Tipping when eating out

In My Humble Opinion
41

[QUOTE=Frylock]
I’ve never heard of a “tip-out.” I’ve worked in food service, though not much. I’ve had a few friends who worked in food service, and they never mentioned it.

I don’t quite understand, from your post, what a “tip-out” is supposed to be exactly. What happens to it? Where does the money go?

I can’t believe a “tip-out,” even if it exists, is exacted against take-out orders as well as dine-in orders, since it is standard for people not to tip on take-out orders.

The idea that a server has to pay for a “tip-out” out of her own pocket if none is provided by the guest strikes me as illegal. I’m not a lawyer. But still… Yet you seem to see this practice as matter-of-course.
[/QUOTE]

Tip-outs, though legally they can’t be mandated/enforced by the restaurant in California, are a regularly expected part of many restaurants. In my restaurant, servers are expected to tip 10% of gross tips to the bussers, 10% to expediters, and 10% of our alcohol sales to the bar. Food sales do not factor in for us, but they do for the bartenders (who actually take most of the carry-out orders, since the bar at our restaurant is right at the front. I think they are expected to give 2% of their food sales to the bussers and/or expediters) It would be interesting to find out if they count their carry-out sales when they tip-out.

Personally as a server, I don’t like taking carry-out orders (I only have to very occasionally) because it still counts towards my total sales (there is no distinction between carry-out and eat-in on the server report), and since I’m a tipped employee the IRS automatically expects me to report at least 10% of my sales as tip income to be taxed. Usually I make a lot better than 10% of course, but after tipping out to everyone sometimes I don’t, and it doesn’t help to have $100 in take out sales on my server report that I didn’t get tipped anything on. (which means I still have to report $10, and get taxed 20% on that, thus losing $2 overall)

42

[QUOTE=Rigamarole]
Tip-outs, though legally they can’t be mandated/enforced by the restaurant in California, are a regularly expected part of many restaurants. In my restaurant, servers are expected to tip 10% of gross tips to the bussers, 10% to expediters, and 10% of our alcohol sales to the bar. Food sales do not factor in for us, but they do for the bartenders (who actually take most of the carry-out orders, since the bar at our restaurant is right at the front. I think they are expected to give 2% of their food sales to the bussers and/or expediters) It would be interesting to find out if they count their carry-out sales when they tip-out.

Personally as a server, I don’t like taking carry-out orders (I only have to very occasionally) because it still counts towards my total sales (there is no distinction between carry-out and eat-in on the server report), and since I’m a tipped employee the IRS automatically expects me to report at least 10% of my sales as tip income to be taxed. Usually I make a lot better than 10% of course, but after tipping out to everyone sometimes I don’t, and it doesn’t help to have $100 in take out sales on my server report that I didn’t get tipped anything on. (which means I still have to report $10, and get taxed 20% on that, thus losing $2 overall)
[/QUOTE]

Interesting info, thanks.

Though it would probably be difficult, I’m wondering whether if you somehow marked down which sales were carry-out and which were eat-in, as they occured, would this suffice to demonstrate to the IRS that some of the sales are such that you were not tipped and so don’t owe 10% on them?

-FrL-

43

[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance]
Oh yeah, a shoe store while buying some shoes for the baby. There was a tip jar in front of the register. Dammit.
[/QUOTE]
Oh man, that’s one for the books! :rolleyes:

Even worse - my brother’s gf threw him a surprise b-day bash, including a hired bartender - who put out a tip jar!! I can’t believe Carol didn’t have her put it away! I know I would have. Da noive!!

44

[QUOTE=Frylock]
Interesting info, thanks.

Though it would probably be difficult, I’m wondering whether if you somehow marked down which sales were carry-out and which were eat-in, as they occured, would this suffice to demonstrate to the IRS that some of the sales are such that you were not tipped and so don’t owe 10% on them?

-FrL-
[/QUOTE]

Hooooooboy.

Yes, tip-outs exist, they are no figment of my imagination. They are indeed the way things go, at least in 99% of the restaurants here in Ontario, Canada. I’ve had to tip out between 2-10% in every single place I have ever worked. Sometimes, you get lucky and you can dole out the tip out yourself, but most restaurants have a system where your tip-out is automatically calculated for you on the register when you pull up your “cash-out” slip at the end of your shift. That way, you have no way of altering or contesting your tip out: you just hand over the cash.

Also, many restaurants will take money in other ways. I’d say 75% of the places I’ve worked have also had a “credit card tip charge”, where you have to give the owner of the restaurant between 2-5% of your credit card tips due to the service charge it costs the owner.

Also don’t forget the walk-outs, which servers pay for, the broken-glass charges, the inventory balance/spillage charges for bartenders and so on and so forth. None of these are made up… they’re very, very real. And servers aren’t unionized, so good luck contesting any of these procedures. You’ll just end up fired, and one of the million other people out there looking for a job will take your place.

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.

45

[QUOTE=Carlyjay]
Hooooooboy.

…

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.

[/QUOTE]

I already acknowledged, in the very post you were responding to, that I see now what a tip-out is, and, therefore, also that they exist.

As for taking up the server’s time, I was not aware of that. Once I got my take out order from a bartender. The othe two times I got it from somebody at sort of a “booth” where you pick up take-out orders. It didn’t occur to me that these are serves who are also working tables. I’ll remember that in the future.

-Kris

46

[QUOTE=Carlyjay]
… 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.
[/QUOTE]

Right, but your problem is with your employer, and not with your customer. When I go to get my car fixed, I don’t ask about whether the mechanic who spends an hour on my car gets paid an adequate wage. When I go to the doctor’s office, I don’t ask whether the nurse who spends 10 minutes doing tests on me is getting paid right. So, when I go to the restaurant, I don’t want to know whether the people in the kitchen, or the waiter who brings the meal out from the kitchen, is getting paid enough. I just assume they are, because would they be working there otherwise?

The exception is when I sit down and the waiter puts the meal on the table in front of me, because I know that in the US, the customer pays a extra 15-20% for that.

47

But what if the take out assembler does a really really good job of putting your food in the brown paper bag :slight_smile:

48

I always tip $2-3 on a $20-30 takeout order. I was under the impression it was standard.

49

In takeout (which is usually just me, so therefore ~ $10), I always round up the bill.

Or give a buck if rounding up nets, like, 4 cents. I ain’t that cheap!

50

Like JohnT, I also round up a takeout bill. Unless it’s someplace that doesn’t offer table service (I don’t tip the deli guy or when I pick up a pizza), or is closer to “fast food” than it is to “restaurant” (sorry, all you Pizza Hut employees out there). If the usually means of getting me my food is at a table (or counter), I’ll tip. If it’s something I would have had to stand in line to order anyway, no tip.

51

If it’s the kind of place where the bartender assembles your order, I tip two or three bucks. Five if I’m picking it up at 10:00 on a Friday night - they’re making a lot of drinkers wait while they gather the food, utensils, condiments, etc.

Besides doing my bit for the betterment of humanity, it means that they’ll regularly pour me a free beer if I’ve got to wait around a few minutes for the food.

52

[QUOTE=Frylock]
If there’s a tip jar, tip. If not, not.

-FrL-
[/QUOTE]

No way, man. That’s just wrong.

53

[QUOTE=FairyChatMom]
Oh man, that’s one for the books! :rolleyes:

Even worse - my brother’s gf threw him a surprise b-day bash, including a hired bartender - who put out a tip jar!! I can’t believe Carol didn’t have her put it away! I know I would have. Da noive!!
[/QUOTE]

Why if I may ask. What difference would it have made to you if a guest tipped the bartender?

I have worked private parties where the host asked for a tip jar not to be put out
and they would take care of the additional gratuity. I’ve worked private parties for people in the biz that told me to put the tip jar out.

Unless someone said otherwise before the event, it’s a pretty standard thing to do and I did it off and on for 15 years.

54

I just want to clarify, if the party was in someone’s home I wouldn’t have put a tip jar out.

55

[QUOTE=featherlou]
No way, man. That’s just wrong.
[/QUOTE]

Why?

I can soften it to this: “If there’s a tip jar, give some serious consideration to the option of tipping. If there’s not one, don’t worry about it.”

Is that better?

-FrL-

56

Because with that rationale you encourage shoe salesmen to put out tip jars.

57

[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance]
Because with that rationale you encourage shoe salesmen to put out tip jars.
[/QUOTE]

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-

58

I used (back in college) to work at a restaurant and did take out orders. I wasn’t a waiter, but I was responsible for setting up food from the kitchen so that the servers could serve it to guests. I had a million odd jobs while I was there and preparing take out was one of them. I got tipped from time to time. But, it wasn’t expected.

Today, I usually avoid this by ordering a drink at the bar and leaving a tip on the bar tab. I’ll order my take out, have a beer, and then my food is ready and i’ll tip the barteneder on the same tab.

59

[QUOTE=Carlyjay]
Also don’t forget the walk-outs, which servers pay for, the broken-glass charges, the inventory balance/spillage charges for bartenders and so on and so forth.
[/QUOTE]

Now that’s interesting - I’ve broken a couple glasses but I didn’t have to pay for them. I would have thought that a bit harsh. And I haven’t had anyone walk out without paying yet - although it’s understood that we keep a server bank and are responsible for turning in all our sales, I’ve always assumed that if that ever were to actually happen my manager would void the bill for me. Hmm…

60

[QUOTE=Rigamarole]
Now that’s interesting - I’ve broken a couple glasses but I didn’t have to pay for them. I would have thought that a bit harsh. And I haven’t had anyone walk out without paying yet - although it’s understood that we keep a server bank and are responsible for turning in all our sales, I’ve always assumed that if that ever were to actually happen my manager would void the bill for me. Hmm…
[/QUOTE]

There were times when I wasn’t charged for broken glasses. And times where I was.

And 9 times out of 10 I was charged for walk-outs, or the “staff walk-out jar” was used, wherein every staff member puts in 2 bucks per shift to cover future walk-outs. Either way, we lose out of our own pocket.