I've always found tipping to be odd. I understand that it is necessary for waiters to make a living. Nonetheless, there are plenty of service based things I pay for on a regular basis, and food service seems to be the only one where I have the ability to pay what I think is appropriate based on the service I received. For that matter, shouldn't I be tipping the chef in addition to the waiter? What about the automatic tip? Party of five...let them decide. Party of six or more...well, we don't trust large groups of people to tip appropriately! I'm an always tipper...meaning, I always tip in the lower teens to 20%. And that angers me sometimes. Because there really are times when I don't want to leave a tip...but I just don't know, that seems like I'd be a real douchebag to not leave a tip at all. Service may have been overall crappy, but I guess I did at least get my drink and food brought to me. Frankly, there have been times when I wanted to leave a negative tip. Can I do that? Take $5 off the meal because the service was so god-awful?
Is there any chance that wealth has anything to do with this? People regard me as a pretty poor tipper, but I see myself as paying for the service I get. I've tipped $30 before, and I've also tipped nothing. I try not to base my tip off the cost of my bill. The server doesn't have an easier task if you order water instead of soda or a salad instead of lobster. Award the server for doing a good job, not because your food cost a lot.
Will usually tip around 15% for standard service, if the waiter is really good we'll leave a lot more.
I guess I'm slightly below average for a white tipper. I tip 15% for good service and bad. I don't want to spend the mental energy evaluating the job of the waitress. My friend was a waiter for awhile, and they had a whole system of who were good tippers and who were bad. It made me not like waiters. He didn't like serving blacks, office women, etc, etc. Loved serving the men on company outings and guys wearing cowboy boots. France includes the tip in the price. I like it that way so I don't have to think, but the service is inferior. When I was last there, I had a waitress who didn't want to put up with my imperfect speech and wouldn't pay attention long enough to get the order right. I would have docked her tip in the States, and I never dock anyone.
What constitutes great service to you guys? As a customer of a restaurant, I expect the waiter/waitress to bring out the right food, refill my drink, and do it in a fairly timely manner. That gets them 15%. If they make some good recommendations on what to eat or make the experience better by being funny then they'll get a bit more.
There have been studies that show tipping and level of service aren't related. Anecdotal, I've gotten better service at times at restaurants where the bill came out to less than 20 dollars than restaurants that where the bill came out to 200 dollars( 4 dollar tip versus 40 dollar tips). Service comes down to the particular waiter and their attitude/work ethic regardless on how much they get paid.
It really depends on how many tables the server is working, and how busy in general the place is. I expect my waiter to check up on me regularly. Huge points for never letting my drink get empty. They have to be polite, and helpful with any questions/concerns. I am more likely to tip extra if it is slow and I get good service(I think even adequate service deserves to make minimum wage). I'm also more likely to give a server the benefit of the doubt when it is busy, and its clear they are trying. The best service I've ever gotten is at the Sundial at the top of the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. It is very expensive with my wife and I usually spending over $100, but everything is perfect there and the service is outstanding.
This is actually a good point. Church People flock in groups to go out to eat right after Church is over, and many times they'll leave a "Jesus Loves You" Pamphlet as a tip, thinking they are being Good Christians and actually doing the person that waited on them a favor by trying to save their souls. I wonder if they are the reason why some places have a mandatory 18% gratuity added to a bill on groups of 6 or more.
The problem with this is waiters pay other positions (bartender, host, foodrunner, busser) based on their sales, not their tips. If you order a 50.00 lobster, I have to pay the restaurant about 5 bucks for that no matter what you tip. If you order a 10 dollar hamburger I owe the restaurant about a dollar. What you tip me does not affect what I have to pay the house at the end of the night. Honestly, I get the disposable income argument, but I think if you cannot afford to pay for the full cost of the meal you should go somewhere cheaper. There are plenty of restaurants in your price range that would not require you charging someone money to wait on you. And yes, businesmen are the ultimate "get" for a table (race is irrelevant in these cases). Why? Because they aren't paying for their meal. It's a business expense and they will spend money that they wouldn't be willing to out of their own pocket. Since this is kind of a dining out thread I'd like to make a few suggestions that people can implement to make your experience better. These are rules that many waiters live by as well. Don't go at peak times. If it's Valentine's Day weekend, go on the 13th or 15th. The food will still be there, no wait to be seated, and the restaurant will be half as full so your service is far more attentive. It's quieter and less cacophonous (about my biggest pet peeve is people who complain about the noise at 8 on a Friday Night. There are 300 people in here. There isn't a lot I can do about it). If you are coming on a weekend try to come early or late rather than at 7:30-8:00. Sundays and Mondays are by far the best two days to dine out. Sundays used to be an issue with seafood (many seafood delivery places didn't deliver on weekends, so fish on Sundays used to be pushing it's sell by date). This is no longer true in Houston at least, as our supplier delivers 7 days a week. Nowadays for a peaceful pleasant meal without having to wait an hour to sit next to a party of 8 year old triplets celebrating their birthday, come at the beginning of the week. Figure out what you have to spend before you buy it. When I go to eat, I know what my limit is, including tip. I order food and drinks to fit in that budget. As a waiter I certainly don't try to encourage people to buy the most expensive item. I find out what they like and get it for them, quite often recommending something that is slightly cheaper and more in line with their tastes. I'm not offended by it because they will appreciate and tip extra for the help. Plus they will come back. Rather than stiffing them and having them pay reluctantly then leave and b**** all over town about us ripping them off, they will have only good things to say about us to others and will be back. Do everything you possibly can to reduce separate checks. This is another huge hurdle for waiters to have to overcome. When everyone has to pay with a separate credit card, try to inform your server beforehand so that they can ring in orders on separate checks rather than having to deduce what each person had at the end of the meal. If you are paying cash try to combine it. Particularly during the crunch (lunchtime is hardest) it is extremely time consuming to have to separate a tab into 10 pieces and run 5 credit cards, then break multiple bills at the bar (meaning I have to wait while the bartender finishes their duties and comes to me). If you are paying with a dozen different tabs try top understand that it can take several minutes to prepare all of them. This isn't laziness or poor service. It is inevitable. WRT autogratuities this can be a necessity at mid level restaurants due to the number of staff that is required to run such an event. Often people won't leave enough to even cover the cost of labor. I for one have my managers remove the gratuity before presenting the tab. I explain to the host of the party that I do not believe in automatically tipping and that there is none included on their bil, but they are welcome to leave what my service warranted. 9 times out of 10 it's 20% or more (auto would have been 18%).
It has always been my impression that they receive a percentage of their tips, rather than based on sales.
It can vary by restaurant, but I have worked in many restaurants over the last 15 years and only worked in one that did not tip based on sales. I can say without a doubt that any Brinker's or Landry's owned restaurant tips out based on sales. I've worked both.
this varies by restaurant. There are even a few places where servers aren't expected to tip out (Cracker Barrel is one that comes to mind). I worked at a place where we had to tip out 2% of our gross sales. for example, for every $100 worth of food ordered, I would tip out $2 to the host and bus people. This can really add up if you're working as a full time waiter. I'd imagine in a busy restaurant there are some people who tip out between $5,000-$10,000 a year. One of my worst memories as a server was waiting on a table of 7 complete camouflage wearing rednecks that were insanely rude and demanding. The bill was something like $79.25. The guy hands me $80 and says "keep the change." I'd just PAID $1 or so to have the pleasure of waiting on a group of the rudest people I've ever met. Having said that, I don't have TOO much sympathy for waiters. I don't think there's another relatively menial job where you can work as few hours and make as much money as you can as a waiter (if you are good and work in a busy/expensive restaurant).
I used to do the payroll for a restaurant, and it always irked me that they made more money per hour than I did as an accountant. Goodness knows how much they made in unreported tips. The worst though was a former girlfriend that made over $100 night in tips while working at Hooters even on weekdays. If only I had been born a hot chick with a twin sister.
I actually had one of these once... It was a church group, a pastor and his "flock" (nearly all women) and I was tapped 10 minutes before I was scheduled to go home. I stayed once I confirmed that they would let me "grat" (add the tip) the bill. The pastor got all up in arms that there was a gratuity added to the bill, asked to see the manager, and said to he something like "there is no way I would give that much as a tip." The manager told him "that is the reason we add the gratuity, this waiter was about to leave for the day, the one waitress we keep between lunch and dinner couldn't have handled your group plus all of her tables, and it isn't fair of you to take up two solid hours of his time for nothing." He left in a huff, but I got my 15%. Incidentally, as they were walking out, a clache of the ladies lingered behind to tell me that I was more than worth the "grat."
Cool story. Every waiter/waitress I know *hates* the church crowd. Incredibly pushy and demanding and leave virtually nothing for tips. In regards to the OP, my gut reaction is 1) I see more white people in food service... so obviously people are more likely to tip people they see as "one of them" 2) minorities are disproportionately poor.. and thus much less likely to order more expensive food, and go all out on the tip. Nothing shocking, really.
Slightly OT: When doing take-out, I've noticed that more and more establishments add a line item for tips on their receipts. Especially if you pay with a credit card. Is this just becoming more customary? Do I need to "get with the times" and start tipping for to-go orders?
