Hmmm…so would that be less, or more reason to tip them?
That’s how they do it in Japan, and it’s wonderful. The real problem is that the tipping system we have in the U.S. is pointless and arbitrary. If you’re expected to give a tip, then in reality that’s just adding to the cost of the meal. So like you said, just charge more for the meal and pay the staff more. What’s really nuts is tipping people who provide a service and nothing else, like a hairdresser. ALL YOU’RE PAYING FOR IS A HAIRCUT. You’re not actually getting anything tangible, you’re just getting a service. (If anything, you’re LOSING hair) So the amount you pay IS for the service. It makes no sense to add an additional amount for service. And does that really provide an incentive for them to give you a good haircut? Think about it - would you go back to a place that gave you a bad haircut? The incentive is already built in - you’re never coming back unless they do a good job. They should just charge what it’s worth in the first place.
The kitchens don’t have access to any cold items (salads, dressings, desserts, drinks, sauces, ect.) In an average Denny’s order, it’s common for the waitperson (or host, for to-go orders) to prepare at least 30% of the meal.
I used to be the to-go guy. I worked at a ski resort doing all sorts of delivery work. I ran the food from the kitchen to the downstairs bar. I ran the room service. I delivered any gift baskets. I delivered pizzas if they were slammed. I also took care of the to go orders. The only one I didn’t get tipped on was the to go orders and it was just as much work as any of the other orders.
I still had to put in the order, get all of the salads, soups, desserts, condiments, etc. done and get things from the hot line properly. It all had to be boxed up and prepped so even the clumsiest customer would be able to carry it. Most of the time I would have to go back down the halls later to pick up the empty boxes.
I don’t go as high for a to go order as I do for a sit down meal, but I leave at least a couple of bucks for a tip.
IMHO the to-go orders are pure profit for the owners, it adds capacity to their resteraunt with out having to expand. To-go’s don’t take up table space, and the owner gets the full $ for the meal. Taken together that the wait person is not actually ‘serving’ the to-go order placer, and it seems the burden of paying the to-go person should be the owners responsibility, not the person not being served. By tipping to-go wait staff, you are letting the owners off the hook, and you are paying for a non-existant service.
There are only three places we do carryout. I tip at the Chinese place and about half of the time at the two pizza places. Only a dollar, generally, though occasionally two for the Chinese place.
My confusion is, “So what, that’s not my problem.” I tip for table service. The fact that the owner of the restaurant has decided to make their waitstaff do more work does not make me responsible for tipping them more. Packing food in a bag and taking it to my car is part of the job, and it is part of the cost of the meal. It does not, in my mind, constitute any form of service that requires a tip. It constitutes pretty basic preparation of food, which is what restaurants do as a basic function. Most of the reasoning behind tipping around here centers on the poor waiter or waitress, which really says, “They are not being paid enough by the owner,” rather than, “This is something you should tip for.”
If the owner of the restaurant decides to pay the kitchen staff $2.50 an hour and make them bus tables, should I suddenly have to pay another 15% for the kitchen staff because they are performing the service of cleaning up after me?
They weren’t at the restaurants I’ve worked at (although I recognize they are at some). Where I’ve worked, kitchen staff (and bussers) were minimum wage-plus level workers, and as such, the waitstaff most definitely was not interested in sharing tips with them.
But by that reasoning, you shouldn’t tip table servers either, because bringing the food to your table is their job. The preparation of a to-go order is a service just like bringing it to a table, but since it’s a one shot deal that doesn’t take as much time or effort as waiting on a table for the full meal, the tip is correspondingly smaller. Whether you think the American system of tipping is fair or not is a matter that’s been discussed and argued ad nauseam around here, but the simple fact is, that’s the way it is here.
It doesn’t matter whether they’re “interested” in it or not. The boss sets the rules, and if you have to tip the chef, you have to tip the chef.
And I’ve never worked anywhere where you didn’t have to tip the bussers, and I’ve worked in plenty of restaurants. They enable you to seat more people more quickly, which means more money in your pocket. It doesn’t sound to me as though you’ve ever waited tables. Unless you wait tables in another country? That might explain it …
No, I’ve waited tables. I’ve waited tables where they actually pay the bussers a decent wage, or at least not sub-minimum wage like they paid the waitstaff. The bussers are often also relatively young compared to the average waitstaff age (the restaurants I’ve worked in have been slightly higher end than average (no chains), although short of truly high-end dining, and therefore hired slightly more experienced and capable waitstaff), and therefore may not have been as comfortable “fighting” for their slice of the tips. I know that when I worked as a dishwasher, I did not receive a chunk of the tips because I was enabling the customers to eat off of clean plates.
I’m willing to admit that may be the exception, but it has been my experience.
I think my tip would probably depend on the restaurant and their particular setup. Where I work, the bartender does carryouts during the day and we have a to-go person at night. Both make minimum wage, but the bartender is able to take tables and bar guests also, as well as getting tipped out by the servers, whereas the to-go person’s only responsibility is to-go, and they don’t get tipped out. So, if I were to get to-go food from there at night I’d tip about 12-13%, and during the day I’d tip probably about 10%. Any other restaurant I’d have no freaking clue who was doing what and for how much, so I guess I’d tip 12-13% to be safe.
BTW, I’ve never heard of servers or kitchen staff doing to-go orders… at least where I work, and I would assume at other places, they have way too much other shit to do to be worrying about that.
I don’t tip for take out any more than I would tip any other cashier. (Which actually means I sometimes throw some change or a buck into the little tip jar, but I feel no obligation to give anything.) If a restaurant makes a waitperson work as a cashier without an increased hourly wage, they’re the ones screwing him/her, not me. It’s no different than if they put their waitstaff to work mowing the lawn or doing their taxes.
What the…? No, because McDonald’s doesn’t provide table service. Full service restaurants do, and it is customary to tip servers at full-service restaurants.
But then we are going back to the fact that people who run a bag of food out to your car do not provide table service at said “Full service restaurant.” Clearly being an employee of a full service restaurant alone is not sufficient, being an employee who gives table service is required. Otherwise, as previously mentioned, you’d give some cash to the water boy, you’d give some cash to the chef, etc.
Regardless of what people say about them getting their tip from the waiter, I stand behind the fact that you tip because you are receiving at least a certain level of service over a sustained period of time. Putting food in a bag and taking it out to a car does not constitute that. The fact that there is fine dining going on inside the restaurant does not change the service that you are getting. That service is more comparable to things we do not genuinely tip for. At best, I’m willing to go with those who suggest the tip would be a much smaller amount (though I do not agree with the need or propriety of tipping in the circumstance at all).
Nein. The cashier at McDonalds is making at least minimum wage. If the person getting the order ready is a waitperson, then they are making quite a bit below minimum wage.
Therefore, so long as someone pays a person under minimum wage, you should pick up the slack through tips? Why does the person running the food out to your car need to be “waitstaff” and therefore making less than minimum wage? Again, that’s the restaurant’s problem, not mine.
I think part of the problem is, this really varies by restaurant and also time of day/day of the week.
I worked at a major chain restaurant. This is how we usually handled take outs.
Slow times: A server (or manager) would handle the take out. Servers didn’t usually expect a tip, doing the take out work allowed them to keep busy and avoid being cut.
Typical nights. We had an “alley person” who kinda helped with everything including to go orders. They were paid above min. wage. This person ideally was also trained in other parts of the restaurant so they could be used in other positions if there was a call off. Tips were usually given for large orders.
Very busy nights. Take outs were a pain in the butt. People who placed them on very busy nights and didn’t tip…they were remembered.
For me, I like places where the bartender handles take outs. For the rare times that I’ll do take out, I’ll order a drink and add a larger tip than normal. Since my take outs are usually simple, and only for one, I think this is fair. If I order a $4.00 drink, then i’ll usually tip 3 or 4 dollars for the drink and for the take out. However, I much prefer, if alone, to just eat at the bar area. I’ve done this many times on business travel or when I’m stuck in a city overnight and don’t want to venture far from the hotel.
So the amount you pay IS for the service. It makes no sense to add an additional amount for service. And does that really provide an incentive for them to give you a good haircut? Think about it - would you go back to a place that gave you a bad haircut? The incentive is already built in - you’re never coming back unless they do a good job. They should just charge what it’s worth in the first place.