tipping

mfaster7

mfaster7

Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
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Just wondering how much do you think is appropriate to tip when buying take out food from a restaurant? I always felt that different rules apply when it's takeout but I am beginning to wonder. Maybe I should tip more than I do.

Let me clarify. How much should one tip when taking out food from nice sit down restaurant to eat at home. Not take out from a take out joint.
 
Why would you tip when picking up take out food? All they are doing is handing you a bag of food. ???

A sit down resturant, now that's a different story. Then, I do my best to tip at least 15%(assuming the service is good).
 
Generally, I just leave the silver from the change. Unless I am feeling generous, then a buck and the silver.....
 
I never tip when picking up food to go. I tip between 15% and 20% for good service when dining in at the establishment. -Matt-
 
You do not need to tip when ordering food for take out. I tip 20% if the service is good when dining in.
 
Little if any tip for takeout. If they rushed the order for you, maybe a few percent. If you asked for some sort of special order, a substitution, something like that, maybe a few percent. If they did something extra like packaged it differently or threw in extra sauce or something, maybe a few percent.

-10 - 25% for sit-down with full-service (Yes, that's negative 10% on the low end there. I've only done that once -- literally wrote a negative number on the tip line and deducted it from the price -- and that was for the worst service ever experieced. Upon seeing it, the manager tore up the bill and brought gift certificates for another time. Smart manager.).

-10 - 10% for Buffet
 
Tipping in my book has one rule.
1) I tip because I want to, not because I have to.
That means that I also determine how much I tip. 15-20% is simply a guideline or rule of thumb. It can go either way based on your own perception of the service you received.
 
Carryout, a hearty thanks, have a GREAT evening...

I used to wait tables and also delivered pizzas so I know what it's like to live on tips and I also know how easy it is to provide excellent service. I tend to tip well for good service (~20%) and better for extraordinary service.

One thing that always bugged me was people who saw no problem dropping a 20% tip on a waitress that simply brought their food over from the kitchen (and I'm not talking atmosphere, help, etc. just delivery) would balk at tipping more than $1 for delivering a pizza halfway across town and getting it there HOT and politely! okay, so it's a pet peeve...

J-
 
ashtxsniper said:
I never tip at takeout unless she's really cute and that gives me an oportunity to flirt.
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Save yourself some time and go to a strip club or see a hooker for that. :D


I see no reason for tips for takeout except applying Gollnick's caveats.
 
For take out, just toss the coins in the change jar.

At the bar, between $1 and $5, if you're just there for a drink and a quick meal.

At a table, 15%-20%, before tax (waitresses are typically paid a couple dollars BELOW minimum wage -- as permitted under law -- and are required to declare their tips as taxable income) -- but if you get bad service and aren't going back, they get nothing. Good service should always be rewarded with a generous tip -- I've tipped up to 50% on occasion.
 
Strange, I never really thought about tipping for take-out - and my own kids (both of whom have worked in food service) think I usually tip too much. I guess for take-out I would put the change into a 'tip jar' if there is one (I always do that at the car wash). For a sit down meal, I tip 15% to 20% depending on the service, more if it is called for. Yes, I would leave NO tip for bad service, but not without first notifying the manager, and if the food is lousy and the service was good, I still tip well - and then I ask to be taken to the kitchen and have often shown the so-called 'cook' how to do it the right way (I'm not a cook; my parents owned a hotel and restaurant; my mother was Cordon Bleu trained). I love good food and I don't mind paying $200 for a single GREAT meal, but paying $1.50 for a lousy meal is a waste of money.
 
At a table, 15%-20%, before tax (waitresses are typically paid a couple dollars BELOW minimum wage -- as permitted under law -- and are required to declare their tips as taxable income) -- but if you get bad service and aren't going back, they get nothing. Good service should always be rewarded with a generous tip -- I've tipped up to 50% on occasion.
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IIRC, waitresses do make minimum wage (at a minimum). It just isn't calculated the same way as most other employees. What I got from the fed labor law poster in the breakroom where I work, is that waitresses are required to be paid x amount below minimum wage. If after tips, their per hour salary comes out to less than minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the diffirence.

The amount that would be paid in the described circumstance is really dependant on the exact situation. If take-out is standard at that restaurant, I would probably not tip, except to leave change in a tip cup, if there's one. That's what I do at the butchershop I frequent.

If take out is not the norm, maybe some gratuity is warranted, especially if you are working with a waiter or waitress who relies on tips for his or her livliehood, if the service is good of course.
 
I generally tip on take-out, just a few dollars but I do leave something. Usually it's the hostess who will grab the food, and they do go into a little work to make it take out so they should get tipped out a little. I think I usually just do ten percent, however, that's about the cap. Most finer restaurants and such don't even do take out so the you'll never really have a need to tip more than maybe 5 dollars if.

On the topic of sit down restaurants the standard industry norm is currently eighteen percent, this may be high but when you look at where all that money goes it's really not. Out of a tip (using where I work as an example) the waiter has to tip out all of the following: hostess, bartender(in kitchen), busser, foodrunner, barista and sometimes the bartender in the bar if the got a specialty drink or something from them in a rush. And for each of those there are particular percentages and minimums they have to tip. I've seen it where waiters get screwed on tips (patron left something like 40 dollars on a 700 dollar bill, foreigner didn't know how to tip) and left with a small fraction of what he should have.

I usually tip twenty percent, if the service was awful it usually means the waiter was having a bad day. When you get to fine dining would be hard pressed to have a bad waiter. Simply ask to talk to the dining room manager, explain your situations and they will take care of it. Managers and waiters (if they know they did bad) will usually comp you something usually dessert or wine if you had a reasonable bottle (this is applicable in fine dining not really at Applebees and "restaurants" of that nature).
 
How many times does this come up a month?
I worked in restaurants for a long time, so i take this personally.

*WARNING* I am about to say not very nice things, Take it as a difference of opinion, not a personal attack. Also, I'm on painkillers due to my back seizing up 2 days ago.

Look, 20% is standard, absolute minimum, for average service. If you can't tip, stay home in the trailer park where you belong

If you think that "all they have to do on a takeout order is hand you a bag of food", who do you think takes the order and packs it up? We used to have a major problem with Waiters never taking to go orders at a few places that I worked at, because some Douche would tip a quarter on a 30 dollar order, taking time away from customers that were paying for service.. Here's an idea, let me dump your food into a bag, instead of carefully putting it into containers, and seperating hot and cold items, including take out silverware, appropriate sauces/dressings. 20% is a little much for take out, but you should leave something.

If you're in a bar, it's $1 a drink. If you think that's crazy, then die of thirst.

As far as subtracting things off a bill, I can only hope that you're joking.

There are 2 things to consider; The kitchen makes the food, not your waitstaff. Too many people punish the waiter for bad food. That is a matter that the manager should take up with the kitchen.

and yes, Waitstaff is paid below minimum wage; 2.15 an hour, my friend. On their feet for 6 to 8 hours a day, no breaks, Literally running for 8 hours, no benefits, and now they're taxed on tips.

It's your Karma, not mine.
 
Sorry I'm not buying into this. I think most people would agree, the standard tip for average service is 15%.

Dijos said:
Look, 20% is standard, absolute minimum, for average service. If you can't tip, stay home in the trailer park where you belong
mine.
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