Why is tipping based on the cost of the food??

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Really, I have never understood this, and thought about it again seeing the thread about bad tips for Pizza Deliverymen in the Pit.

Admittedly, there are restaurants where the general cost of dinner for two is far higher than in others, and typically the waiters there are more attentive and polite. I suppose you are getting something for your money there.

Consider though this example, at a local off-campus college restaurant I frequent, not at all what one would consider a fine dining experience, called The Berg:

Scenario A - Four people enter, sit down, take menus. A bottle of a good cabernet is ordered, $20. Each of the four orders a steak and salad, at $10 apiece. Meal completed, total cost $60. 15% tip comes to $9.

Scenario B - Four people enter, sit down, take menus. Each orders a mug of beer, $2 apiece. Each orders a bacon-cheddar Heidelburger, $5 apiece. Meal completed, total cost $28. 15% tip comes to $4.20, perhaps round up to $5.

The waiter/waitress does the same amount of work at both tables, but gets twice as much gratuity from the first table. On what basis is this? Even the cook probably did the same amount of work in both cases, I can assure you that a steak at The Berg requires no more effort in preparation than a cheeseburger, probably less effort.

Why do we reward the staff based on the cost of our food? What does this the cost have to do with it? Yes, I am well aware how waitresses are paid, and that they require tips to support themselves. I tip my regular waitresses at Old Chicago very well and generally get what I pay for in good service. All I’m calling into question is the method by which we as customers calculate how to compensate the waitress for her work. Bartenders routinely live with the fact that pouring a $10 glass of scotch won’t earn them a better tip than pouring a $2 glass of house whiskey, it isn’t any more work either way. Or for another example, why would you tip the pizza guy more for a loaded-with-toppings $20 large than a one-topping $12 large? Were the toppings so heavy they caused extra strain on the way to the door for which he deserves compensation above and beyond what he should get for carrying the one-topping pizza?

2

Uh, maybe it’s a marxist thing. You know-- “From each according to his ability…” and all that.

3

Well, you should tip based on the experience. I waited tables for the past year and a half, and the best tippers were ones who either threw in a random amount (like $10 for a $40 check) or people who did the “three times the tax” thing. (Tax on food and bev in a restaurant is 8% here.)

I don’t think I’ve ever tipped anything below 20-25% unless the service just sucked. (Except that one time that I left “Next time, be polite to your customers” in the space for the tip on the credit card slip.)

4

On a side note, Spaniards tip ONE percent. I was somewhere between amazed and horrified when someone took me out to lunch and left a €0.40 tip on a €40.00 cheque.

I’m taking his word that that’s customary, and contenting myself that all my waiters and waitresses up to this point have been VERY happy campers.

5

When I used to work at a large bar, some people would hang out with their friends and only order water. They would never tip on the water, although it took just as much of my time to bring it to them.

Part of the answer is that the income tax the server pays is based on the amount of her sales.

6

chula nailed part of the reason. Servers are expected to get a portion of their sales in tips, and pay taxes on it, whether they actually got the tips or not. The “tip-out”, the portion of tips given by the waitperson to bussers, barstaff, etc., is also based on sales in many restaurants.

Another reason, from the restaurants perspective, is that it encourages the wait staff to “upsell”, by offering appetizers, desserts, extra side items, post-meal coffee, etc.

As for the higher end restaurants, part of the reason that they are more attentive and polite is that they are each given fewer tables. One of the nicer restaurants in our town makes sure that each wait person has no more than ten diners at a time. So while each individual check is much larger, the quantity is much smaller.

As for bars, anyone who tips the same thing for a $10 scotch as they would for a $2.50 beer, isn’t doing themselves any favors. I regularly tip 30% or so for drinks, and back in my scotch drinking days, I regularly got the equivalent of 3 to 4 shots of scotch for the price of one. I also frequently would have them bought for me by my regular bartenders.

I also agree with Skerri about tipping percentages, as I range from 20-35% depending on the service. If I tip less than that, the waitperson should probably find a different job, but tipping percentages is a debate in itself.

7

20-35%? :eek:

In the UK it’s 10%…
[sub](At least, everywhere I’ve been!)[/sub]

8

Is this universally true? What if it’s a burger joint, or say, a concession at an amusement park?

Before I read your answer I figured that it was just that the tip was related to the amount of food carried, and the therefore, indirectly to the cost of the food.

And the rationale that parties above a certain number of people are required to leave an additional tip…is because it’s extra effort to get all those orders to arrive within a small amount of time?

Also, I was told that paying the tip, at least, in cash is much appreciated. Would that make any difference to the amount the waitress felt was “fair”?

9

DMC, by ten diners, do you mean ten tables or ten actual people? Because ten tables is A LOT to handle at once. I once waited tables at a Chinese restaurant with a buffet and one Sunday, the entire dining room was filled and I and the restaurant owner were the only people to handle the front. Even buffet is hard to handle 10-15 tables at once when you have to get drinks for everyone, handle refills and special requests, take orders for those who don’t want buffet, and get tickets on time.

10

In the US, the Feds have implemented a minimum wage, I think is around $5.15/hr, however Tipped employees can be paid $2.13/hr. A tipped employee is considered anyone making $30 per month or more in tips.

The reason that cash is appreciated more is that a credit card receipt provides proof of the tip amount. If a waiter receives all tips on credit cards, then the total amount of tips must be claimed. If tips are in cash, the waiter is only “required” to claim 8% of their sales as their tip collect.

11

Another reason for the pressure to “upsell”: as I understand from a chef friend, in most American restaurants the entree (main course to Brits) is usually the least profitable item in a meal. Appetizers are a bit more profitable, and desserts still somewhat more; but drinks are the cash cow. Alcohol’s the big $$ maker, so your server’s incentive is to get you to buy more. More tips for him or her and more $$ for the owner.

I believe there’s an old thread (search too slow right now) explaining that quite a few US restaurants now pool tips. I don’t like that idea, since it’s not rewarding my friendly waitress for her special efforts - but it does counterbalance cheap tables versus spendy ones.

12

throatshot,

That’s one waitperson per 10 actual diners, not tables, and that’s the maximum. Each one usually has even fewer diners than that. Admittedly, this is at one of the nicer restaurants in a town that is known mostly for its restaurants (well, beads and tits, too), so it isn’t the level of service I expect everywhere.