how much do you tip your server?

Tips are based on service:
Bad service with no refills or check up's = no tip and I write on the credit card receipt why the server did not get a tip. The mgr will see that reciept. Only once have I asked for a discount on my bill for such horrible service.

Good service gets a good tip 15%-20%

 

Yes - I think poor folks are more likely to work F&B or have experience in it.

Back when you could smoke in restaurants, my GF worked at an IHOP. She always said smokers tipped better which, actually, follows you logic to some extent.

 

ive seen that too. last week i was on the road selling tickets for my fire departments annual chicken supper. we split up every road in out district and knock on every single door selling tickets to the supper (so we know how much to cook). you'll go up to some 2-3,000 square foot houses with "upstanding" people living there and they'll just tell you 'not interested!'. some houses that we have put out and they still dont buy a ticket, seriously. though every single mexican trailer i went to, even though they might not have much money always buy a ticket just to support us.

 

One dollar a drink was a nice tip for a bartender ....IN 1980!

 

Well at $4.50 a drink (prices may vary), 15% would be a .67¢. So $1 is nothing to scoff at there big spender.

Frank

 

i've left no tip before but the woman got everything on the table wrong and left our drinks empty. it was the worst service i've ever had and the the worst tip i've ever left. i've also left over 100% tip because service was soo good. it was like a $25-$30 bill so after paying with my card i left the same amount on the table. i appreciate the good service and it's a job i wouldn't want.

i go to a local BWW and i have a waitor there that gets me a table with 10 minutes on fight nights when the wait at the door is 40+ minutes because i tip him well. that may be cheating but it works.

 

agreed

 

Two things: 1.Service and 2. NOT the amount of the bill.

1. Good service get more, that's kind of general.

2. The fact that a restaurant has more expensive food does not mean that the server has to get a bigger tip, and vice versa. For example if my family eat at a fancy expensive restaurant and the bill is $200.00 for 4 of us, a 10% tip is $20.00. When we eat at a cheap place, say burgers for $50.00 total, a 20% tip is $10.00. Both servers might have performed the same level of service and effort, so why would one get a lot more just because the menu is more expensive? So, long story short, it can vary from 10% to 25% of the bill, but not based on the total bill amount, but the overall service in perspective. I do minimum $2.00 per person, and go up from there depending on the service, regardless of the bill.

 

I was a bus boy and a dishwasher DECADES AGO...lol.

We got $2 from every waitress (3)...and those waitresses at the place back then were pulling in $200 a night +

When I was a cook after that.....NO TIPS.....unless a customer specifically said....give this to the cook.

All this was at the same restaurant over a 4yr period...back in high school

 

I usually tip 20% + if service is good, and never leave less than 15%. If service is that bad, I just never go back.

 

not cheating, just you responding to customer service. In NC there is a popular fast food chain called "cookout". at my house up at school there is one like 2 miles away and another across busy traffic like 5 miles away. but the one 5 miles away is the only one i go to because they are always extremely nice and have never messed up the order. the close one acts like they don't care about you and are kinda jerks. service get's the business.

 

agreed.

 

If you drink $1.00 High Lifes it is a nice tip for a bartender...IN 2011 TOO!

I usually bump it up, but my best friend is a bartender and is VERY happy if someone tips this (they usually don't).

 

I have held back a gratuity, and asked for the Manager, where the tip given was to do a better job... I haven't been back and told everyone I know about the disgraceful service. That decision wasn't made lightly.

Frank

 

Laugh Out Loud

 

I'm a server at a pretty nice restaraunt and I typically pull in about 18% in tips. I make $2.15 per hour BTW but with tips included that goes up to ~$14.00 per hour.

I tip 20% unless the server was being lazy. If they are slow due to it being extremely busy I still tip 20% because it is not their fault. Also if the food takes a long time I don't punish the server like some people seem to do.

 

When I'm home I tip very well when I'm treated very well. Out on the road at the truck stops I tip low because the service is most of the time horrible. Yes every once in a while you find good service but most of the time I get bad service because the color of my skin. Yeah surprise surprise!

 

Tipping is not a city in China.

 

I agree to a point... If the place is busy and the server themself can't keep up, that server needs to learn to be more efficient. I can't tell you how many times I've seen 2 busy sections of a restaurant, one server doing great and one just floundering. What's funny to me is the one who's actually doing worse in regards to service actually looks like they're running ragged when in fact if they just slow down and prioritize, they'd do just fine.

If the kitchen is backed up and is no fault of the server, how the server handles the table is the deciding factor to me. If they just ignore the table while they sit there for over an hour waiting for food, don't expect a big tip, if they are still attentive, explain the back up, etc, I'll still tip them well for their effort.

 

Being from Canada as already mentioned here, I only tip equal to the tax so about 12% but thats for good service and the servers makes $10/hour here... a friend of mine was a bartender at a decent club and he would take home roughly $60k cash from tips....he'd only claim 30% of that on taxes but still. That's more than I make in a year!

In the States is the hourly wage so low to improve service as their take home pay is based more on service? or is that minimum wage for everyone?