News   Dec 20, 2024
UrbanToronto Year-End Poll: Vote on the Best Buildings of 2024, presented by Sapphire Balconies
 1.1K     5 
News   Dec 20, 2024
UrbanToronto's Social Media Presence Skyrocketed in 2024
 856     2 
News   Dec 20, 2024
Mattamy Homes Records A Year of Accomplishments
 1.7K     0 

Restaurant Tipping Etiquette

I come from a country that doesn't tip but my stance is that if I am picking up my food from a restaurant after pre-ordering, that I don't tip as no real service has been provided. Sure, they cooked the meal, but I'm already paying for that with the price of the meal. Is at all how you natives think or do you just tip anyway because it is so ingrained here?
 
I don't tip because it is "ingrained". I tip because restaurant workers are not properly paid. The price of the meal does not generally pay all of their wages. The staff, even in the back of house, typically rely on tips to make a decent income. In places where there is generally no tipping (e.g. a food court, McDonald's), staff in the back (and at the front) are generally making minimum wage, or minimum wage +. Fine perhaps for a teenager, otherwise inadequate for anyone trying to live on it. So, even if I am picking up take-out, staff had to process my order, cook it, package it, and deal with me when I pick it up. The price of the meal is most definitely not covering the wages I would hope that they would be getting for that work. It has nothing to do with habit.

It's a lousy system. Tipping itself, and the minimum wages we have in this jurisdiction.
 
James said:
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/
Click to expand...

I want to go try this place now just because they've done away with tipping.
I hope this takes off in more restaurants.

James said:
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.
Click to expand...

I do feel a little guilty, but always punch in 0% because I'm not tipping at a fast food restaurant.
 
I wish one could tip at fast food chains but I suppose their marketing overlords would frown upon that because it would be a form of pressure on the customer to add to the cost of what are being promoted as low-cost meals. I have never had the urge to tip at fast food outlets until recent years when I noticed that fewer teens work in them (maybe it's the hours that I go) and more older people, especially women, who would rely on the work for a living. I also suspect a lot of laid-off skilled people are scraping by with these jobs.

As for regular restaurants, I always tip 20% unless I am subjected to sloppy, rude or surly service. Having been a server myself in my student days, I try very hard to figure out what is going on first. Is the kitchen disorganized? The servers understaffed? Is it the waiter/waitress' fault or is the problem elsewhere? I also tend to ask, whenever I get bad service, if the person is "having a bad day."

A little humanity goes a long way to making life a little more bearable for others.
 
15% is standard. Only if the service is truly outstanding will I go higher than that.
 
Towered said:
15% is standard. Only if the service is truly outstanding will I go higher than that.
Click to expand...

The big question many people ask in addition to the % amount however, is whether that is on the pre-tax amount or the post-tax total?
 
Ex-Montreal Girl said:
As for regular restaurants, I always tip 20% unless I am subjected to sloppy, rude or surly service. Having been a server myself in my student days, I try very hard to figure out what is going on first. Is the kitchen disorganized? The servers understaffed? Is it the waiter/waitress' fault or is the problem elsewhere? I also tend to ask, whenever I get bad service, if the person is "having a bad day."

A little humanity goes a long way to making life a little more bearable for others.
Click to expand...

It seems that people that have worked as servers or is close to somebody that is/was a server tend to tip better.
I've never considered asking if they're "having a bad day". Even if it were true, does that make the bad service acceptable? Would this be accepted in an office environment?
 
That has always been my spp ouch as well, but when it doesn't work, I escalate the call. However, dealing with tech support call centres is a whole 'nother situation from wait staff -- desperate times call for desperate measures! :cool:
 
On the topic of the tip percentage, I was thinking about how some restaurants in the U.S. would print out a little chart at the bottom of your receipt indicating 3 suggested tip amounts based on your specific total. It'd start at 18% with the actual $ amount calculated for you, then go to 20%, then 25%. Now granted, it's certainly helpful to have the % with the actual $ amount printed right on your receipt, but seeing the % figures on that chart was what really made me think about what would be deemed acceptable.

From most of my travels to the U.S., I do notice the recommended tip % seems to be much higher than that in Canada, where our custom tip amount would be more or less 15% on your net total before taxes. Perhaps it's just me and my ingrained ways but 18% to 25% definitely seems high to me in comparison.
 
Minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation over the years. That holds true for the lower than minimum wage that most servers make. It's even worse in the US where minimum wage rules tend to be even more lax. I'm starting to come to terms with 20% being the new normal around here.
 
James said:
On the topic of the tip percentage, I was thinking about how some restaurants in the U.S. would print out a little chart at the bottom of your receipt indicating 3 suggested tip amounts based on your specific total. It'd start at 18% with the actual $ amount calculated for you, then go to 20%, then 25%. Now granted, it's certainly helpful to have the % with the actual $ amount printed right on your receipt, but seeing the % figures on that chart was what really made me think about what would be deemed acceptable.

From most of my travels to the U.S., I do notice the recommended tip % seems to be much higher than that in Canada, where our custom tip amount would be more or less 15% on your net total before taxes. Perhaps it's just me and my ingrained ways but 18% to 25% definitely seems high to me in comparison.
Click to expand...
Those charts aren't just in the US. I see them in Toronto too and have for a while.
 
I think I have seen 15%, along with 18 and 20. I will have to pay more attention :)
 
James said:
What % amounts do they suggest here in Toronto? Do they also start at 18%?
Click to expand...

I've seen ones that start at 10% and ones that start at 18%, but the most common suggested tip amount that I see is 15% in Toronto.

In the US, suggested tips starting at 18% seem to be more common.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top