Restaraunt Tipping Question

How would you like it phrased, then? Beautiful, unnecessary gestures get called “the classy things to do.” Someone who invoices his date, for example, “has no class.” We talk about people who have good social graces as “brought up right” and wonder if the people who don’t weren’t “raised in a barn.” I suppose I could have used “rearing”, but the two aren’t often very far apart, are they? We look at juvenile delinquents and wonder what their parents are like. If someone’s really egregious, we call him a bastard, or maybe a son of a bitch. I suppose it’s a little ill-bred of me to bring it up, but that’s life for you, isn’t it? I didn’t claim to be perfect. I suppose I could correct it. That’s the nice thing about America – nobody actually knows your parents, so to speak; they guess by how you present yourself. If you grew up in absolute filth, that’s OK. You can wash it off, if you care to.

Snotty or not, I think this is exactly the attitude needed for someone who’s willing to pay a $400-$700 markup to the house on wine, then stiffs the waiter on the tip. If he’s not willing to pay it, he can bring his own and get a nicer wine for less (and maybe the corkage fee per-minute will be more amenable to him). What’s the difference between the $75/minute for ordering it and putting it in the rack and the $75/minute for taking it off the rack, bringing it over, and uncorking it? It’s different on your side of the pond, naturally, but… Rome and Romans, right?

I don’t tip on tax, but do tip on free water as if it was a soft drink.

I worked in a family restaurant (think of Denny’s or IHOP but no smoking, decent food, and great service) and we tipped out on our sales (1% of total sales). Not a ton of money, but translated to a higher end place where tipouts go beyond bussers to hosts and hostesses or wine stewards, it can add up.

I wish we only tipped out 1% of our total sales. I tend to tip out between 25-35% of my gross tips (as that is what is expected at our restaurant).

Total bill, and I tend to overtip to break the stereotype that middle-aged women don’t tip well. :smiley:

Dex, I have to say I disagree with your report- 'cause the differnce is so small, I doubt of the server notices. Let’s say the bill is 26.55, + tax = 28.67. Tip @15% is either 3.98 or 4.30. Few are going to whip out their calculators and leave either amount. You’re going to drop either $4 in cash, or maybe $4.33 to round off if you pay by CC. I have never known a waiter or waitress who gets out a calculator and sits down and figures out the expected tip to the penny in order to decide whether or not they are “dissapointed”. Either amount would be OK, and $5 will be a pleasant suprise. I’d leave $5, on the CC.

So, don’t sweat the exact amount, and don’t worry about the tax- unless you use the “double the tax” method. And don’t be concerned about the “tip-out” policies- they vary so damn much and in any case, it’s their problem not yours.

As to drink- you tip on the drinks to the person who took your drink order and served them. Thus, if you ordered from a bartender, a cocktail waitress or even a sommelier, then they get the tip. If your server also took your drink/wine order, then of course, he gets the tip.

I usually tip 20% on the whole bill, more or less. To get near 20% I usually just take the first number and double it, so if the total bill is $43.78 I’ll tip $8. But if it’s closer to $50 I would normally add another dollar or so. If the service is really bad (worst things–forgetting orders and not checking up on us once in awhile) then I tip less than 20%.

OK, I need a bit of explanation here. I never worked in food service (a fact for which I am eternally grateful), and have no idea what this “tip-out” thing is. I gather from the conversation that some wait staff are expected to “tip” other staff members (busboys, bartenders, etc), but I have no idea how or why. And I gather that the practice is so varied that there isn’t any “right” answer, but I still want to know…
What in the world are you people talking about?
As to the OP, sales tax here is 7.75%. Double the tax on the meal is therefore 15.5%, which is added to the bottom line, and usually rounded up to the nearest dollar (we almost always pay by credit card). That is the tip for “proper” service. Anything above and beyond *will * get you extra. I’ve been known to tip 50% or more if the experience warrants it.

And yes, I would tip on the $200 bottle of wine, but… I would expect the service to be **magnificent ** if I’m going to drop that much coin for dinner. And on the rare occasions that I have, I’ve yet to be disappointed.

I have worked as a waiter and a busboy. At the restaraunts where I worked, the wait staff would tip out a set percentage of the total of their night to the bus and bartender staff. The total was calculated based on the total of their tickets prior to tax. Bus kids got a lower percentage than bartenders. The reason for the tip out is that bussers and bartenders play a large part in how successful an experience a diner has at an establishment. If I’m a waiter, I can’t make money if the busser doesn’t clear my table once one party has left and get it ready for the next party and if my party has to wait for drinks they will be unhappy and tip less.

The reason to tip out based on sales and not tips is that, while on a CC sale the tip is clearly indicated, when you receive a cash tip, it’s much easier for the server to hide it and claim they were stiffed, etc, thus stiffing the staff they owe the tip-outs to.

But “tip outs” are often voluntary, and sometimes thus aren’t based upon anything. None of my waitstaff friends have a mandatory “tip out” %, although one has a “suggested” %.

Yet another middle-aged woman who sometimes wants an “I used to wait tables!” pin.

I often go out alone–usually to neighborhood/ethnic places. But when visiting a pricey restaurant, I’ll avoid The Big Rush. And, especially if I get only an appetizer & a glass or 2 of pricey wine, I tend to tip extra well. One is remembered on return visits.

In my regular haunts, I’ll tip generously on the total amount, unless I’m actually abused by the server.

Any high rollers willing to pay restaurant markup on high-priced wines shouldn’t wimp out when it’s time to pay the servers.

I don’t know of any restaurants whose tipouts are actually voluntary. You may have the freedom to decide how much you tip out, but if you continually just refuse to tip out anything, you will be fired. Even if you weren’t fired you’d end up having to quit, because the hosts would never seat you, the bartenders would make your drinks slow and weak, and it would take way too long to get new tables bussing them yourself.

From what I’ve noticed among my group of server friends, it seems like the set tipout percentage is more common in chain restaurants. Local places are more likely to let their servers determine their own tipouts, but one friend of mine contends that that actually often has you tipping out more than if they had to tip out a set percentage, because when you have to go up to each tipped out employee and physically hand them the money you’re giving them, you don’t want to seem like a cheapskate.

Assuming the service was reasonable, I double the tax and go from there - more if superlative, or if i’m drunk and in a good mood, less for truly terrible service.

Joe