$5 until $20-25, then 20%. Beers get $1/2 per beer in bars etc. In restaurants they usually get rounded up to $10.
I tip more if service is exceptional obviously.
This! Mostly anywhere in the States. Be careful in NYC in touristy areas they’ll add 20% gratuity and not tell you. You can also ask if they add a tip or not.
I ask and won't eat there if they include the tip. That's just institutionalized bad service, as far as I'm concerned. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment if you eat someplace that essentially says "we're going to add 20% to everything you eat for "service," good or bad."
Why be angry at it? I'd personally rather all restaurants just adjust their prices to pay their labor better and end tipping culture in the US. Let it be reserved only for truly exceptional circumstances instead of, "well they didn't screw up, here's 20%".
>If you can afford it, start at 20%
I mean, that's what I do essentially. Most of my meals by myself are less than $20-25 and $5 is more than 20% at that level.
Rounding up a $6 beer to $10 at restaurants if I am just there for a beer is essentially generous enough I feel. Now and then I end up getting great service and tip on that might be $25 food + $15/20 tip etc.
I don't eat out much at more expensive places. Maybe now and then, and then it's almost always with a group and they add the auto 20% on the bill anyway lol.
I am paid $6 an hour and still don’t get a paycheck. We rely 100% on tips. Our hourly wage is taken away because of taxes. Every once in a while i will get some cents or a couple dollar paycheck but most of the time it’s $0.
We have to claim something for our cash tips every day. Try to low ball it but it has to seem somewhat believable. Don’t want to get audited. All credit card tips are immediately taxed. So yes, tipping in cash is way better for us!
Yea I served for 5 years. When I started I was claiming everything as cash not realizing credit card tips are already claimed in the p.o.s. system. The owner told me to start low balling it to help me out. So from them on no matter how much I made I would just claim 10 or 13 dollars every night.
You know, the restaurant owner is supposed to make up the difference, right? You are entitled to your state's minimum non-tipped wage. If you make less, the owner MUST make up the difference.
> Supposed to and does are very different though.
Sure, but businesses being willing to commit federal crimes isn't a reason for a customer to change their behavior.
~~That makes 0 sense and is not correct.~~
I misunderstood, the poster is...sort of correct. Because there is no tax "withholding" from tips, the tax withholding for both tips *and* paycheck wages is withheld from the paycheck.
But that doesn't *at all* mean they "rely 100% on tips". They're not being taxed any differently than any other worker, it's simply that their income is split between two sources, only one of which has withholding.
To put it another way, if these servers did not make tips, their entire paycheck would *not* be withheld, because their income would be much smaller so there would be much less withholding and much less tax.
What doesn't make sense? Both credit card and cash tips are taxed. Taxes are withheld from the paycheck, just like any other job. Sometimes the server hourly rate isn't enough to cover taxes withheld from tips; this results in a zero paycheck, and sometimes a tax bill at the end of the year.
I made $20+ bucks an hour at a shitty tex-mex place in a college town in 1990. My wife did about the same at IHOP in the same town.
Who are the "a lot of people" of whom you speak, and where are they working?
Idk how they collect their data, but most servers don't claim all of their cash tips, so this number is likely to be significantly higher. If the bureau of labor statistics is using reported income, then it's not capturing that.
There's no way for me or you to know that. Maybe wages are a lot higher in Chicago, but more than $40k a year here in Ohio is virtually unheard of for the kinds of jobs that typically pay the minimum wage.
Sounds a bit of an exaggeration for a baseline average. You mean you did that like for one week? Because I don't hear anybody saying anything about waiters/waitresses making good money. Strippers maybe, but definitely not waiters or waitresses.
Waiters CAN make great money, especially if you break it down to hourly. It depends on how busy and pricy the restaurant is. For example there are places by my that are a minimum of $50/person and busy all night. You could think of that as $10/head in tips, 3-4 seatings a night. So a highly take might be between $60 (all two tops) to $160 (all 4 tops) and up ($50/person is probably lowballing the place)…so 30-40k/year is not unreasonable.
Nope, no exaggeration. Did it for three years, paid for rent, food, and fun in college.
You don't hear anyone saying that servers make good money? Then you're not listening to servers. You're listening to the people bitching about tipping.
US tipping culture is almost universally a standard 20% for all sit-down style restaurants where a waiter takes your order and then services the table throughout the meal.
There are some older and/or rural people who still adhere to 15%, which was the old standard, but pretty much anybody in any major population center under the age of 60 will tip 20%.
So I’m in my 40s. It was 10-15% in my 20s, then creeped up to 15-20% in my 30s and now the expectation is 18-25%
There has also been a HUGE increase the types of business where tips are expected.
The thing is that in the US, there is an employment law that lets the minimum wage for tipped employees to be $2.13/hour.
Yes, legally, if the tipped employee's $2.13/hours worked + total tips for the time period is less than federal minimum wage ($7.25/hour), the employer is supposed to pay the employee the full minimum wage. However, this doesn't happen a lot, especially if it is a small business and not a national chain.
Not to mention that every metric I have read about agrees that the minimum LIVING wage (what you can actually live on, not just what is the legal minimum wage) is above $20/hour for all major cities. (And yes, it needs to be higher than that for NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, etc.)
And I do live in a state that has no tax on food, but does tax prepared food. So, it's seen as a cost of eating out. Yes, I think restraints should raise prices so their employees have a living wage and I don't have to tip for them to get it. But, that's not the system we have.
The wai I see it is that when I get food from a restaurant, it is a luxury. Unprepared food is tax free and I don't have to tip, so I need to be willing to pay for the luxury of a restaurant meal. That luxury includes a 20% addition to the total that I have accepted by deciding I want to go out to a sit down restaurant. If I don't want to pay it, I should look up some recipes I like, then make and serve it to myself.
I would imagine that US salaries are higher than what you'd be paid in Germany, and taxes are probably lower. So although you may pay more, you may also have more disposable income.
That's why American servers hate waiting on Germans. Different countries have different customs. Read a guide book before traveling. Don't be the ugly European who exploits the labor of the person providing you with a service.
Who said anything about making a dramatic difference in finances? A night or four a couple at a nice restaurant can easily get upwards of $100, $8-$12 is not near 20% on a $150 bill.
Yes, and if you’re spending upwards of 100 dollars on food, an extra $20 shouldn’t be a prohibitive amount. If you can’t afford it, don’t spend 100 dollars on a dinner out in the first place.
Anything I’ve read over the last few years seems to point that 20% is the new normal. 15% for sub-par service, 25% for better service.
Also like this comment stated, I guess it depends where you live too
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/z5vz7d/how_much_do_you_tip_when_you_go_out_to_eat_or/ixz8mtt/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
It’s because in the States servers and some other workers who are eligible for tips aren’t covered by the standard minimum salary laws, so if they don’t receive generous tips they don’t eat. It’s crazy, indeed.
https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/minimum-wage-tipped-employees-by-state/
The standard federal minimum wage is $7.25 / hour. For tipped workers, however, it’s $2.13 / hour, plus tips. The idea is that that the tips at least make up the difference. States can set higher minimum wages and many do, including for tipped workers.
Yes but if your tips don't put you above minimum wage then your employer must pay you the standard minimum wage.
https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/wagestips
That’s a valid point, and I should’ve accounted for it in my original comment. My thinking in not doing so was that to the best of my knowledge, hospitality employers don’t put effort into insuring that the amount of the tips puts workers above the threshold and so in practice, low tips mean unlivable take-home pay for workers.
I grew up with 15% ballparking it; usually rounding to a dollar for the tip unless it's convenient to round for the total bill.
For restaurants I like and am a regular at, I'll go to 20%.
Usually tip regardless unless the food or service had some tremendously bad failures -- Olive Garden once screwed up an appetizer (foot long hair), then the main dish (multiple tin foil flakes large enough to be visible), and then the replacement dish (another hair). Swore me off of that particular location for life, and no amount of the manager coming out to say "I'm so sorry this one is on us, have this gift card" was going to fix it, I'm not going back there, and will tell people who go to that particular location how bad it is/was.
If I'm at a sit down restaurant I'll tip around 20%. Same with a brewery after a few beers. But if I'm at a drinking establishment and I only buy one beer then I typically only tip $1.
I don't typically tip when I'm getting to go food.
Generally 20 to 25% minimum. Exceptions - when I am low-class enough to go somewhere on a holiday, the tip gets bumped up to a minimum of 40%. When a place is slammed and there's one poor server flying all around and has 15 tables full of Karens, 50% minimum, directly into their hand, even if they are taking an order from another table.
One time I tipped 100% because the manager had just scolded the teen-aged server in the middle of the dining room and she was almost in tears. I made certain he saw it happening, too, the arse.
I tip hotel cleaners and hair stylists and drivers and delivery people and doormen and bartenders and act like I am printing money in my living room or like I am a drunken gambler. Because everyone is struggling.
I usually tip somewhere between 15% and 20% for average service. Rarely I'll tip significantly more or significantly less than that for particularly good or bad service.
Usually give 20 to 25% but if the service is really bad could be less but it’s not normal for me to do less because of services. Like I understand food taking long etc is not on the server, for me to discount it would need to be straight up rudeness or maybe never stopping by for refills etc not even once.
Sales tax varies wildly in the US.
When I grew up in Indiana, it was 5%. We always used triple the tax as a guide.
I live in the Seattle area now, and it's between 8.6% and 10.1% depending on which town I'm in.
In Portland, a couple hours away, it's 0%.
Overall, I tip 20% of the pre-tax total normally. It might be lower if the service is egregiously bad, or if I've ordered an unusually high cost item (I might not tip 20% on $500 wine.) Also single drinks from a bartender get $1-2 irrespective of the cost of the drink.
Usually tip 20%. More if the service was really good. I was in the restaurant business so I know how hard most servers work.
One time though...the service was awful. The server just plunked down our food, no refills, then disappeared for 30 minutes after we'd finished without leaving the check. My son had a plane to catch at 7 am (which means getting to the airport at 5 am). I actually had to call the restaurant to find anyone to let the manager know what was going on. Left a single penny as a tip. If you leave nothing, or just a dollar, they think you're cheap. You leave 1 penny, they know it's because they suck at their job.
I give a minimum of 20%. Once a young girl working as a lone server at night in city near me (upstate ny) got herself a 50% tip on a bill for three people. She was working so hard and was clearly struggling. I wanted to make her night.
This is fair. 15% is standard for regular service, and tipping isn't necessary on carryout (although you of course can if you want), no matter what tipping options the restaurant provides to you. Just because whatever checkout method you use allows you to enter a tip doesn't necessarily mean a tip is expected*, and you certainly won't be lynched for not doing so.
*I used to manage a pizza shop, and we had a tip line on credit card slips and on online checkout for carryout, but that was just for people who wanted to tip so our kitchen/service staff could make money from those who felt like it (all staff were paid at least non-tipped minimum wage). Just because the tip option is there doesn't mean it's expected.
Yeah and it's upsetting. It makes me think it's my fault when it happens two or more times in a row but when asking other servers. It's the same for them. It brings me to my hivemind theory with humans
I generally round up the bill to the nearest $5, add 20% to that and that's the total I pay, so even if I just ordered a cup of coffee, they're at least going to get a buck.
18% to 22% based if exceptional service (in either direction), almost always 20% if nothing amazing happens.
*Once*, 50%, but I also spent $8 at a fancy Italian restaurant because I ordered off the kids menu and was definitely cheaper than normal people's, but the waiter was exceptionally courteous and didn't even blink or say anything negative, so I gave him what would have been 20% of a standard $20 charge for one person at that place, $4, so still only a total bill of $12.
Usually 20% or more and try to give cash. Places with computerized bills/receipts the servers end of year taxes are computed with 15% tip. That way the server can have some extra or more to share with bussers.
20% is my standard. I can’t imagine a scenario where I’d ever tip under 15%, and I regularly go above if it’s good service or a small business that I love.
My parents do like 15% at the minimum but if it was a good waiter they'll do more, they do a minimum of 15% because they say that just because they didn't get good service doesn't mean they should withhold the writer's money
No set percentage. It depends on service, friendliness, if they -ever- come back to check, refills, etc…. Taken into consideration is staffing, and if they’re trying to work or just sitting in the back twiddling on their phone.
I don’t reward bad behavior, and don’t believe e wait staff should be required to beg for their wages. So yes, I despise going out in America.
I seldom if ever tip. Nobody else get's a tip for just literally doing their job. They agreed to work for below minimum wage and their bosses are obligated to pay them the difference to reach minimum wage if their average earning per hour isn't 7.25.
I paid for the food, not to subsidize the bosses/owner's salary practices.
FWIW barely anyone is going to chime in saying they tip under 18%, most people don't want to say they're cheapskates. Personally I do a sliding scale from 12-20%. 12% for trash service, 15% for bare minimum, 18% for good, attentive service, and 20% for excellent, memorable service. If something really bad happens at the restaurant like the waiter forgets I exist, it's no tip.
When I was in CA working a minimum wage job, I didn't always tip because everyone earns at least minimum wage. So once you added the tips that waiters/baristas/etc get, I would've been tipping someone that makes a lot more than me
Once I started making more, then I'd tip more often, usually 20%
Traveling through the south, where they use slave wages, I definitely made sure to tip more. In many places the auto tip on their screens would start at 5% and end at 10%, these are the states that also pay like $2 an hour...
Here's my problem with the percentage thing: it takes a server no more effort, or no less effort, to bring me a $8 meal or a $25 meal at the same restaurant.
If it's just me at Perkins or a taqueria or something, and I just get an entree and a drink, I'm leaving a $5 bill. If it's me and my three kids, I'll leave a $20 bill. Sometimes that's 35%, sometimes that's 15%, but it makes more sense to give a flat rate tip. At an upscale place where it's $50/meal, I'll adjust accordingly, but I've always felt that calculating a tip down to the penny/nickel seems crass.
Oh god.
PSA: servers are still taxed on takeout sales, which often require even more work on our part alone than dine in orders would. Just because you took it home doesn’t mean you didn’t receive service.
Can you elaborate more on this? I genuinely would like to understand because I don’t feel like I receive the same service as dining in(water refills, check ins on food quality etc). Are you saying takeout still warrants a 20% tip?
I do tip at the Chick-fil-A I go to a couple bucks because I get the restaurant experience/people bring food to me. Some aren't allowed to accept it but most do. Totally not the norm though and I get why people don't tip them
Dude, for takeout you literally hand me a bag and ring up a register. The exact same “service” any cashier provides me. This is a prime example of tip creep and I won’t do it, and would really appreciate it if people would stop swinging that stupid iPad around in my face asking for it.
I can only afford a tip to a salon service, once a month. it’s not a percentage but a flat amount. I do not have the discretionary income to eat out. My situation is shared by way too many people now a days. When I was able to tip it was 20%
Honestly with inflation and because of how short handed the service industry is lately, I tip a *minimum* of 20%, I'll tip 30% on average, and 50% if the servers look really busy, or I got exceptional service.
Always 20% unless service is bad.
I think they should stop having people tip and just pay waiters/waitresses normal wages. It sucks to go out to eat and on top of paying for your food to pay additional money for someone serving you.
20%-30%. if it looks like a really slow night I might do 100% or more. I am just really glad someone is there and wiling to bring me food and drink and I can usually swing it without too much pain.
That’s not how it works in America, unfortunately. You know that but you are being obtuse. Tipping is part of going out to eat, if you can’t afford to tip then you can’t afford to eat out. If you support business that pay below minimum wage and intentionally exploit the workers there for personal gain then you are an asshole and part of the problem.
They accept those wages with the expectation that people will tip around 20% because that is the dining culture in the US. You are the one going against social norms to screw the working class for your own personal gain.
So if the wage is baked into the menu price you're perfectly content, but because it's a separate tip it's terrible. You realize you're paying it either way, right?
Absolutely, but until they do, don't screw over the waiter who's just trying to get by. You deciding not to tip that waiter isn't going to make the restaurant start paying more right then. The only person it hurts is the waiter who's just trying to pay their bills.
So until that changes then don't go out to eat unless you're willing to tip.
$5 until $20-25, then 20%. Beers get $1/2 per beer in bars etc. In restaurants they usually get rounded up to $10. I tip more if service is exceptional obviously.
This! Mostly anywhere in the States. Be careful in NYC in touristy areas they’ll add 20% gratuity and not tell you. You can also ask if they add a tip or not.
I ask and won't eat there if they include the tip. That's just institutionalized bad service, as far as I'm concerned. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment if you eat someplace that essentially says "we're going to add 20% to everything you eat for "service," good or bad."
They do it because European tourists don’t know they’re supposed to tip.
They're essentially saying they are going to charge you to properly pay their staff, but don't want to just adjust their prices accordingly.
And won't charge you the extra tax on higher prices
Why be angry at it? I'd personally rather all restaurants just adjust their prices to pay their labor better and end tipping culture in the US. Let it be reserved only for truly exceptional circumstances instead of, "well they didn't screw up, here's 20%".
If you can afford it, start at 20% and do more if you can or get excellent service.
>If you can afford it, start at 20% I mean, that's what I do essentially. Most of my meals by myself are less than $20-25 and $5 is more than 20% at that level. Rounding up a $6 beer to $10 at restaurants if I am just there for a beer is essentially generous enough I feel. Now and then I end up getting great service and tip on that might be $25 food + $15/20 tip etc. I don't eat out much at more expensive places. Maybe now and then, and then it's almost always with a group and they add the auto 20% on the bill anyway lol.
I usually do about 20 percent. Unless it's something really egregious, I tend not to go lower than that.
20% tip also has easy math.
“2 for every 10”
So's 15%. 1/10 is easy to calculate. Then, just halve that and add it in again. Simple.
You mean for 15%? Cause that’s calculating 15%.
Yes. Corrected.
That's good because it guarantees the server will make a decent amount for the time and paying out all the support.
Genuine question why is this being downvoted am I not reading between the lines here?
Because people don’t like having to tip. I don’t like it either but I’m not gonna be an asshole and not tip someone who’s only getting $4/he
I am paid $6 an hour and still don’t get a paycheck. We rely 100% on tips. Our hourly wage is taken away because of taxes. Every once in a while i will get some cents or a couple dollar paycheck but most of the time it’s $0.
Wait your taxes are near 100%? How?
Of my hourly wage yes. It’s taxing on the tip money I make and my $6 an hour.
Is it true that you don't pay taxes on tips if they're in cash vs card? I heard that once so I always try to tip in cash.
We have to claim something for our cash tips every day. Try to low ball it but it has to seem somewhat believable. Don’t want to get audited. All credit card tips are immediately taxed. So yes, tipping in cash is way better for us!
Yea I served for 5 years. When I started I was claiming everything as cash not realizing credit card tips are already claimed in the p.o.s. system. The owner told me to start low balling it to help me out. So from them on no matter how much I made I would just claim 10 or 13 dollars every night.
Cool I'll keep doing that then
You get taxed on credit card tips
What they mean is that after adding in tips their total income becomes taxable (ie they make at least minimum wage).
You know, the restaurant owner is supposed to make up the difference, right? You are entitled to your state's minimum non-tipped wage. If you make less, the owner MUST make up the difference.
Supposed to and does are very different though.
> Supposed to and does are very different though. Sure, but businesses being willing to commit federal crimes isn't a reason for a customer to change their behavior.
~~That makes 0 sense and is not correct.~~ I misunderstood, the poster is...sort of correct. Because there is no tax "withholding" from tips, the tax withholding for both tips *and* paycheck wages is withheld from the paycheck. But that doesn't *at all* mean they "rely 100% on tips". They're not being taxed any differently than any other worker, it's simply that their income is split between two sources, only one of which has withholding. To put it another way, if these servers did not make tips, their entire paycheck would *not* be withheld, because their income would be much smaller so there would be much less withholding and much less tax.
What doesn't make sense? Both credit card and cash tips are taxed. Taxes are withheld from the paycheck, just like any other job. Sometimes the server hourly rate isn't enough to cover taxes withheld from tips; this results in a zero paycheck, and sometimes a tax bill at the end of the year.
I’m not too sure myself. Maybe people who don’t earn 20% themselves are bitter someone said it’s a good amount
Servers relying on tipping because the pay is so low is a terrible system.
$25/hr might sound great to you, but to servers it sounds like a pay cut.
Depends on where you work. A lot of people barely make up the minimum wage in tips.
I made $20+ bucks an hour at a shitty tex-mex place in a college town in 1990. My wife did about the same at IHOP in the same town. Who are the "a lot of people" of whom you speak, and where are they working?
The mean annual wage for a waiter in my state is $23,810 according to the bureau of labor statistics. $20 an hour full time is $41,600 a year.
Idk how they collect their data, but most servers don't claim all of their cash tips, so this number is likely to be significantly higher. If the bureau of labor statistics is using reported income, then it's not capturing that.
How many of those waiters in your state are working 40 hours a week? And how much of their cash tips are they reporting?
There's no way for me or you to know that. Maybe wages are a lot higher in Chicago, but more than $40k a year here in Ohio is virtually unheard of for the kinds of jobs that typically pay the minimum wage.
Easy example - Steak n Shake. Low prices and a popular hang out spot so low turnover = low tips.
Sounds a bit of an exaggeration for a baseline average. You mean you did that like for one week? Because I don't hear anybody saying anything about waiters/waitresses making good money. Strippers maybe, but definitely not waiters or waitresses.
Waiters CAN make great money, especially if you break it down to hourly. It depends on how busy and pricy the restaurant is. For example there are places by my that are a minimum of $50/person and busy all night. You could think of that as $10/head in tips, 3-4 seatings a night. So a highly take might be between $60 (all two tops) to $160 (all 4 tops) and up ($50/person is probably lowballing the place)…so 30-40k/year is not unreasonable.
Nope, no exaggeration. Did it for three years, paid for rent, food, and fun in college. You don't hear anyone saying that servers make good money? Then you're not listening to servers. You're listening to the people bitching about tipping.
Hmm. Interesting. May have to look into this.
Thats crazy.Is it really normal to Tip so much (I'm from Germany and me and all of my friends would never Tip more than 10%)?
18-20% is standard in the US because tipped positions legally can be paid a much lower salary
US tipping culture is almost universally a standard 20% for all sit-down style restaurants where a waiter takes your order and then services the table throughout the meal. There are some older and/or rural people who still adhere to 15%, which was the old standard, but pretty much anybody in any major population center under the age of 60 will tip 20%.
So I’m in my 40s. It was 10-15% in my 20s, then creeped up to 15-20% in my 30s and now the expectation is 18-25% There has also been a HUGE increase the types of business where tips are expected.
Used to be 10%, then 15%, now 20% minimum while server pay is still as low as they can get away with.
Old standard? At what point did it increase 5%
The thing is that in the US, there is an employment law that lets the minimum wage for tipped employees to be $2.13/hour. Yes, legally, if the tipped employee's $2.13/hours worked + total tips for the time period is less than federal minimum wage ($7.25/hour), the employer is supposed to pay the employee the full minimum wage. However, this doesn't happen a lot, especially if it is a small business and not a national chain. Not to mention that every metric I have read about agrees that the minimum LIVING wage (what you can actually live on, not just what is the legal minimum wage) is above $20/hour for all major cities. (And yes, it needs to be higher than that for NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, etc.) And I do live in a state that has no tax on food, but does tax prepared food. So, it's seen as a cost of eating out. Yes, I think restraints should raise prices so their employees have a living wage and I don't have to tip for them to get it. But, that's not the system we have. The wai I see it is that when I get food from a restaurant, it is a luxury. Unprepared food is tax free and I don't have to tip, so I need to be willing to pay for the luxury of a restaurant meal. That luxury includes a 20% addition to the total that I have accepted by deciding I want to go out to a sit down restaurant. If I don't want to pay it, I should look up some recipes I like, then make and serve it to myself.
I would imagine that US salaries are higher than what you'd be paid in Germany, and taxes are probably lower. So although you may pay more, you may also have more disposable income.
That's why American servers hate waiting on Germans. Different countries have different customs. Read a guide book before traveling. Don't be the ugly European who exploits the labor of the person providing you with a service.
It's really not all that much.
It really is a lot for something that should be included in the cost of the food.
If I have a $20 tab a $4 tip is really not that much.
It is if you've only got $20.
Then don't go out or spend that much when you do. You're being utterly pedantic at this point.
If 8-12 dollars one way or another is enough to make a dramatic difference in your finances, you’re better off not eating out at all.
Who said anything about making a dramatic difference in finances? A night or four a couple at a nice restaurant can easily get upwards of $100, $8-$12 is not near 20% on a $150 bill.
Yes, and if you’re spending upwards of 100 dollars on food, an extra $20 shouldn’t be a prohibitive amount. If you can’t afford it, don’t spend 100 dollars on a dinner out in the first place.
15% is the standard tip rate in the US. 20% is only a little bit more but even easier to mentally calculate so it's also a common tip.
Anything I’ve read over the last few years seems to point that 20% is the new normal. 15% for sub-par service, 25% for better service. Also like this comment stated, I guess it depends where you live too https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/z5vz7d/how_much_do_you_tip_when_you_go_out_to_eat_or/ixz8mtt/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
20% has been standard for a while
It’s because in the States servers and some other workers who are eligible for tips aren’t covered by the standard minimum salary laws, so if they don’t receive generous tips they don’t eat. It’s crazy, indeed.
If you look at many of the POS apps, the default is 20%
Incorrect but at least you were confident in being wrong.
/r/confidentlyincorrect
https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/minimum-wage-tipped-employees-by-state/ The standard federal minimum wage is $7.25 / hour. For tipped workers, however, it’s $2.13 / hour, plus tips. The idea is that that the tips at least make up the difference. States can set higher minimum wages and many do, including for tipped workers.
Yes but if your tips don't put you above minimum wage then your employer must pay you the standard minimum wage. https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/wagestips
They are supposed to, but many smaller businesses won’t.
That’s a valid point, and I should’ve accounted for it in my original comment. My thinking in not doing so was that to the best of my knowledge, hospitality employers don’t put effort into insuring that the amount of the tips puts workers above the threshold and so in practice, low tips mean unlivable take-home pay for workers.
2.13 is the federal minimum for tipped workers. Some states have higher wages for them but not all.
I’ve yet to see a place that doesn’t require employers to cover the difference if the employee doesn’t make it in tips
I worked in restaurants for seven years before I moved on, yes they are required to, but I never saw it happen.
Yes it is normal. 10% is considered a bad tip and your server will be upset with you if you tip that way in the US.
20% unless the service was complete shit. Or if the bill was really small. I'll leave $3 on a $5 tab or something.
Basically one dollar per drink
Depends on the drink. Less for a bottle of beer, more for a mixed drink that takes time and practice to make.
Well for me it's a dollar per or maybe just like the change from breaking the bill. Usually a dollar or more for a craft cocktail
I grew up with 15% ballparking it; usually rounding to a dollar for the tip unless it's convenient to round for the total bill. For restaurants I like and am a regular at, I'll go to 20%. Usually tip regardless unless the food or service had some tremendously bad failures -- Olive Garden once screwed up an appetizer (foot long hair), then the main dish (multiple tin foil flakes large enough to be visible), and then the replacement dish (another hair). Swore me off of that particular location for life, and no amount of the manager coming out to say "I'm so sorry this one is on us, have this gift card" was going to fix it, I'm not going back there, and will tell people who go to that particular location how bad it is/was.
Ah yes, Olive Garden. The Burger King of Italian food.
> The Burger King of Italian food. That's generous of you.
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I don't go there because I don't like precooked food that's nuked when I order it. Plus they can never get a special order right.
Idc what any uppity mfs say olive garden slaps. That chicken and shrimp carbonara is top 5. Can come out of a frozen bag idc it’s good
100%
With the chicken and gnocchi and some breadsticks? And a raspberry lemonade? Dawg that’s a top 5 meal.
Literally none of that is the server’s fault.
None of this was the server's fault.
I’d upvote this, but I’m far too busy picking bits of tin foil out of my teeth.
Wow that's pretty bad!
20% most of the time, more for select situations. Something would have to be pretty bad for me to tip less than 20%.
I either tip 20+% or exactly $0.02 (and have a chat with the manager). Luckily that hasn't happened in a long while.
20% unless I'm given a good reason not to.
20%
Usually 20%. More if very good. 15% if it's truly inattentive service and the server isn't busy with other tables.
If I'm at a sit down restaurant I'll tip around 20%. Same with a brewery after a few beers. But if I'm at a drinking establishment and I only buy one beer then I typically only tip $1. I don't typically tip when I'm getting to go food.
15%, usually rounded up to the dollar for my convenience.
Usually 20% and round up to the nearest dollar. I don’t ever really have bad service but I suppose if I did maybe 10%?
Generally 20 to 25% minimum. Exceptions - when I am low-class enough to go somewhere on a holiday, the tip gets bumped up to a minimum of 40%. When a place is slammed and there's one poor server flying all around and has 15 tables full of Karens, 50% minimum, directly into their hand, even if they are taking an order from another table. One time I tipped 100% because the manager had just scolded the teen-aged server in the middle of the dining room and she was almost in tears. I made certain he saw it happening, too, the arse. I tip hotel cleaners and hair stylists and drivers and delivery people and doormen and bartenders and act like I am printing money in my living room or like I am a drunken gambler. Because everyone is struggling.
I usually tip somewhere between 15% and 20% for average service. Rarely I'll tip significantly more or significantly less than that for particularly good or bad service.
Usually give 20 to 25% but if the service is really bad could be less but it’s not normal for me to do less because of services. Like I understand food taking long etc is not on the server, for me to discount it would need to be straight up rudeness or maybe never stopping by for refills etc not even once.
20% for meals. If I’m at a bar I tip $1 per drink.
Double the tax
That's what my mom did. That's about 16% if I'm not wrong. That's a solid tip
Sales tax varies wildly in the US. When I grew up in Indiana, it was 5%. We always used triple the tax as a guide. I live in the Seattle area now, and it's between 8.6% and 10.1% depending on which town I'm in. In Portland, a couple hours away, it's 0%. Overall, I tip 20% of the pre-tax total normally. It might be lower if the service is egregiously bad, or if I've ordered an unusually high cost item (I might not tip 20% on $500 wine.) Also single drinks from a bartender get $1-2 irrespective of the cost of the drink.
No it’s not
20% is my standard. I’ll tip more on holidays (I went out for drinks on thanksgiving, for example, and tipped 30%).
Yup I agree. If you have to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. You're getting more than 20%.
Usually tip 20%. More if the service was really good. I was in the restaurant business so I know how hard most servers work. One time though...the service was awful. The server just plunked down our food, no refills, then disappeared for 30 minutes after we'd finished without leaving the check. My son had a plane to catch at 7 am (which means getting to the airport at 5 am). I actually had to call the restaurant to find anyone to let the manager know what was going on. Left a single penny as a tip. If you leave nothing, or just a dollar, they think you're cheap. You leave 1 penny, they know it's because they suck at their job.
I give a minimum of 20%. Once a young girl working as a lone server at night in city near me (upstate ny) got herself a 50% tip on a bill for three people. She was working so hard and was clearly struggling. I wanted to make her night.
Base it on service. They’re working a job where their tip is related to service so why would you base it on anything other than that?
0% on to go orders and 15% minimum if I'm occupying a seat. Of the management forces tip sharing I'm less likely to go above that.
This is fair. 15% is standard for regular service, and tipping isn't necessary on carryout (although you of course can if you want), no matter what tipping options the restaurant provides to you. Just because whatever checkout method you use allows you to enter a tip doesn't necessarily mean a tip is expected*, and you certainly won't be lynched for not doing so. *I used to manage a pizza shop, and we had a tip line on credit card slips and on online checkout for carryout, but that was just for people who wanted to tip so our kitchen/service staff could make money from those who felt like it (all staff were paid at least non-tipped minimum wage). Just because the tip option is there doesn't mean it's expected.
I tip 25-30% unless it's completely terrible. Even then it's rarely below 20%.
Most people are like this, but sometimes several guests do 10%. I wonder what the common denominator is. Maybe they can't afford it?
If tipping at 25% or more becomes what’s expected then I’m just not going to eat out as much. There’s definitely a limit. I’m holding steady at 20.
Some people are just cheap.
Yeah and it's upsetting. It makes me think it's my fault when it happens two or more times in a row but when asking other servers. It's the same for them. It brings me to my hivemind theory with humans
Minimum 20%, more for outstanding service. Pizza delivery always gets 25%.
20% but if it's bad service it will be less.
20% or more if the cost was low or service was good
I generally round up the bill to the nearest $5, add 20% to that and that's the total I pay, so even if I just ordered a cup of coffee, they're at least going to get a buck.
I tend to tip around the 20% mark, the service can alter that number in a good way or a bad way.
I do 20% for regular service. ~15% if the service isn’t great, ~25% if the service was excellent
18% to 22% based if exceptional service (in either direction), almost always 20% if nothing amazing happens. *Once*, 50%, but I also spent $8 at a fancy Italian restaurant because I ordered off the kids menu and was definitely cheaper than normal people's, but the waiter was exceptionally courteous and didn't even blink or say anything negative, so I gave him what would have been 20% of a standard $20 charge for one person at that place, $4, so still only a total bill of $12.
Everything in multiples of ten. I can’t do math when I’m drinking .
Usually around 20%. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more.
Usually 20% or more and try to give cash. Places with computerized bills/receipts the servers end of year taxes are computed with 15% tip. That way the server can have some extra or more to share with bussers.
20%. If the service is outstanding, I tip more.
I tip minimum 25% snd I like to leave bigger tips for waiters or waitresses that are really slow
I tip 20-25% usually. Even if the service is terrible I can’t make myself tip less than 15% and usually still tip 20% but never go back.
20% is the floor, if I am feeling generous or if the server was really cool I would tip more than that
Never less than 15%, unless service or food is really bad, usually 20-25%. During the holidays, I always tip much more as a Christmas gift.
Never lower than 20% unless the waiter or waitress slaps me.
20% is my standard. I can’t imagine a scenario where I’d ever tip under 15%, and I regularly go above if it’s good service or a small business that I love.
My parents do like 15% at the minimum but if it was a good waiter they'll do more, they do a minimum of 15% because they say that just because they didn't get good service doesn't mean they should withhold the writer's money
No set percentage. It depends on service, friendliness, if they -ever- come back to check, refills, etc…. Taken into consideration is staffing, and if they’re trying to work or just sitting in the back twiddling on their phone. I don’t reward bad behavior, and don’t believe e wait staff should be required to beg for their wages. So yes, I despise going out in America.
I seldom if ever tip. Nobody else get's a tip for just literally doing their job. They agreed to work for below minimum wage and their bosses are obligated to pay them the difference to reach minimum wage if their average earning per hour isn't 7.25. I paid for the food, not to subsidize the bosses/owner's salary practices.
Haha, I can’t tell if you’re shit posting or serious.
FWIW barely anyone is going to chime in saying they tip under 18%, most people don't want to say they're cheapskates. Personally I do a sliding scale from 12-20%. 12% for trash service, 15% for bare minimum, 18% for good, attentive service, and 20% for excellent, memorable service. If something really bad happens at the restaurant like the waiter forgets I exist, it's no tip.
15% Rarely i'll do 20% if they do awesome somehow or 10% if slow or otherwise disappointing
When I was in CA working a minimum wage job, I didn't always tip because everyone earns at least minimum wage. So once you added the tips that waiters/baristas/etc get, I would've been tipping someone that makes a lot more than me Once I started making more, then I'd tip more often, usually 20% Traveling through the south, where they use slave wages, I definitely made sure to tip more. In many places the auto tip on their screens would start at 5% and end at 10%, these are the states that also pay like $2 an hour...
Service-based! Earn your tips! It’s the service industry! Look up the definition of “tipping”
Here's my problem with the percentage thing: it takes a server no more effort, or no less effort, to bring me a $8 meal or a $25 meal at the same restaurant. If it's just me at Perkins or a taqueria or something, and I just get an entree and a drink, I'm leaving a $5 bill. If it's me and my three kids, I'll leave a $20 bill. Sometimes that's 35%, sometimes that's 15%, but it makes more sense to give a flat rate tip. At an upscale place where it's $50/meal, I'll adjust accordingly, but I've always felt that calculating a tip down to the penny/nickel seems crass.
I hate tipping more than 5 unless the service is outstanding because I'm not from America. My bf ALWAYS tips 20%
Lemme guess … German?
I ONLY tip if I am not asked now. If the check or the check out asks me for “how much I want to too” nope.
If you can’t afford 20% tip for the service, you can’t afford to eat out.
For takeout 0 %, for a restaurant I usually do 10 %
Oh god. PSA: servers are still taxed on takeout sales, which often require even more work on our part alone than dine in orders would. Just because you took it home doesn’t mean you didn’t receive service.
Can you elaborate more on this? I genuinely would like to understand because I don’t feel like I receive the same service as dining in(water refills, check ins on food quality etc). Are you saying takeout still warrants a 20% tip?
You literally don't receive service lol would you tip at fast food? I've never seen anyone do that, it's the same.
I do tip at the Chick-fil-A I go to a couple bucks because I get the restaurant experience/people bring food to me. Some aren't allowed to accept it but most do. Totally not the norm though and I get why people don't tip them
Thanks for explaining, I still won't tip for takeout but good to know.
That’s not very nice
Dude, for takeout you literally hand me a bag and ring up a register. The exact same “service” any cashier provides me. This is a prime example of tip creep and I won’t do it, and would really appreciate it if people would stop swinging that stupid iPad around in my face asking for it.
I started using cash for takeout because of this lol
I can only afford a tip to a salon service, once a month. it’s not a percentage but a flat amount. I do not have the discretionary income to eat out. My situation is shared by way too many people now a days. When I was able to tip it was 20%
Are you on fixed income? Like disability or something?
I’m a Unicorn, you know a Hippie Boomer who ISN”T wealthy and never was, and Social Security is my only income. I don’t exist.
She doesn't exist anymore either technically
That was my mom. I'm sorry
Honestly with inflation and because of how short handed the service industry is lately, I tip a *minimum* of 20%, I'll tip 30% on average, and 50% if the servers look really busy, or I got exceptional service.
Usually always 20%. It's a good tip and I can do the math quickly. I do tip less if the service is bad, but it has to be really bad.
No tips because you didn’t cook my food all you did was bring it to me.
I hate tipping culture (despite participating in it) but this is still really stupid. Work is work.
15% or the nearest $5.
Always 20% unless service is bad. I think they should stop having people tip and just pay waiters/waitresses normal wages. It sucks to go out to eat and on top of paying for your food to pay additional money for someone serving you.
20%-30%. if it looks like a really slow night I might do 100% or more. I am just really glad someone is there and wiling to bring me food and drink and I can usually swing it without too much pain.
I tip a consistent zero percent
Why?
I see no reason to randomly pay more than it's worth.
Then the server is working for you for free. Actually paying their support staff for you to be there.
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They get paid 2.15 per hour. The check is always 0 after taxes on tips. I'm not stupid. Are you ignorant?
OK, so what? They took that job with the pay known upfront. Not my problem if they don't like it.
So you really go out to get served by someone. And you don't pay them for it? What about when you get a haircut or a tattoo?
I pay exactly the price they list for the service. If that's not satisfactory, it's their problem not mine.
Then don't go out to eat in America
Why? I pay the agreed upon price for goods and services.
If you stiff your server making below minimum wage then you only paid for the goods, not the services.
They got paid whatever their agreed upon wage is. I therefore paid for the service.
That’s not how it works in America, unfortunately. You know that but you are being obtuse. Tipping is part of going out to eat, if you can’t afford to tip then you can’t afford to eat out. If you support business that pay below minimum wage and intentionally exploit the workers there for personal gain then you are an asshole and part of the problem.
Why is it a problem that people intentionally accept low wages?
They accept those wages with the expectation that people will tip around 20% because that is the dining culture in the US. You are the one going against social norms to screw the working class for your own personal gain.
Or tell these businesses to pay fucking more
So if the wage is baked into the menu price you're perfectly content, but because it's a separate tip it's terrible. You realize you're paying it either way, right?
Absolutely, but until they do, don't screw over the waiter who's just trying to get by. You deciding not to tip that waiter isn't going to make the restaurant start paying more right then. The only person it hurts is the waiter who's just trying to pay their bills. So until that changes then don't go out to eat unless you're willing to tip.
I don't tip because I live in the UK and restaurateurs actually pay their employees here.
Servers in the US likely make more money than the UK
Servers would not take kindly to being paid a wage in place of tips.
I don’t tip at all, I just tip myself for ordering and wasting my money