How much do you tip the bartender?

God, I hate the practice of tipping. I've spent too much time and energy in my life trying to figure out who to tip and how much and I'm sick of it.

I spent 6 years of my life working for tips too -- and I tip well for food service, probably because of that. But, bartenders are just twisting off a cap or pulling a tap for me... that's not worth even a buck a drink. Sorry. I might tip more for a mixed drink, but not for a beer.

I wish tipping was outlawed.

 

I've found that doubling the tax is usually enough for a basic tip.

Course that really doesn't work for drinks.

 

I'm trying to guess at where those six years may have been, one that you would leave you ignorant of the fact that bartenders make below minimum wage (usually $2.13 an hour) for the duration of their shift (including the hours it takes to set up their bar, clean after the rowdies go home, and the hours spent waiting for the crowds to show up).

And how hard is it to remember what to tip whom? 15 minutes of a Travel Channel documentary will answer any questions on that. Don't tip the people making eight bucks an hour (your Starbucks pushers), tip the people hauling bags, setting up bars, and carrying food for below minimum wage.

Any idiot can twist off a bottle cap in their home, that's why going out to a pub is supposed to be a treat, and why you tip no matter what you drink. The atmosphere is why you're out, otherwise you'd buy a six pack at the liquor store (and anyone who tips cashiers there is an idiot) and stay home.

 

But the point isn't how much they make, its why do they deserve a tip. Tipping bartenders is more like deferring the labor costs to the customer. Its not like a waiter who has to constantly check on you. You go to the bartender when you want a drink, if not then there is no contact. Why isn't the bartender just paid by the bar?

 

The age old question.

If the bartender (waitress/waiter) was paid by the bar (dining establishment) then the drink (food) prices would skyrocket.

Cover or not, you are essentially paying a bar with each drink for the things they do to entertain you. Even if the place is a dive, it still isn't your rec room, and for that you pay them. The drinks cost more then you'd pay at home, even without a tip, but that's the price you pay to be surrounded by music/girls/TVs/ambience.

Bars can pay their bartenders ten bucks an hour, but the prices would go up quite a bit, and covers would abound.

And because bartenders are liable for their ring (if the cash register reads $2000 bucks, and there is only $1980 in their drawer, guess who pays?), they're liable for anything that happens to the drunks that leave their bar, they have to stock the bar, clean the bar before/after, and have to do inventory before/after, $2.13 is a bargain.

With proper tipping, everyone wins. The customers get their drinks done right, the bar makes a (not overwhelming) profit, and the bartender does well enough.

I've worked clubs where a cover was in order, we were paid hourly, and tipping was discouraged (usually private parties) -- and the customers hate it. They hate the prices, they hate the cover, and they'd much prefer being at the corner pub.

 

Here, here. I never understood tipping a bartender, when all (s)he does is open a bottle of beer for me.

As for tipping based on beauty, I admit I'm guilty of it. I can't help it; if I see a beautiful chick, I feel compelled to open my wallet and throw money at her.

This is why i CAN'T get married.

 

And you answered your own question, my man. If you have to track down a bartender, then a "change tip" (i.e. drink costs $2.50, you give three bucks and walk away) is proper. The bartender should be actively asking around and seeing who needs what. If he/she is talking to a customer and doesn't see you, that's passable, but if you have to get their attention at a dormant bar, that's a problem and the tip should reflect that.

 

Same as a waiter/waitress...20%

 

Flamingmoe.
ok maybe a stupid comment but i thought Mr Pink said those things about waiters, not mr white, or am i wrong?

 

It was Mr. Pink. Why do I have to be Mr. Pink. Because you're a fa**ot. The whole sequence was there to describe Mr. Pink's personality. He was the realest criminal in the group. And he got away at the end. He was the realest because he cared about no one but himself, including waitresses.

Back to bartenders, lets say you paid bartenders a very nice wage of $15 an hour. Lets say that on your busy nights you have 3 bartenders working ten hours each. Is $450 in labor really going to add that much to drink costs. I have no idea how many drinks a bar might serve on a busy night but I doubt the total would come out to be more than $.50 a drink.

I do agree however that I like to tip bartenders well because they may make my drink a bit stiffer.

 

Bars that would employ only three bartenders literally hoard every penny, and yeah, $450 would mean quite a bit. In Chicago, I worked at clubs where I was one of sometimes 7-8 bartenders, plus a wait staff of 10-11. That's 15 bucks an hour for 18 people, for three hours of peak, drink-buying time for the owners. That would cost them.

Most pub owners don't get into the game to make money, they love the idea of running their own place and make enough to keep them from selling it after another quarter. Remember, because of taxes, the cost of alcohol for them is through the roof. I know, I've worked the sheets and signed for orders. Imagine going into your local liquor store and buying 20 bottles of Absolut -- that's about the price they pay for these things.

edit: that last part may change from state to state, or even city to city. Still most cities frown upon having a pub at every corner, so they make it tough for new ones to open and others to stay in business -- check out the article on today's AP wire about Daley trying to cut down Chicago bars.

 

EXACTLY.

Want to guarantee that you don't wait? Give the bartender a large tip the first round.

 

I voted for 41-50% but that's only because the bartenders at the bar I go to give me the "radio discount". Its always nice to get the jumbo glasses of Newcastle (1 1/2 to 2 pint glass) at the one pint price of $4 on the weekends and $2 on pint nights. Normally, I only tip about 20% at the bar (if I'm at a different place than where I normally go).

Someone in an earlier post also mentioned about tipping big on the first drink.... that is a good thing to do. That's the best way to get your drinks before other people and to occassionally have some drinks "disappear" from your tab. I guess I go to the bar too much, because they know I'm the "Newcastle guy" and if one of the regular bartenders sees me they get me a jumbo glass right away.

 

But follow that big tip with a string of shyte tips and you're right back in the heap.

Myself included, most bartenders I know much prefer consistency to anything else. We're not their to play favorites or make friends, and we don't like whoring out strong drinks and favors for a dollar more. We just want to do our job, serve everyone, and make what is fair.

 

I'm sorry to all the bartenders out there, but I don't think your jobs should be based on tips. If you need a more steady source of income, there are plenty of other jobs out there that aren't based on a server's salary + tips. Tips should be a little extra cash on the side, not the meat of your paycheck.. I don't tip for beers, period. If all you're doing is turning around, twisting off a cap, and setting the thing in front of me, you haven't done anything worthy of a tip. I don't tip the sodajerk at the movies, and I'm not going to tip you. I tip if someone makes me a good mixed drink, because THAT is hard to come by.. you exerted a skill, you did something special, you deserve to be rewarded. If you're extremely friendly to me, I might throw in some extra cash, because I think being friendly to customers is worthy of a reward as well.. that job can suck, and serving me with a smile is definately a nice touch. I don't tip girls for dressing slutty, in fact, I'm more apt to tip the guy at the bar because he is probably more starved for tips than the girl. I normally avoid crowded/busy bars, but if I ever do go to a place that is busy I do end up tipping some extra. Overall I hate the practice of tipping, sometimes I wish there were beer vending machines in bars..

 

Expect plenty of ****ty service, Mr. Malph. Your friends must love going out with you. And those vending machines do exist, in Japan, and the beer costs twice as much. If they were put in bars, expect a cover, without fail.

Try this philosophy next time your car needs to be repaired. Demand to pay for parts and nothing else.

(btw, the soda jerk? He makes three times per hour what bartenders make)

 

Figured that reply was coming.

This is like the fifth time I've had this same argument with bartenders I know.

BTW, I fix my own car, just like I'd rather get my own drink. And how can you compare the skill/effort exerted between repairing a car and twisting the cap off a bottle of Miller Lite? They spend hours working to put your car back together, if they don't mark up the cost of the parts a ton, their labor fees are usually quite fair.

And yeah, I know soda jerks don't work for tips, just like I don't think bartenders should have to either.

My argument remains the same at it's core, I don't think the bartender's salary should be tip-based, that is where everything I said is rooted from. Would you have a problem with being paid more hourly, with less tips, if it came out to be practically the same wage you make now?

I'm just not into the practice of having to "buy" the attention of a bartender.. I tip what they deserve for the job they provide me, nothing more, nothing less. Personally I'm sorry bartenders are paid that low, because I think they deserve more, but I'm not going to tip more just because the salary is lower than what it should be..

 

Read the thread. I don't bartend any more.

Most bartenders would prefer an hourly wage, while acknowledging that they would like some sort of compensation for peak hours, when they are essentially waiting on a couple hundred people at once. Again, most bartenders I know have worked a trillion disparate types of jobs, across the board, and bartending during hell hours is as tough if not tougher than all of them.

And if you stay home and fix your own drinks we have no problem with you. Just don't expect prompt (or anywhere near it) service on your second beer when you do waddle outdoors, a beer that:

*my boss bought
*I unloaded
*I counted
*I stocked
*I opened
*I gave you change for
*I counted the change at the end of the night
*I counted the beers at the end of the night, so my boss knows how many to buy for you the next day.

If that isn't worth fifty cents-to-a dollar to you ... wow.

People think these bars just rise up, fully formed, out of the ocean.

And this isn't about buying the attention of a bartender. You shouldn't have to buy the attention of anyone doing a service, as I posted above. You stated that you refuse to tip for beers, "period."

 

Nice cheap shot

Compensation for the busy hours is a good idea, like I said, I tip more when a bar is busy.. but I make it a point to usually not go to busier bars. I've never been to a bar when a bartender was serving more than a handful of people at a time.. if that.. my tipping practices are reflective of the bars I frequent.. if I went to some super-insane busy club where there were dozens of people clammoring for service of course I'd tip more. But that's not my scene.

I think bartenders kind of get screwed in the end, because they're left at the mercy of the customers when they're working hard on the NON service aspects of their job.. that sucks for both the bar patron and the bartender. The tab should be footed in their salary.

A liquor license is expensive, but I can't see why bartenders are paid so low and markup on alcohol at clubs is so ridiculous.. the things bartenders are asked to do outside the realm of actual customer service really entitles them to more than a server's wage.