How much do you tip?

[ryoder]

frankie, yes the min wage is super low and the waiters' high income is due solely to tips.
Think about how easy it is to make money if you have a 5 table station. One table has a $50 check and leaves you an $8 tip for an hour of service. If each table left that amount you would have $40 per hour. Work a 5 hour shift where you turn your tables over 4 times and you have made 5*4*8=$160 in tips for 5 hours. Add in the measly base pay and it adds in another $10 or so.
Don't forget to tip-share. Most companies require this. They take 3% of the waiter's gross sales from him and distribute it to the front of the restaurant (hostess and bussers).
If our fictional waiter sold 50*4*5=$1000 in gross sales, he would have to surrender $30 in tip share so his net income for the night is:
income = tips - (gross * .03) + 2.25*hours worked
income = 160 - 30 + 10 = $140 for the 5 hour night

Thats not so bad and you don't claim all of those tips either, so you end up doing much better than the guy working at the computer store. I know all this because my brother and his girlfriend both worked at high volume restaurants while I worked at a retail computer store.

The point is that high volume restaurants are good ways to make money that do not require a college education.

Notice the tip share though. My brother had tables with a $100 total bill and the patrons only tipped $2. He had to tip share $3 for that table's gross sales so he actually lost money on it. This happened once in a while. Some people tip $1 per person regardless of the bill.

[dewisant]

Basic rules of tipping are: 15% of the sub-total, 10% if the meal wasn't good, 20% if it was great. If the meal was really bad, you talk to the manager instead.

[taylor]

Another thing that puzzles me about tipping. Let's say you order 4 burger meals and cups of water (free) for a party of 4, the bill comes to 40 bucks. You tip your server 20% which is 8 bucks. Later in the week you go to the same restaurant, you order 4 steak dinners and 4 cocktails for a party of 4. This time the bill comes out to 120 bucks. Again you tip the server 20% but this time the tip comes out to $24. Playing devil's advocate, does the server really deserve 3 times more tip just because the patron ordered more expensive items on the menu? Because the work for the server is essentially the same.

[ryoder]

No taylor she does not deserve much more money. Just like if I buy a cheap meal she shouldn't get only 15%.
Lets say I buy a burger and water for 6 bucks. I'll leave 2 dollars minimum.
If I spend 20 on an overpriced lunch at the airport I might only leave $3 or $4.

[Lindagerr]

I have never been a wait person but I have friends that have been. The wages are very low sometimes about 1/2 minimum wage. On a good night say a nice Saturday night they can make the equivalent of ~$50 an hour. The problem is not every night is a good Saturday, it might be a slow Tuesday or even a cold or rainy Saturday. They still need to go to work, they may get sent home early so they don't even make the measly hourly wage and when they were there the tips were low. So if you average out the bad days they make an average ~10 per hour. My 22 year old son makes more then that in a wharehouse and he has off nights and weekends.

The nurses I know are making good money around NJ they make ~$20 an hour to start.

Taking all of that in to consideration I always try to give a decent tip for decent service. In NJ where the tax is 7% I usually don't bother to subtract the tax before I tip 18-25%. In Myrtle Beach SC where the tax total is a whopping 11% I usually subtract the tax before figuring the tip.

Everyone deserves to be payed for the work they do and I would not want to be a waitress it is hard work so I am willing to pay a good one. I usually do not complain unless the service was REALLY bad, it could have just been a bad night and I wouldn't want to get someone fired over one bad night. On the other hand I will seek out a manager to let them know when I have great service. I like to highlight the good it to often gets overlooked.


Just my 2 cents but a lot of the waiters/waitresses in the smaller restaurants are doing this as a second job to help make ends meet. Give them a break and don't be cheap with tips.

[mrs.b]

With the split to the front of house, then taxes on the tips, then minimal hours (many restaurateurs schedule just under the full-time line to avoid supplying benefits), there is a reason many restaurants have "Help Wanted" signs posted. It is extremely rare that a restaurant pays so well, reaps good enough tips, and lets the staff get so many hours that they can afford to drive top-end cars. It is not a glamorous job, and I'm not aware of anyone that intentionally makes it a career, certainly not for the cash flow. Very few people pay in cash anymore, so all tips are automatically declared when we sign off on the bill, eliminating any option to hold back on house split and taxes. Many restaurants also rotate weekend shifts so everyone gets a shot at the better paying nights, so those high dollar evenings may only happen every other weekend while the weeknight take-home is far less. Having done the job, that 15-20% (depending on level of service) is just enough to let those people make ends meet in 99.9% of restaurants. As a consumer, it is a part of eating out and not the place to skimp if someone does a good job and gives you a good dining experience.

[bricabrac]

I tip on the total bill: 15% delivery and 18-25% restaurant

[submissiongrappler]

I tip base on the services. Anywhere between 10 to 20%

[Prloko]

I am currently stationed in Europe and the restaurants pay their employees well enough that most patrons just leave the change as tip (literal change). I give a 5 Euro tip and the waiter gets ecstatic. Dining in Europe is a social experience, not just a session in stuffing your face. If you get a table, you can sit there as long as you like and not get harrassed by the wait staff or the management because you're messing their turn-over. I known several waiters give me change back not expecting a tip (i.e giving me a 20 back instead of a 10 a 5 and 5 ones so i can tip them). If you come frequently, they treat you as a friend and refuse your tip, now that's customer service. I remember the first time I ate out, I was so upset because they were taking so long. Then I realized that they expect you to be there for as long as you like and will only "bother" you if you ask. You don't know how good it is for your digestion when you can actually sit there and relax and not worry about someone trying to kick you out or make you order something.

Just for full disclosure, my mom was a career waitress and raised me off tips. Despite that, I think it's time to go to a regular salary for wait staff and work the cost into the meal price.

[LaterBloomer]

In Germany, I think it was called something like "stimp so." (Off, I know.) I think the translation was "round it up." The waiter would round up the bill to the next frank (I'm dating myself), and give you the change. As I recall, just about EVERYONE went to some sort of training. Waiters. Shoe salespeople. Etc. You dealt with folks who were professionals, not just folks who were grabbing at a job that paid.