<p>I assume you have to have more ducks in a row to get a job at the expensive places. I mean these folk are older than me, and do this for a living…and look happy about it! They must have it going on! </p>
<p>[Chef</a> Hunter : Food Network](<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/chef-hunter/index.html]Chef”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/chef-hunter/index.html)</p>
<p>Not about waiters, but eye opening/exhausting, none the less.</p>
<p>I tend to overtip at less expensive restaurants…or if we are staying a long time. If I meet a girlfriend over a long lunch, the waitperson will always get a much larger tip than he/she expects. I know that I have taken up their table and the potential for more tips from other customers.</p>
<p>What I resent is when the service is sub-par…can’t find the wait staff to save my life and we need more drinks or a check - or change. Or they didn’t check in after the food was delivered, and something was wrong with our orders. Or not delivered and one of the people at our table didn’t get their food (this happened to us last month).</p>
<p>Since I have waited tables, I am extraordinarily patient about service. Yet, lots of times the service is not fantastic, even when the restaurants aren’t busy. There could be too many tables for one server or the kitchen is slow, but it’s still frustrating. </p>
<p>A 20% tip is taken to be expected nearly everywhere, nowadays. I was happy when I got 15% and 20% for extra special service! Yet, busdriver totally has a point about the wine. That can be very, very costly, even with cheaper bottles of wine or even a couple of glasses of beer. </p>
<p>We have gone to restaurants where we bring our own wine and they uncork and serve it, for a far lower fee than the ridiculous markup at the restaurants. </p>
<p>My best tip of all in college wasn’t even a monetary one. It was a lovely thank you on the back of the placemat and probably all the change they had in their wallets from a young couple who was on a date and running short on cash. That didn’t pay me with much but did fill up my gratitude meter for a long bit.</p>
<p>I’ve never waited tables, but I’ve heard lots of funny and not-so-funny stories from family members who have. I know it is physically hard work and can be stressful and frustrating.</p>
<p>I think people who stiff the waiter are jerks and it says a lot about their character, especially if they have the money and they’re just cheap.</p>
<p>In our town, Red Lobster ALWAYS has excellent waitstaff, other places it’s more hit-and-miss. Like SamuraiLandshark, I leave an extra-large tip if we have lingered over lunch. I also leave bigger tips if the tip isn’t going to be very large anyway. Frankly, for an expensive meal, I think about it, and probably tend to round down just a bit, not much.</p>
<p>How about those people who come into the restaurant knowing they are going to complain about something, just so they can chisel a free meal out of the manager?</p>
<p>Here in Oregon, waitstaff gets paid minimum wage (which in Oregon is $8.80/hour for 2012). I tip well because I like eating out and want it to be a pleasant experience for everyone, server and servee alike. We go to the same local restaurants often and I like being greeted warmly. I expect most servers in good restaurants in Portland make about 20 to 25 dollars per hour and work about 30 hours/week (6 days of 5 hours). That seems reasonable to me: it’s a wage at which you can afford a warm clean dry place to live and save for the future.</p>
<p>Many of the servers I know have children and long-established community roots. It’s not a step on the way up, it’s where they are and where they’ll be. Why would I begrudge them a good job, done well?</p>
<p>I am very much in the camp of not wanting to worry about tip. Pay the wait staff properly, leave the customers out of it. It is the owner’s job to manage the staff, to know if they are doing a good job. It is stressful for customers trying to figure out how much to tip. When I am on vacation, I purposely look for all inclusives, even if it means more money, so I don’t have to be carry money around with me to tip people every time I turn around. I think the US has gone out of hand with tipping.</p>
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<p>From AZ. </p>
<p>So when my kid works a 4 hour shift at lunch with few patrons (dinner is the better time), at least I can be “happy” he is earning $7.25 an hour.:(</p>
<p>Dmd, do you feel not paying tax plays a role in tipping, at least for tourists? We were giddy about that, and I am sure that affected our spending when were there.</p>
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<p>I hope you realize that pepople who would like to see some sanity (and integrity) in that industry are condemning such behavior. Walking out with paying the service charges is not acceptable. A far as restaurants charging you a 3 percent of sales, I do believe it would be simpler for restaurants to present a bill with charges for local taxes and service charges broken down by server. A 100 dollar tab might show an additional 8 dollars for taxes, 15 dollars for main server, and 3 dollars for extras. The total bill would be 126 dollars. If a patron rounds that up to 130, the server would get 19 dollars. If not, it would be 15 percent.</p>
<p>I just came back from taking my DS to lunch (local popular deli). Made sure to tip very well after reading this thread. </p>
<p>The owners of this establishment used to coach at the local baseball field, and their son, who was on my s’s team a year or 2, was in an apron sweeping behind the counter. This is hard work.</p>
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And when did this new rule come into effect, and who made it? 15% has been standard for average service for my entire lifetime. Perhaps 20% is what’s expected in large cities, but not where I live. And why should it now be 20%? The waiter’s contribution to the dining experience just the same as it was 30 years ago. I agree that the whole tipping convention in restaurants is ridiculous (and its spread to places like Starbucks and ice cream parlors where employees make normal minimum wage is particularly absurd), but we have to live with it. We don’t have to live with some kind of tipping inflation that now somehow mandates a 20% tip–and perhaps 25% ten years from now? I also see no reason to regularly tip any waiter who is, as in some states, actually making normal minimum wage. The tradition of tipping exists to supplement the typical waiter’s unique sub-minimum wage. Once someone is part of the normal wage scale, the reason for tipping waiters disappears (absent some extraordinary service, of course). I can’t justify tipping a waiter who makes a normal hourly wage if I don’t tip everyone else who makes a similarly low wage–the woman at Macy’s who brings me ten pairs of shoes to try on, the grocery clerk who rings up my 100+ item order, etc. They work hard, too, but don’t get tips. Waiters, you aren’t that special.</p>
<p>I dunno–tend to tip about 15% and always felt that was perfectly appropriate. When we have large parties, there is an automatic 18% and we rarely add anything above & beyond that. I only do 20% or more when it is REALLY exceptional.</p>
<p>Have never waited tables, nor has H nor our kids. We don’t have the physical stamina to do so. I did work in the college cafeteria as a greeter and enjoyed the job. My brothers who worked in food service tend to be much more generous tippers than we are. I also like to be sure to overtip on small tabs at small eateries, especially when we linger. Don’t feel as compelled to do so at larger places with more pricey menus.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap: I love not paying sales tax here in Oregon. Yes, the lack of sales tax instantly reduces your cost of living. If I go to a chain restaurant in oregon, I pay the price on the menu; if I go to the same restaurant in Washington or California, I pay the price on the menu PLUS 9%… 9% extra on all your basic purchases really adds up!</p>
<p>It does add up. Especially with tipping. The question is, tip on the cost of the food and drink or the total bill, including that additional nearly 10% tax?</p>
<p>I don’t think having a “standard” service charge would fix the problem. Because think about this one… Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, etc all already have a “delivery charge” added when you have a pizza delivered, but they are very particular to inform you that the charge does not go to the delivery person so you are still expected to tip them…</p>
<p>Thanks for the laugh …going back to add more to a 42 dollars tip LOL!!!</p>
<p>dmd77 wrote:</p>
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<p>Yes, but Oregon has a 9% state income tax, which is the highest in the country. I’d rather control my income by not having state income tax and deciding where to spend my money (to avoid the state and county sales tax).</p>
<p>I live in King Co. (Seattle) where the restaurant sales tax is 10%. Typical sales tax is already high at 9.5%, but I guess they felt they could squeeze a little more out of you with an extra .5% when you dine out.</p>
<p>Cost of eating out has gotten too high (especially here in Seattle). It’s almost impossible for my wife and I, with our 5 year old, to go out for less than $40. That’s just the bare minimums - two $10 to $13 entrees, a $6 kid’s meal, maybe a soft drink. By the time you add it up with 10% tax and 20% tip, you are over $40 most of the time.</p>
<p>I tend to stick to the grocery store most of the time, where there is no tax on food items. Thank god for that.</p>
<p>Our state has a nearly 5% tax on pretty much everything, with only special loopholes that don’t fit most of us. We also have one of the state higher income taxes in the US. Fortunately, our property taxes are RELATIVELY low. We can still find ethnic restaurants (Korean, Chinese, sometimes Greek, Thai, Vietnamese, etc.) for two adults @ $20 or less (we drink tap water which is usually free), especially if its lunch; for dinner you have to add another 50-100% to cost.</p>
<p>“Thanks for the laugh …going back to add more to a 42 dollars tip LOL!!!”</p>
<p>I really thought this was a joke thread when I initially read it. But maybe it’s really more of a locality difference instead.</p>
<p>“Cost of eating out has gotten too high (especially here in Seattle). It’s almost impossible for my wife and I, with our 5 year old, to go out for less than $40. That’s just the bare minimums - two $10 to $13 entrees, a $6 kid’s meal, maybe a soft drink. By the time you add it up with 10% tax and 20% tip, you are over $40 most of the time.”</p>
<p>I must be your neighbor, ominous. We get great mileage out of the entertainment guide and groupons. We try to not order a drink, or one at most (can’t stand to pay alot of money for crappy wine when we have great bottles at home). We eat out alot, and like to eat well, plus we travel constantly so we have to eat out on the road. But you can do pretty good at Wednesday night steak night at LFP/Eastside/Lake Union/Greenlake Bar and Grill ($6.99 for delicious steak). There are some awesome deals so you don’t have to go without all the time, you just gotta find em.</p>
<p>Don’t forget restaurants.com…although they do add an 18% gratuity. I just got four $25 coupons for $1 each.</p>
<p>OminousRun: yes, Oregon has a 9% top rate on income… but that’s on federal taxable income, not on every dollar. We used to live in the Seattle area–Portland is significantly less expensive on every front: meals out, housing, electricity, water, natural gas, trash. Gasoline is about the same, but in Portland, an attendant pumps it, a little luxury that just never gets old.</p>