reduced to 15% on principle regardless of how good the service was. From what I've seen it's usually applied on top of the tax too, which is ridiculous. Outside of that, I'll give around 20% if the service is excellent or if I'm a regular and have a good rapport with the servers. Anything less than that and I give 15%. It feel too much like skipping out on the bill to me to not leave anything, but unless I've been to the place numerous times and I know that poor service is an exception rather than the rule, I just don't go back.

 

[Long Island Mike]

More Tipping thoughts...

Restaurants that publish a suggested gratuity above 15% either on the bill or on the debit/credit machine get it reduced to 15% on principle regardless of how good the service was. From what I've seen it's usually applied on top of the tax too, which is ridiculous. Outside of that, I'll give around 20% if the service is excellent or if I'm a regular and have a good rapport with the servers. Anything less than that and I give 15%. It feel too much like skipping out on the bill to me to not leave anything, but unless I've been to the place numerous times and I know that poor service is an exception rather than the rule, I just don't go back.

TTK and Ksun: Good tipping thoughts from you both...I feel that the thought of a $50 tip for a $200 meal is a bit much myself
and 25 percent is more for the less expensive end - provided there is excellent service...

When it comes to poor service I recall what one acquaintance of mine would do following poor service: Leave a two cent tip...
I remember the mention that this reflects the services rendered even more then leaving no tip...

I feel that tipping should be totally up to the parties receiving the offered service and to me suggesting the gratuity out front
is just in poor taste (no pun intended) for these restaurants...

LI MIKE