Tipping exists to benefit the restaurateurs, not the diners and not the wait staff. It does so in two ways:

1) It holds fixed costs down when business is slow, allowing the restaurant to pay waiters a lower base wage. Waiters have to endure lower income during these times and hope they'll make up for it during busier periods. "Tip creep," especially when encouraged by the management in the form of suggestions on menus or gratuities automatically added to the bill, is mainly a way for ownership to avoid having to give staff raises or raise the price of menu items (see "airline fees"). Waiters themselves probably have no say in the matter.

2) It encourages up-selling. That five percent that you think you are adding or subtracting from the tip to reward or punish quality of service most likely goes completely unnoticed by the staff; it's peanuts compared the extra money they make by persuading you to order an extra appetizer or more expensive bottle of wine. This generates more revenue and higher profit margins for the restaurant, just like that super-size popcorn and coke the concessionaires at movie theaters keep pushing on you.

Just pay the goddamn waitstaff a goddamn decent goddamn wage and get rid of this goddamn stupid awful f*cking debate once and for all. Why do I have to analyze the global economic situation and balance it against getting my food stink-palmed every time I want a goddamn steak? Why can't I just pay people money for food?

I tip the server ten percent, and the buser ten.

Because fark servers.

/ex-buser

When you eat at Subway, Burger King, Braum's and Taco Bell you never have to tip.

When you eat at Hooters and the girl doesn't wear a bra and shows a lot cleaveage: $$

But I'm biased...

The concept of tipping in general isn't a problem for me. The problem is this:
We go out to dinner. I order a filet mignon. You order a hamburger. From the server's perspective, he took both of our orders, gave them to the kitchen, then carried a plate to our table. We got the SAME service from the server, but I am expected to pay them more for it. fark that shiat...

Let's get this out of the way

I spend a fark-ton of time out of the US. In most every other single country in the world they pay their wait staff a regular wage. You leave a tip IF it was OMG WOW service, a wedding, a super special thing, the chef comes to your table and gives you a BJ, etc.

In the US you can pay wait staff shiate and they're supposed to kiss the ass of customers in the hopes that you'll tip them well. THEN they're supposed to declare their tips as income for the IRS and state.

IT'S RETARDED. (no offense, tards)

Please, let's change this stupid american standard. Pay your waiters properly. -And I FARKING HATE being interrupted by young people pretending to be subservient asking me "how's your burger?" when it's farking fine and I'm in the middle of a business lunch, thanks. Fark off. If I need something, I'll wave you over like they do in the rest of the farking world. This is "American Exceptionalism" at it's worst.

gadian: n_carrvoigt: If I were paid hourly as a server (we'll say $10 an hour for argument's sake), I'd make a ton less than I do now. I usually make about $550 a week working 30 to 35 hours. If I work those same hours at $10 each, that's $200 less a week, and over $10000 less in a year (not factoring in vacation - I haven't had more than three consecutive days off in five years). I make about $28000 a year, and I live in the third richest county in the country (median household income $104000 in 2011). If my tips were taken away tomorrow and I was told I'd be paid $10 an hour flat, I'd either have to drop out of school and find a second job or move back in with my dad. And yes, I pay taxes. Lots of them. On time.

I'm very good at what I do, and I enjoy it. I'm not the type to show up altered by substances, and I don't have the spine to flirt with my Attractive Female Coworkers instead of making sure you've got enough ketchup and beer. You take away tipping, you take away my incentive to work harder than the guy who doesn't notice you've been slurping on Diet Coke-flavored ice for the last ten minutes because he's too busy checking Facebook on his phone.

I'm okay with the current "standard" of 18% or so, because I'm able to budget around my lifestyle pretty well. I wouldn't mind more, but please don't tell me I should be okay with making $10000 less a year than I do.

But see, you're just saying the thing servers don't want to say aloud: "We want you to tip more because we're greedy", not because you're needy, not because you're starving and don't make minimum wage. That's ok, that's healthy, but let's be honest about what tip culture is: waiters wanting to earn more than they could if their wages were standardized. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, but I've never understood why more servers aren't honest about it.

It's not greed. I earn my keep. Tipping make foodservice the rare business where an employee can make a direct and immediate impact on their earnings. If you go on Fark at work and your boss doesn't find out, you're getting the same paycheck. If you beat your deadlines at work, you're getting the same paycheck. If I go on Fark at work, my tables notice their glasses are empty. If I bust my ass at work, I'll make extra grocery money (which is good, because I'm a culinary arts student and my dinner is basically my homework).

You standardize my wage, and I don't get that immediate critique of my performance or the incentive to go the extra mile. If I get a bad tip, I stop for a second and think about the service I provided, see what I could've done better, and fix it for my next table. If I get an unusually good tip, it puts a spring in my step for the rest of the evening, and my other tables get service that reflects my particularly good mood.

You get a performance review and a raise/bonus/whatever every once in a while. I get one every half hour.

Snarfangel: I can't wait for robot waiters.

Yeah, i dont understand why places havent just plopped an ipad screen on the table for when your ready for your refill. Its would be much more convenient and in over 10 years of dining is about alli can gather for what consitutes "good service". I guess im in the minority that doesnt need to get buttered up by some effiminate douche that probably hates all his customers anyways.

McTruckin: As someone who has worked and currently works in the restaurant industry, they are quite a few misconceptions in this thread. I've used the service industry to pay for college and to supplement my income for my little girl.

1) Almost anywhere in the SE your waiter is making $2.13 hour. I'm not sure about the rest of the country.

This is the problem with tipping nowadays. Employers use it to pay their servers shiat wages and then expect the rest of us to pick up the slack. Tipping has gone from a show of appreciation for good service to a guilt trip.

Cyno01: jmr61: I have no problem with a 25% tip if the service and food is excellent.

But I want it to be my choice.

KrispyKritter: the Poughkeepsie area is home to a lot of wonderful restaurants as the Culinary Institute of America is not far. there is lots of very well trained chefs that know how to staff an eatery that makes for a lovely dining experience. good food and good wait staff gets good tips.

if my fat face is happy the minimum is 18%. a attentive server with a nice smile and a good personality may get 50% or more. you make my day, i'll make yours.


The waitstaff have little to no bearing on the quality of the food aside from temperature possibly. Cooks make at least a bit above minimum wage and dont see any of that tip money. Tip for service, and if the kitchen farks up your food, dont take it out on your server unless theyre unapologetic, take it up with the manager.

I was at a burger place one time and ordered sweet potato fries instead of regular. Few minutes later, our food came out, sans my fries. The server apologized profusely and said they would be up in just another minute. Well, a few minutes later, she comes back again without my fries, obviously terribly embarrassed, she doesnt know what the problem is in the kitchen, she said she was told they would be going in the fryer next. I guess they were in the weeds and sweet potato fries were an uncommon enough order that they always had to be done a la minute. A few minutes later, she comes back, still no fries, by this time ive finished my burger, everyone else has finished their food, were all sorta just sitting around waiting for my fries. She says shes already talked to her manager and my meal has been comped. She provided awesome service, and still got a good tip because it wasnt her farkup.

Bullshiat... she prolly didn't fire the order correctly, then blames it on the cooks, who can't defend themselves...

/former cook
//this shiat happened ALL the time... "I forgot to fire back this well done filet... can you put a rush on that for me?" *goes back out to table* "The kitchen is real backed up, it's going to be a few more minutes..."

OhioUGrad: I'll tip on drinks.....food I'll cook at home.

The problem I have with tipping is that servers expect it no matter what they do good or bad. I'd rather the restaurant just pay people a living wage because I'm tired of hearing about tipping. However, then you'd probably get into the whole would they still provide good service if their pay didn't depend on it blah blah blah....don't know why I commented at all now haha

Here's a crazy idea... treat them like the cooks, and busboys, and prep cooks, and dishwashers, and managers, and hostesses... do your job right or your farking fired! Why is that so hard to process?

Transubstantive: poorjon: Just pay the goddamn waitstaff a goddamn decent goddamn wage and get rid of this goddamn stupid awful f*cking debate once and for all. Why do I have to analyze the global economic situation and balance it against getting my food stink-palmed every time I want a goddamn steak? Why can't I just pay people money for food?

The idea behind it is that it encourages good and prompt service. Go to a country that tipping is not the custom and you will see just how little the waitstaff cares about the customer. The Netherlands is especially bad. They simply do not care about the customer. I'm not saying the system is great, but it sure does punish employees who suck.

/perhaps all industries should work on a tipping system


So why in every other job in America your boss monitors your work and if you don't perform you are fired? Why are waiters/waitresses special where they can only perform if they are getting tips, and managers can't evaluate how well they are doing or even if they are doing their job?

Besides, a lot of tips boil down to if the girl is hot and if she is flirty. Get a fat 35 year old woman as a waitress, she can be the best in the world but won't make great tips.

stonicus: The concept of tipping in general isn't a problem for me. The problem is this:
We go out to dinner. I order a filet mignon. You order a hamburger. From the server's perspective, he took both of our orders, gave them to the kitchen, then carried a plate to our table. We got the SAME service from the server, but I am expected to pay them more for it. fark that shiat...

Exactly. To start with, most any meal takes the same effort for the SERVER, so why do you tip more on one than the other. Same goes with a $8 bottle of wine or a $60 bottle.

And for the cook, many times a cheaper meal is more difficult to make. Order a sandwich vs a steak, a steak is pretty easy to grill, a sandwich can be difficult, yet the steak is 3x more expensive. Same with lobster, throw it in boiling water, it is done.

And the Papa said, "Oy, if I get that boy
I'm gonna stick him in the House of Pretension!"

To my waiters: You will get 10-15% for average service, 15-20% for good service. For too much service, you are just being annoying and tip-mongering, in which case you get knocked back down to 10-15%. If you suck, the most you'll get is a dollar from me. I work unpaid overtime in a very demanding job for my money. You pour glasses of water and carry plates of food. I'll be damned if I give you more than 20% of a regular bill. You might get a higher percentage if I don't order a full meal, or if it's really cheap, or if I linger.

Let me do some math for people who take offense to that. Let's say my group of three or four goes out for modest dinner and spend 75 minutes at a table and rack up a 60 dollar bill. We get good service and leave a 20% tip - 12 dollars. All the other patrons at the restaurant act similarly. Waiter makes 30-40 bucks an hour. We were more than generous, buddy. If you think you deserve more, get a job that contributes something more substantial to society and takes more than a white shirt, black pants, and one day of training.

/Now all the waiters hate me.
//I'm glad, didn't want to eat at your crappy restaurant anyway
///Once saw my dad (a usually generous tipper) leave a dime as a tip. He said, "that's more than she deserves." He was right.

If the staff at the restaurant would just pool their money and buy larger quantities of drugs together, they could probably get a bulk discount. Tip-creep wouldn't be needed, they'd have more money just by spending less.

Cyno01: Considering the value of a dollar and how the actual minimum wage is just about the lowest ever, tip creep is inevitable if waiters are to earn a livable wage.

Math fail. You do understand that food is getting more expensive so tips are already going up? 15% of $10 is less that 15% of $20. (I usually tip 20%, rounding up to the nearest dollar, but that's to keep the math simple). What is actually creeping up is waiter expectations. They are negotiating with the public not to spit in their food. Wait staff essentially have a COA built into their wages. As long as things get more expensive their wages go up. Not to bust on waiters, but my brother, for instance, works as a cashier at a supermarket. He doesn't work any less than a waiter and his wages are stagnating. (And through unconscionable wage practices that give a small raise at 6 mo., a year, 2 years, 5 years, etc. that don't adjust for minimum wage unless minimum wage catches up to them, he'll still be making just a little bit over minimum wage). He's been there nearly 20 years.

If you feel bad about the waiters raise their minimum wage. That will protect them from slow nights and help even out their income, and prevent restaurants from staffing more people than they need at slow times when waiters make sh**. If you own a restaurant and you want mandatory tips, build it into your price and then tell people not to tip. You have the power to pay your employees a percentage of what they serve. A mandatory tip is, however, part of the price and should be listed as such under truth in advertising.

Even better yet, increase the earned income tax credit, or even turn it into a full blown negative income tax. A waiter at a real restaurant (I'm not talking about tip jars at Dunkin' Donuts) is probably out-earning just about anyone else at the low end of the job market with similar training.

I don't mean to sound crabby, but I don't like half-a&& solutions. The entire working class is facing economic starvation. Fixing little pieces of it here and there just divides the voting block that could be used to actually fix it and get everyone who is working hard a living wage.

I only tip whores.

15% rounded up for normal service. With food getting more expensive, the tip goes up with it. I'm certainly not making any more money to be able to give them more money.

What if I do not want to make a tip, since I am already paying the restaurant for the service and food, and the restaurant is paying the waiter's salary? Oh, would it be illegal then not to do so? I know everyone wants to experience eating out the best foodies in whole wide world, and so am I.

You're Abe Froman? The Sausage King of Chicago?"

Cyno01: Considering the value of a dollar and how the actual minimum wage is just about the lowest ever, tip creep is inevitable if waiters are to earn a livable wage.

This logic doesn't really compute, at least on the value of the dollar part. If the dollar is worth less you are paying more for the food thus you are paying a larger tip on the same percentage.

What!? I'm just an average tipper now? I always thought I was making a waiter's day by tipping 20% if the service was acceptable and offset the douchebags who never tip. But now you're telling me 15% is an insult and 20% is the standard? I'm NOT going to 25%, go fark yourself NYC.

I have no problem with a 25% tip if the service and food is excellent.

But I want it to be my choice.

Tipping threads - for those who like internet conflagrations but hate contemplating genital cutting.

For the record: I don't declinate.

I inhabit.

You?