I stopped into the local chicken wingery on the way home from the gym to get some protein to go. This particular establishment is essentially a sports bar, with the menu heavily favouring chicken wings.
I ordered my wings, to go, from the bartender, at the bar, as there was no distinct take-out area.
In North America, is it appropriate/expected to tip in this situation?
Logically, the bartender did no more for me than a front line staffer at McD’s, and you certainly don’t tip them.
On the contrary, the bartender is allowed to be paid below minimum wage, as it is customary to tip bar staff, and is counting on gratuities to supplement her income.
In the end, I tipped, but was a little puzzled, given that I do not tip in many similar transactions.
I’m not sure what the ‘accepted’ etiquette is, but I always tip takeout. Never as much as dine in, but usually a dollar or two plus enough change to make my final bill an even dollar amount. I figure the person still has to take the time to take my order and bag it up for me and so deserves a little something.
There is one minimum wage level. However, selected positions are paid wages from a combination of actual wages and tips, but in no case can the employee be paid less than the standard minimum wage. If their tip amount plus wage does not at least equal the standard minimum wage for a shift, the employer is required to make up the difference within the wage portion of the hourly rate.
I’m sure you’ll get plenty, even though we’re technically still in Rape Month and Tipping Month isn’t until June.
I tip 15% to servers who are not paid at least minimum wage if their service is minimal or mediocre. I tip 20% for good service and I overtip for outstanding service, which I’m happy to say is what I feel I get more often than not. I’ll throw small change into a jar for anything else just because it sucks to go home from work every night smelling like a deep fryer.
Maybe a dollar and make-up change or something like that for a bartender. Generally, if I’m just picking up an order from a diner or a place that does a lot of takeout, I don’t tip the person at the register. If I get delivery and there’s already a delivery fee added to the order, I tip an additional 10%. Sit down service gets more like 20%, give or take.
In that kind of situation, I usually like to try and pay and tip (moderately) *before *getting my order. That way, you tend to get better/quicker/well-packaged service and extra/generous condiments, etc. from someone who appreciates a tip from the type of customer who often doesn’t leave one at all.
I usually don’t tip for takeout. My thought processes being that the sum of my interaction with the takeout person is give order, wait, be presented with a pile of food and a bill. This is the absolute minimum of service that can be offered and I am not tipping for absolute minimum service. If I received this level of service from a sit down restaurant I would have left no tip.
With that being said, if it is a place where I am a regular and the interaction begins to be more (throwing in extras, advising me that the cook who makes ‘x’ the way I love is in, etc) then I start tipping.
I ended up tipping, because she provided more service than a McMouthbreather. She answered my questions about the menu items, gave me her opinions on the available sauces, asked me if I needed a drink while I was waiting, etc.
Essentially, she offered me all of the sit-down restaurant services, the only one of which I accepted was the food itself.
I think the only way around a tip in this situation, is to call-in the order for pick-up, and arrive, pay, and leave. But seriously…
Sure, in that situation I may have tipped as well but when I have takeout I usually “call in the order, arrive, pay and leave” so, no tip.
From your description of stop in, order wings to go I figured your situation was more analogous to my normal takeout situation than to a sit down experience.
Well even in those situations, I always tip. Yeah, I’m not taking up as much of their time, but that doesn’t change the fact their wages are shitty. So, I always tip a bit.