I hope this doesn’t get too contentious… I’m just wondering how many people tip at Sonic. My feeling is that Sonic is more like a fast food counter than a sit-down restaurant-- even though the employees have to walk over to deliver your food, they don’t “wait” on you in any meaningful way.
Only if they’re having the high school cheerleaders or some other group fund raising. Otherwise, there’s no spot on their credit card receipt to tip, so I figure they aren’t expecting one.
Yes, but never over a dollar, usually only the rounded change.
I tip the same as I would at a sit-down restaurant. The food and service are good. Plus, when someone comes outdoors in below zero weather to bring you your food, you gotta show some appreciation.
Yeah, usually a buck. Think about it. The waitpersons are bringing you pure fried ( or frozen) sin in a bag. The least you can do is tip them.
Hmmmm… it’s almost lunchtime and Sonic is just across the street. Screw it, I guess I could always restart my diet again tomorrow. I hope that better cholesterol drugs are invented soon.
I generally tip, never more than a dollar, if it is sonic waitstaff. If it is a fundraiser of some sorts I will tip based on the organization. Cheerleaders or the debate team? That’s fine. Churches and other religious organizations don’t get my money so I don’t tip them. Generally if I see them there I will simply choose to go elsewhere but there have been occasions where I didn’t even notice there was a fundraiser of some sort until I had already pulled in and pushed the order button.
All of this is pretty much moot since I moved far, far away from the nearest sonic several months ago, but that was my policy when I was close enough to go with any kind of regularity.
I generally don’t, particularly since I pay by debit card most times and the Sonics around here have them set up so you’ve paid by the time the runner comes out with your food. If I have cash, which is a rarity, I’ll tell them to keep the change.
One exception, which is a bit of a story:
One night I stopped in at Sonic and it was raining hard. The middle island and inner parking stalls were all covered by the same roof, so I wasn’t too concerned about making the runner come out to my car. There was another car, however, parked on the outer ring of stalls, and as I was waiting for my food I saw the poor girl take the food out to that car with no benefit of an umbrella or coat. There wasn’t a reason for the other driver to park there other than personal preference, as the place was hardly busy. I made sure to give her a $5 tip when she brought my food out. What an awful night to work at Sonic.
Always.
Yes. When people bring me food, I tip them. Usually it’ll be a dollar or two if I’m feeling really generous. This also goes for carry-out food at restaurants; I’ll generally tip a dollar or two then as well.
I think I may be several hundred miles from the nearest Sonic. Dang, I miss them. Their tots are addictive!
I used to, when they took checks. If I didn’t have cash, I’d pay with a check and leave a little tip. Now that they take debit/credit, there’s no way to tip if you don’t have cash, and I rarely have cash now, so I rarely tip. Then again, I might go to Sonic once a year now, so it is what it is.
Yes. I’ve seen their wait staff run around like chickens with the heads cut off, in the most ungodly weather, to usually deal with dismissive patrons (who probably don’t tip either), all the way smiling happily. So I certainly think they deserve whatever little extra they get.
yes
Ditto.
If they ever got their shit together I would.
Almost always when I go; the lady will bring me my food, I’ll ask for ketchup then she will have to go back into the store get some ketchup then bring it back out to me. Sometimes I have to wait a good five minutes for the stuff.
I’ve even tried to preempt this by asking for condiments when I order my food but it never works. They always have to go back.
So no, if you don’t have the common sense it takes to keep all those little extras stored in the pocket of that apron you wear than you obviously don’t care about being tipped.
I tip them. Like a lot of regular wait-staff, Sonic waiting staff are payed below minimum wage under the assumption that they will receive tips. (That’s what I’ve heard, anyway.) However, because most people don’t see them as regular wait-staff, they don’t get any tips.
I’ve found that when I tip at Sonic, the workers are very, very appreciative. Much more so than the wait-staff at any sit-down establishment I’ve been to.
They have Sonics in Korea? How do the workers show their appreciation? Something more than “Thank you”?
Nope, no Sonics in Korea. But I lived the majority of my life in the US.
The Sonic staff I tipped back home would get positively giddy when I gave them a tip. Their eyes would brighten, and they looked genuinely pleased and/or surprised. Leave a tip at a sit-down joint and you never get that kind of reaction. Just a mild thank you, if anything.
Yes I tip at Sonic.
I don’t tip as generously as I would at a “sit-down restaurant,” because I used to do that for a living. The employees at Sonic just bring me my food; they don’t take the order and check back up on me and bring me refills/extra ranch/whatever.
But I generally give them two or three bucks. (My order at Sonic has never been more than $15.)
They work harder and they’re way nicer than the drive-thru people at McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy’s, etc., IME.
Plus I just assume it’s gotta suck to work at Sonic. So I tip out of sympathy, if nothing else.
Hmm. I’d like to see some evidence of this. Not that I’m asking you, but maybe I’ll go looking when I have some free time. I don’t feel compelled to tip at Sonic because to me, it’s fast food, and as far as I’m aware fast food employees get at least minimum wage. But if they are considered tipped employees, I’ll have to change my habits with Sonic, even if it means no longer going there.
One of my friends worked at Sonic in 98 and was paid something like $6/hour. Either that was one generous manager there or they are not paid below minimum wage.