Thank you for contributing nothing useful to the thread.
Sometimes I go in for take out at the mom and pop sushi restaurant where we are regulars. I always added a tip on the credit card receipt until one time the owner caught me and said “No, not necessary for take-out”.
I think that might might have more to do with the fact that she is often the one putting together the take out orders rather than the server.
The question occurs to me- Do you tip, or tip as much in establishments where you know that the person serving or waiting on you is the owner?
A few restaurants around here have separate carryout entrances with their own separate register, usually on the opposite side of the building as the main entrance.
The servers who are stationed there are usually stationed there for their whole shift (they’re not just dealing with you between rounds between multiple, tipping tables), so they should get a decent tip, say 10% minimum.
I’m sure the servers loathe being assigned to carry-out, since they’re probably doing it for $3/hour considering people’s tipping standards for carryout.
I don’t tip for carryout, although I tip well over 10% for dine-in (hey, that’s the local standard; when home, I’m a 20%+ tipper).
There’s no way in hell that the person preparing the carry-out order is making less than minimum wage. Although in most states employers may pay their waitstaff a base wage of less than minimum wage, the employer is still required to make up the difference if the accumulated tips don’t bring the employee up to the state minimum wage (or federal minimum when it applies).
In a restaurant, I’m either sitting down to eat, ordering takeout, or having food delivered.
If I’m sitting down to eat, I tip the server for taking my order, delivering my food, keeping me supplied with beverages, making recommendations if I request them, and addressing any problems, should I have any.
If I’m having food delivered, I tip the delivery driver for bringing my order to me.
If I’m getting takeout, I’m doing most of that work myself, so I don’t tip. The cost of preparation should be included in the cost of the meal.
In my state, waitstaff must receive minimum wage. Correspondingly, I do not tip for take-out; the point of a tip is to reward personalized service. Well, really, it’s to subsidize the restaurant, but ostensibly it’s to reward service.
Standing behind a counter and listening to me talk on the phone is not service. No tip.
No way in hell am I paying for take-out when I’m the one who takes the time to go to the place. Every time I can remember getting take-out, I place my order with the person at the register, they write it down/tell it to someone, it gets made in the back, someone hands it to the register person and they hand it to me. Why should I give the person standing at the counter extra money just for standing there!?
If I order delivery, of course I tip them. If I eat in a sit-down restaurant, of course I tip them. If they do nothing but hand me a bag of my food? No frickin way.
I worked at a pizza place for…well, far too long. When I started there was no tip jar, when I left we had a tip jar for five years or so.
We made an effort to put our friendliest female face at the register. She was a very nice person (okay, me…har har) I made an effort to remember people’s order/name and preferences…as well as making sure people got coupons for next time. If they went outside to use the cell phone, I’d walk the pizza out to them. Kids always got a balloon, or if the parent would save money buying a “kids meal” I would suggest it to them. It wasn’t so much that a tip was expected, because it wasn’t…but having the jar there put the idea in people’s heads to maybe throw that sixty five cents in there to appreciate our efforts.
Sorry edit to add two things:
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If you bring the whole softball team into a small restaurant, I think you should tip. I understand the owner is making money, and I’m glad for him/her…but know that you’re throwing off table space and workload for the lowly employees. Leaving ten bucks on the table after you leave makes up for your horrendous mess, bratty children, noise, etc.
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I am familiar with the tipping on delivery, but not take out mentality, and it certainly isn’t “wrong” but in the restaurant I worked in the drivers considerably made four times what the in store people made. But instead of sweating in front of a pizza oven for the cash, they drove around in an air conditioned truck listening to the ball game on the radio. If I ever have to do this type of work again, you can trust I’ll be driving, instead of cutting pizza.
I worked as a host for a while at a restaurant where hosts prepared to-go orders. While I didn’t expect a tip and rarely got one, I always appreciated it.
Take out orders are a lot of work- fiddling with those little containers and all. And that was on top of my regular host duties, which didn’t slow down just because I had to do a take-out order. Too many take out orders in a shift would affect my other work and lead to me getting tipped less (wait staff generally tips out to hosts.)
Hosts don’t make a ton of money. If I got even three or four extra dollars in the course of a day, it made a huge difference in my quality of life. We get so few chances in our life to do good things for people. Why not take the opportunity to make someone’s life better for the cost of a buck?
Are you factoring in gas and vehicle wear-and-tear into the “more” money they made?
Might vary by establishment and location, but the pizza place I worked for back in the day compensated drivers for both.
That’s my question–whether she’s counting that part of their compensation as the “more” money they made, when it was just canceling out an additional incurred expense.