When getting carry-out a numerous restaurants I pretty much never tip. There is always a place to add a tip on the sales receipt which I put a line through and I figure is there by default of the register but are the employees expecting something?
I don’t think there’s any obligation to tip on take-out, but if I go somewhere regularly I’ll usually either give 'em a buck on the credit card receipt or throw whatever coins I get back into the tip jar, if there is one.
If it is a normal, sit-down, dining establishment, yes I tip.
I spent about 7 years working in a casual dining restaurant. Preparing a take-out order isn’t much different than waiting on a table, except that the people don’t hang around as long. For example, in my restaurant, a take-out order required the following steps: Answering the phone, taking the order, ringing it into the computer, preparing any sauces for the order, boxing and bagging the food, giving the right order to the right customer, and taking payment for the order. All of this was done at my normal pay rate of less than $3/hour.
Because of that, I will always leave at least a few dollars.
We had a carry out area for a restaurant I worked at, where we sold food/6 packs. The first 3 years, we weren’t allowed to put out a tip jar. I’d say I’d make maybe $3/ month in tips working full time.
After we put in the tip jar, we started getting about $3-5/day. I still never really expected a tip, but it was always appreciated. The most common things I’d get tipped for was people putting a small tip on their credit card receipt to make it an even dollar amount, and people just tossing they change (coins) in the jar, which can add up at 10+ people do it. Still only about 10-20% of people dropped any tip
So speaking from the other side of the counter, I never expected a tip… just hoped for one. 
Is there some percentage you try to hit? Leaving the coins is easy, but if you buy $6.75 worth of take-out, do you really just leave a quarter?
I generally tip $2 for any take-out order. I’ve always seen it very much like getting a pizza delivery in that way. Granted, the server doesn’t have to wait on me as if I were a regular diner, but as happiness pointed out, there is still time spent in taking the order and wrapping the food up. It’s a service, and therefore, seems worthy of a tip.
If we are supposed to tip because waiters are underpaid, then restaurants should display prominent notices stating how much the waitstaff are underpaid, and how large a tip is required to bring them up to the minimum wage. As a customer, I have no way of knowing what the wages are, so I can’t base my decision on whether to tip or not on that. (And in some of the restaurants that I go to they give a discount for carry-out orders, so whoever sets the prices thinks that less staff time or other resources are required).
From someone working at a restaurant that does take-out (although the hosts do it, not the servers, though they still make less than minimum wage) I’d say tipping is not expected but always appreciated.
But if you’re getting a very large take-out order, for 6 or more people… then they’ll probably get annoyed if you don’t tip. Having to portion out a dozen sauces and side dishes is a lot more work than grabbing a styrofoam box and throwing it in a bag with some napkins.
I don’t know if they expect it or not, but ever since I worked with someone whose daughter took the take-out orders, I tip, because she explained how much work goes into it. Other than cooking of the food, all of the other work in a takeout order is done by the “server.”
I don’t tip quite as much as if I were sitting down, but 10% or so.
I don’t think that’s the only reason you should leave a tip though. My point is that it’s just another reason that tips are always appreciated by people who work in the service industry.
IMO, you should be tipping because a personalized service is being performed for you. Like I said, to me, getting take-out isn’t much different than dining in, except for the time involved. Your order is still being prepared specifically for you, and someone is taking the time to make sure that things are correct before giving you that order.
You pay for service. If I go to a take out food bar where I put the dish together I don’t pay. If someone has to spend 10 minutes taking down, and assembling a large carryout order for work then I would tip. That is time away from sit-down customers.
So, next time I go to the doctor or to the dentist, I should leave a tip?
Probably, but they won’t. They should also pay their waitstaff a more livable wage so they’re less reliant on tips when they perform necessary activities beyond waiting tables, but they’re not going to do that either.
Tip-supported food service is a fact of life in this country, so I think acknowledging the reality of that and giving a bit extra to workers when you know they’re otherwise going to get short-changed is a nice thing to do. Not required, but nice.
No, because you, or your insurance company, is paying that doctor or dentist probably around $100 for that visit. Even if you spend $100 in a restaurant, that money isn’t going to the server, but to the restaurant owner.
Yeah i would just leave a quarter. If the bill was 19.75 it would still be a quarter. I tip 20-25% when I dine in.
At places that offer curbside delivery I don’t use the service unless the weather makes me inclined not to. In those cases I tip a couple bucks. I’m similar at full service gas stations.
While I feel for the workers being paid poorly for the task, I’m ok with drawing a line at the door when it comes to tipping.
Hmm. I take out at the pizza place which has a few tables but mostly delivers or provides take out. I’m assuming the people who work behind the counter are paid as staff (min. wage), not as waiters. Is that a fair assumption? Same with takeout Chinese places?
The money probably doesn’t go directly to the doctor or dentist: it probably goes to a management company or partnership for the practice.
How do we draw the line though?
When I order carry-out from McDonalds the person is
-taking my order
-putting it into the system
-bagging it and checking for accuracy
-taking payment for the order
-and in certain circumstances even preparing the food if I get a McFlurry
However I have never even considered tipping one of them. Maybe I should start?
Society has already decided for you. If a place has no wait service at all, we don’t tip, beyond maybe throwing change in a tip jar on the counter if they have one. If a place has wait service, but you get takeout, you aren’t obligated to tip, but more people do simply because of the realities of how waitstaff are compensated vs. wage employees.
I think if you’re gonna tip on take out a good way is simply take the change and throw it in.
In other words if it’s $5.35 and I give them $6.00 and they give me back 65¢ that goes into the tip jar.