# Tipping when eating out **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862 "2006-09-08T01:33:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/61 "2006-09-09T17:05:48Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I wasn’t giving a general rule to cover every possible thing that could ever happen. I was giving a general rule to cover the way things generally actually are happening. -FrL- [/QUOTE] My general rule to cover what is actually happening is that if you aren’t giving me any personal service beyond taking my order, putting it in a bag, and taking my money, you are not getting one red cent of tip. If you are a service industry person working at the local cookie counter at the mall, and you think you need tips to supplement your income, you are free to go get a job at a restaurant where our societal conventions have decreed as a tipping environment. I should print up a bunch of “tips” to put in these stupid, inappropriate jars - “Don’t eat yellow snow.” “Never try to catch a falling knife.” “Don’t ask people for money for nothing.” There’s a good tip for you. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/62 "2006-09-09T17:11:06Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] My general rule to cover what is actually happening is that if you aren’t giving me any personal service beyond taking my order, putting it in a bag, and taking my money, you are not getting one red cent of tip. If you are a service industry person working at the local cookie counter at the mall, and you think you need tips to supplement your income, you are free to go get a job at a restaurant where our societal conventions have decreed as a tipping environment. I should print up a bunch of “tips” to put in these stupid, inappropriate jars - “Don’t eat yellow snow.” “Never try to catch a falling knife.” “Don’t ask people for money for nothing.” There’s a good tip for you. [/QUOTE] Okay… Or you could drop a quarter in the jar, because wtf, it’s just a quarter. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/63 "2006-09-09T17:12:48Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] My general rule to cover what is actually happening is that if you aren’t giving me any personal service beyond taking my order, putting it in a bag, and taking my money, you are not getting one red cent of tip. If you are a service industry person working at the local cookie counter at the mall, and you think you need tips to supplement your income, you are free to go get a job at a restaurant where our societal conventions have decreed as a tipping environment. I should print up a bunch of “tips” to put in these stupid, inappropriate jars - “Don’t eat yellow snow.” “Never try to catch a falling knife.” “Don’t ask people for money for nothing.” There’s a good tip for you. [/QUOTE] I agree with the first part, but I hope you only are thinking about the second part. That would be a jerkish thing to really do. They are still basically kids earning shit at a crummy job. Sometimes it is hard to get a better job for a while. I know I did not want to work at Wendy’s and Friendly’s when I was 17, but it took a year before I moved up to a Math Tutor job and Stockboy/Delivery at a pharmacy. I still didn’t like the way my life was going and joined the Navy, but that might be a less appealing option currently. BTW: If it is not a kid at the counter, think how shitty their life is if they are middle aged and stuck working at cookie counter. I still won’t tip them, but I won’t despise them for hoping. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/64 "2006-09-09T18:37:10Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] I should print up a bunch of “tips” to put in these stupid, inappropriate jars - “Don’t eat yellow snow.” “Never try to catch a falling knife.” “Don’t ask people for money for nothing.” There’s a good tip for you. [/QUOTE] “Treat others as you would like to be treated” “Try not to be an asshole.” “Don’t go outside without a coat.” Stuff like that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/65 "2006-09-09T18:41:05Z")
[QUOTE=Aesiron] I don’t get take-out often and don’t leave when a tip when I do but I have had a question about tipping for the past couple months that I’ve been wondering about – if you are paying for your bill at the register with a credit card, should you include your tip on the receipt even if you have the bills to leave it in cash? I ate at a small locally owned sushi restaraunt recently and even though I left a generous cash tip at the table for my waitress, I felt a little uncomfortable writing “Ø” on the receipt at the register with the proprietor looking on. What would be proper etiquette in this situation? [/QUOTE] When you hand back the receipt, you could just say that you’d left a tip (or will leave a tip, depending on the situation) in cash on the table. That’s usually what I do. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/66 "2006-09-09T18:47:11Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Okay… Or you could drop a quarter in the jar, because wtf, it’s just a quarter. -FrL- [/QUOTE] An unearned quarter is just a quarter they’re not getting from me. It’s the principle of the thing. I don’t give money to panhandlers on the street for holding out their hands, either. No, **What Exit** , I don’t put anything in their jars; I just ignore them and hope they’ll go away. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/67 "2006-09-09T18:49:33Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] No, **What Exit** , I don’t put anything in their jars; I just ignore them and hope they’ll go away. [/QUOTE] 🆒 , that is exactly what I do. Sorry for the unneeded Soapbox bit. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/68 "2006-09-09T22:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] \“Don’t ask people for money for nothing.”\ [/QUOTE] Or, for that matter, your chicks for free. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/69 "2006-09-10T03:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] Or, for that matter, your chicks for free. [/QUOTE] No, no chicks for free either. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/70 "2006-09-10T04:23:28Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] Or, for that matter, your chicks for free. [/QUOTE] If I start tipping big on takeout orders, can I have free chicks? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/71 "2006-09-10T11:43:17Z")
At a admin job with no handy parking I often had to stop my real work to go down 10 floors and deliver finished products to people in cars, sometimes running up a block or more, in the rain once in a while, not to mention having do to actual long on-foot deliveries when the runners were busy, and no one tipped me, and I wouldn’t expect them to either. It was annoying as hell, but it wasn’t the customer’s fault and I didn’t expect them to pay for it. I see take-out pretty similarily and so I never tip unless someone has done something really awesome for me. tip-outs sound shitty, but even if they exist I know for a fact that they’re not standard policy in every single restaurant, and i’m not about to start asking the ones where I don’t know. In any case that’s not the customer’s fault either, so I’m not giving out anything but my sympathy. Maybe it would be different if I were rich, but I’m decidedly not, so that’s moot. The stories I hear about tip sharing and horrible wages in food service frighten me. That’s why I avoid any structured job where the wage isn’t decent by itself as best I can. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/72 "2006-09-10T20:35:10Z")
At a Waffle House here in NC there is a sign on the front door, at eye level, stating that there is a 10% tip included in the cost of each take-out. Makes me wonder why they just don’t include the extra 10% in the price. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/73 "2006-09-11T14:55:49Z")
On a slightly different tangent, it annoys me that I’m expected to tip at “buffet style” restaurants, where I pay for my meal at the cash register going in, and I get to fill up my own plate from the food line and carry it to my table. Naturally, as soon as I sit down there is a server who magically appears and identifies himself/herself and (if I’m lucky) clears away empty plates when I go back for seconds. I know I’m expected to leave a tip, and I always do, but that doesn’t mean I don’t resent paying for service that I (mostly) had to perform myself. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/74 "2006-09-11T15:03:15Z")
[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy] On a slightly different tangent, it annoys me that I’m expected to tip at “buffet style” restaurants, where I pay for my meal at the cash register going in, and I get to fill up my own plate from the food line and carry it to my table. Naturally, as soon as I sit down there is a server who magically appears and identifies himself/herself and (if I’m lucky) clears away empty plates when I go back for seconds. I know I’m expected to leave a tip, and I always do, but that doesn’t mean I don’t resent paying for service that I (mostly) had to perform myself. [/QUOTE] I tip 20% + at restaurants. At Buffets I tip 15% max. They are not serving food, but if they do a good job clearing the plate, refilling our drink and getting us the bill, they deserve 15%. Just my opinion of course. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/75 "2006-09-11T15:23:45Z")
[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy] On a slightly different tangent, it annoys me that I’m expected to tip at “buffet style” restaurants [/QUOTE] _blink_ This is a new one for me. Granted, I generally don’t frequent buffet-style restaurants (the only ones around here are asian and I’m a picky eater) but I was under the impression that most of them include a general gratuity fee on the bill to pay for the service of plate-clearers, bartenders, drink-bearers, etc. I’m not sure how that stuff is rung in, nor whether the servers are expected to tip out, so I’m quite ignorant as to why a 15% tip would be required. Anyone work in one of these places? Is the tip included in the general per-plate fee, and if not, what is a reasonable tip and why? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/76 "2006-09-11T21:37:32Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] I’m not sure how that stuff is rung in, nor whether the servers are expected to tip out, so I’m quite ignorant as to why a 15% tip would be required. Anyone work in one of these places? Is the tip included in the general per-plate fee, and if not, what is a reasonable tip and why? [/QUOTE] At buffet places, I nearly always tip. The amount depends on the service. At high end Sunday brunches, where they serve champagne the the waitperson brings coffee and orange juice, and the plates are cleaned quickly, I’ll go up to 15%. At places where you get your own drinks, and you wind up putting dirtly plates on an empty table, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/77 "2006-09-11T22:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] I can’t think of one boss I could have approached to request a lenience on tip-outs for take out orders. They would have either laughed in my face or dropped me down to one shift a week to “teach me a lesson”. Trust me, serving is not like a regular day job where you can go through a complaints process or anything. Lots of stuff happens that shouldn’t, and there’s not much that can be done about it. There are great things about the job too, don’t get me wrong (flexibility and good tippers, for example) but unfortunately, when something’s bad, it’s gonna _stay_ bad. And one of those bad things is, unfortunately, that your server is paying for the privelege of packaging up your dinner. Such is life, I guess. I also understand that the AMOUNT of service is not that of a regular meal; thus as a server I would never expect a 15% tip or anything. But there is still service. If you didn’t want any service at all, you would have cooked dinner yourself. Even if you’re doing take-out, you’re still getting service, however minimal it may seem to you. Someone still has to take your order, make your meal, package it up, get all your utensils and condiments, etc etc etc. Further, one must assume that if you’re getting your take-out food from a legitimate restaurant, you do understand that you’re taking up the server’s time when they could be otherwise occupied with tipping tables. Yes, it takes time, it takes organization, it means prioritizing you above others so that you can get your order and leave in a timely manner. All right, that’s my rant, sorry it was long. [/QUOTE] I’m confused also. Not about how a waiter’s life sucks - that’s why I tip high when eating in. But about the other stuff. When I do take out, I call in and get the host/cashier, not a waiter. When I get there before the food is ready (usually the case) the food comes out of the kitchen packaged to go. Does the cook plate the food, and then you put it in containers? When I order to go at our company cafeteria, the food line server dumps my food into a container, not on a plate. I don’t see why it would be different inside a kitchen. The utensils (plastic, not metal) are in the bag, or in one place I go the cashier puts the chopsticks in. The exception is for doggie bags - but we of course tip normally on that food. Take out customers don’t take up table space like eat-in customers, and don’t require silverware and plates that need to be washed. They don’t go to the toilet and use water and supplies. Yet we get charged the same amount (no complaint there). I suspect the owner’s profit margin is higher for takeout than for eat-in. If they didn’t make money. they don’t have to offer the service - except maybe for Chinese restaurants and the like where it is customary. Unless this is some strange Canadian law about tipping out on takeout, you’re getting ripped off and the processes in your restaurant are screwed up. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/78 "2006-09-12T01:53:06Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] After all, it’s not like you rang in your own order, boxed it up yourself with your extra cheese and little plastic utensils and salt-and-pepper packages and whatnot. [/QUOTE] But, those are the basic requirements of _any_ commercial transaction. It’s not like I go into a retail store, walk up to the register, scan my items, swipe the card, try to sell myself a warranty… If I don’t tip for those transactions, why should I tip when I happen to be purchasing food? > [@Voyager](#): > > Take out customers don’t take up table space like eat-in customers, and don’t require silverware and plates that need to be washed. They don’t go to the toilet and use water and supplies. Yet we get charged the same amount (no complaint there). I suspect the owner’s profit margin is higher for takeout than for eat-in. If they didn’t make money. they don’t have to offer the service - except maybe for Chinese restaurants and the like where it is customary. There is a pastrami place near where I work that charges extra for takeout. They have so little table space, though, that we’ll often go elsewhere, rather than pay extra to not sit at their tables and get free drink refills. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/79 "2006-09-12T06:31:04Z")
[QUOTE=iamthewalrus(:3=] There is a pastrami place near where I work that charges extra for takeout. They have so little table space, though, that we’ll often go elsewhere, rather than pay extra to not sit at their tables and get free drink refills. [/QUOTE] The hot wing place I used to work at actually charged LESS for takeout, but then again, the alternative was that we’d bring the food to YOU (and the drivers got 70 cents, on top of our tips and wages, for each delivery, presumably to help defray the gas costs involved in hauling ass accross two cities to deliver food in our personal vehicles, this apparantly came out of the $1 delivery fee on the $10 minimum orders). ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862/80 "2006-09-12T20:53:58Z")
[QUOTE=iamthewalrus(:3=] But, those are the basic requirements of _any_ commercial transaction. It’s not like I go into a retail store, walk up to the register, scan my items, swipe the card, try to sell myself a warranty… If I don’t tip for those transactions, why should I tip when I happen to be purchasing food? [/QUOTE] True enough. However, your local Radio Shack guy isn’t giving a percentage of every sale he makes back to the owner of the franchise, either. The comparison is moot in a tipping conversation, as there is no such beast as “tipping” in your average retail store. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-when-eating-out/371862.md?page=5)