Tipping [General]

2010 May 1
I was wondering what people's views were on tipping. What is the 'industry average'? Does it vary by class of restaurant? Swiss Chalet vs. Zolas vs. Atelier?

2010 May 1
I think I'm consistently above the tipping average, which I would guess is 15% or 20%. If I'm at a "nice place" I'll use 20% as my baseline but will round up to the nearest $5 or $10. The number looks nicer that way!

2010 May 1
I start at 15% and then go up or down depending on service. I'm usually on the more generous end though.

What about including alcohol? Yes or no?

2010 May 1
do you tip on the tax?

do you tip the server themselve or put it on the bill (when using a c/card)

some places collect all tips and then distribute at the end of the night.

us its usually 10-20% depending on the service, of course.

we were told by a sirly server in Montreal that "'ere in montreal its customary to tip 25%" we pretended we didn't understand and left nothing....BTW the service was crap, so was the food come to think of it.


2010 May 1
I use 15% for an expected or slightly disappointing experience, 20% for a very good experience, 25% for an all around exceptional experience. I fine-tune my weighting by exercising the percentage on the before or after tax amounts. A bad experience would see me tipping 13-15% on the before-tax amount. I don't think I've ever not left a tip because I consider the tip to be part of a server's salary, meaning not tipping is almost like stealing. Also, I'm not the kind of person that earns poor service, if you know what I mean. Absolutely dismal service might, very rarely, result in a 10% tip.

From memory (including tax):
Swiss Chalet: $15 + $3 tip
Zola's: $25 + $5 tip
Atelier (with wine pairing): $160 + $40 tip

I generally impose a lower limit of $2 per person for sit-down meals, regardless of the bill amount. My reasoning is that if someone is actually serving you a meal of less than $10, they're doing the same work of a more expensive place and you're the one getting the good deal, so they deserve at least $2 even if the percentages don't suggest it.

And yes, tips should certainly cover alcohol! Like taxes, tips should be higher for luxury items. :-)

2010 May 1
I am a tad on the stingy side relative to some of you saints. :) It varies from zero in the case of horrid disasters to perhaps 25% after astounding treatment. Usually I hover around 15 percent, usually rounding up to the nearest round dollar. I always tip including the alcohol and the tax. The class of restaurant does not matter in my calculations.

2010 May 1
You guys are good tippers! We normally use the tax amount on the bill for the tips.

I always heard that servers make more money than the chefs or the helpers inside the kitchen. In which case, I am scratching my head. A server's job (as they are hired) is to serve customers and a chef's job is to prepare meal for the customers. How come a server can get more $ than a chef? I think the kitchen work is harder, isn't it?

2010 May 2
0, more if earned. They don't have to walk on water, just make an effort beyond the bare minimum.
I almost never eat out (like once or twice a year), so worry not.
10% added if the restaurant tips out their dish pit/ line slaves. You know they're busting their balls and they're the ones making the show happen. Even if they'll only receive a fraction of the amount they deserve the respect.

2010 May 2
I usually take the food and service into consideration when I am tipping. If I have wonderful service but absolutely horrible food, I probably won't be leaving a 25% tip. I come under fire from my boyfriend for this, but it is the way it works for me.
I have left NO tip twice in my life, for really offensively bad service. I don't like the North American practice of a tip being expected no matter what kind of service you receive. I guage my tips according to my experience and I REALLY don't like when places build a tip into the bill automatically - I will avoid places that do this.
That being said I don't have a regular amount that I tip. It ranges from 10-30% depending on my experience.

2010 May 2
~15% using the after tax amount, rounded up or down as i see fit. a demerit point system if you will (ie. less if it's the type of quick meal where we place our order, the server brings the food, and never talks to us again). tipping has to be earned. i too on the rare occasion have left a $0 tip for horrible, non existent service.

Ashley - i'm glad someone brought that up. the 'tip out' the kitchen gets in most cases is paltry compared to what the servers are bringing home. i worked in a few restos where the kitchen staff didn't get a tip out at all! never understood this disparity seeing as kitchen work is MUCH harder (biased here, of course)

Reservior Dogs - Tips For The Tippers (viewer discretion is advised)

2010 May 2
Our usual is 20% of the total, but if we were at a place where the quality of the service was part of the experience, or if someone had gone out of their way to make us feel really well cared for, we have gone up to 30%.

2010 May 2
If you read Chowhound (there are always lots of tipping threads there) you'd get the impression that 20% is the standard now, but I don't know if that has made its way to Canada. Are there differences in the employment laws regarding how much a restaurant is allowed to pay serving staff that would be relevant to tipping? Do they make minimum wage or can they be paid below minimum wage, assuming they will make up the difference (and more) in tips? I've heard various things but don't know the facts.

That said, 15% is standard for me but will go up or down depending on the quality of service. I often include the taxes if it makes my life easier for calculating the percentage.

2010 May 2
Tipping out the kitchen is pretty normal however the kitchen staff gets paid quite a bit more per hour (or are on salary) than a server so when it's a slow time of the year the servers make FAR less than their counter part in the kitchen, some that work in the kitchen forget that small point...

Calling the line cooks & dishwashers 'slaves' really irks me,don't like your job, quit. I respect the person NOT the position. We have a great team in our kitchen & they work very well with the front of the house...

A tip is a perk not a requirement, if a server wants to be tipped they have to earn it & as simple a job serving may seem to some of you not everyone can do it & even less are good at it...

Terry

2010 May 2
I don't believe the charitable interpretation of what I said is that I'm disrespectful of kitchen workers or their jobs, quite the opposite. Using 'slave' to refer to a type of employment or employee is a common phrase and is to be taken jovially in my understanding. Regardless, the analogy is accurate. The work is hard, hours are long, little to no security, health risks...

2010 May 2
I tip 15% on avg.... but I will not tip if I get bad service .. or bad food (yes I know its likely the kitchens fault and not my server fault). I hold them both equally responsible... plus I don't care. I refuse to pay any premium for bad food and the server need not worry ... I won't be back so its a one shot deal.

I wish we had no tipping in North America to be honest. As I understand it, in the Netherlands, the owners pay the servers properly and the tip is included in the price of the dish.

It is in my opinion unfair that a worker in a dinner gets a 15% tip (if they are lucky) when a worker in a high end place gets the same tip. A tip of $5 on a meal versus a tip of $40 for a meal (there appears to be no equity).

2010 May 2
I no longer use the taxes as a guideline since they are below 15%. I've seen such variation in tipping that sometimes I doubt myself and think I'm tipping too much and then I've been mortified to discover I tipped too little!

However, I've now been in situations where I should have left no tip (very few and far between - years apart in fact), but I did enjoy the tipping experience in Paris. I went across the street while my friends and I were dining and asked some local women about it. They informed me that there is no "minimum" amount (like the 15% thing here), and that it is based on your experience and whether the restaurant strived to make your visit the best possible. I liked that explanation; but I believe that a basic tip is included for servers in Paris.

I tip according to the amount on the bill and the experience I received, not the class of restaurant.

I have noted however that a good experience often hinges on "meshing" with your server. Sometimes I have gone out and since I'm rather social, I can get joking and having fun with the server. When that happens and everyone is laughing and having fun, I always tip high - even if there were a couple of mistakes that the server made. It all depends how they handle it.

2010 May 2
If you walked a mile in a good server's shoes, do what your heart says!!!!!!!!! :) I have empathy for servers and tend to tip a bit more than normal for great service. Having worked at restaurants here, servers are usually paid below minimum wage and it's expected that they make the upside thru tips. We also had to tip out to the front position, tip out to kitchen, to the house and/or to the bartenders, so servers can actually LOSE money with poor tips so they have to work for it. ANNNNNNNNND there is no job security with servers or anyone in the restaurant business. Servers can get "fired" so quick via the usual trick of "not getting shifts", I've seen chefs can get canned for simply calling in sick with a legit medical reason, it's all an industry in which labor laws are often thrown out the windo with no stability no benefits and no pension. And everywhere I worked, management positions are the first ones to get the boot. No so glamorous to be a manager anyway. Unless you work at unionized hotels where I know some people who've been there for over 20 years. And it is not impossible for servers at the right place can pull in a lot of tips by working very hard that tipping that can rival many fulltime day jobs but are very "cash" and need brokers to secure financing because a lot of the tips are not reported so they can buy a house etc...

You need to think that are LUCKY to be in North America to have servers to come to you, take your orders, suggest items, make (some sort of) effort to cater guests' requests and clean up after you. If you travel the world, every country and culture has differences. Many European countries have higher wages for restaurant staff and tipping is not expected. Gratuity for upscale restaurants is often added automatically. In Russia, Asia, India there is no tipping so don't expect much from travelers from these and many other countries as it is not customary to tip. Tipping is most appreciated at resorts of 3rd world countries in which they may make no wage at all, but your tipping with the exchange rate can feed families for a month!!!! Here's a good TIP: I recently came back from the Dominican and I tipped generously but I also brought a dozen bars of soap, toothpaste and shampoo which were on sale at Shopper's for $59 cents each and to resort house staff to be able to bring soap and toothpaste for their families is worth more than GOLD!!!!! :) KC


2010 May 2
"because a lot of the tips are not reported"

You realize this is illegal not to mention immoral. By doing this you are indirectly allowing those who tip you to unknowingly engage in the underground economy.

I would prefer pay more for food... at least it would stop this type of thing from happening.

2010 May 2
Hey Yroc,

You're noble but you clearly have never worked in the bar & restaurant industry. A certain percent of tips are reported to keep the taxman away and there are some that aren't (maybe most!). If you think the servers are criminals, just spend a day behind the scenes and imagine what the owners and managers do with cash. It's an implicit "don't ask questions" thing if you want to keep your job. It's always been that way no matter what business you're in especially with a lot of cash payments.

The underground economy is not as big as people think. Just keep in mind that the top 2% of the population control 80% of the economy so you have to chase the real people and especially those corporate executive types with their slick accountants high up the chain who make 5x more than the Prime Minister and can cheat the public and shareholders and get away with millions and millions and hardly pay taxes. Ever heard of *COUGH COUGH Nortel COUGH*.

2010 May 3
Perhaps KC, the point is it's not right for anyone to do it, and it's circular logic to justify doing it because someone else is doing it. It would make sense, if the CEOs etc that you claim are so good at evading taxes were the ones to think it was OK for their servers to try to evade taxes. However, we are talking about middle class people who DO pay their taxes... giving entirely voluntary money to people whom it is suggested here do not pay (full) taxes. By that logic, I should give LESS tip, because I am subsidizing the servers through MY taxes that I pay to make up for the taxes they don't pay? Hmmm.. maybe I'm onto something here. What do you think Monty? ;-)

2010 May 3
I don't know about Monty, but I could sure go for some popcorn drizzled with duck fat.

2010 May 3
I always wondered if you tip on a bill if tips are shared amongst the staff.

For example. Hostess seats you and takes a drink order. Waiter arrives with drinks and takes your food order. Another server arrives with food. Bill arrives. (Restaurant where I've experienced this is Baton Rouge)

We generally tip 15% for standard service, more if its amazing. I hope in places like the above example they share tips. I always wonder if it goes as far to be spread to the bar staff, bus boys and dishwashers .. I don't agree with the thought that wait staff should be tipped just because they are on low wage and no benefits, etc.

Just for the added note - My own job - slightly higher than min. wage (not by much) has no benefits. As a cashier I have to provide customer service as well, do not get paid if I'm sick and really have no job security either. Sadly, tipping doesn't happen :p


2010 May 4
Tipping is a very touchy topic with myself and friends/family. My partner/children/friends have worked in the business (some of us in the distant past but several presently). We possibly over tip remembering/living the business. When I go to a resto however with my older family members (who usually insist on paying the bill) but are incredible "thrifty" with tips, I slip back and add extra tip--especially if the service was good. Older greneration in my family seem to think 10% is ok-shudder.

2010 May 6
For you iPhone users - there is a very cool app for tipping. It's great to use for rounding up and down. Type in 15% and it will round up for you and tell you exactly how much to leave. I am pretty good in math - but I love the app!

itunes.apple.com


2010 May 7
I use to work at a coffee place where the owner would take some tips for himself as well.

2010 May 7
At all the places I worked at, pretty much most cash payments are off the books. That pretty much applies to most small businesses!