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Want to really confuse your server? Leave a 15-percent tip.
There's nothing more ambiguous than the 15-percent tip, which could just as well be a "thanks for nothing" grat from a miffed diner who always leaves 20 percent or a sincere show of gratitude from an infrequent restaurantgoer who thinks 15 percent is still the going rate for good service. Only the tipper knows for sure.
Fortunately for servers, fewer customers today seem to fall into the latter category, which is now mostly populated by the very old and very stubborn. Surveys show the vast majority of Americans have transitioned away from the 15-percent standard which ruled the food and beverage industry for decades, with the national average tip rising to 19 percent in 2008.
Restaurant-imposed service charges are a fairly good way to gauge the shift in tipping expectations: When they first showed up on south Florida menus in the early 1980s, they were nearly always set at 15 percent. But by the time a Long Island diner faced charges for skipping out on the mandatory grat at Soprano's Italian and American Grill in 2004, the number had crept up to 18 percent, the figure that appears on most menus today.
According to Zagat, which annually compiles tip averages from across the country, 2000 was the first year tips topped 18 percent nationwide.
So what happened in the last 10 years to justify the change? As many detractors have pointed out, a percentage is automatically adjusted for inflation, so that's not the rationale for the newfound generosity. Rather -- and this is your server talking -- it probably reflects a greater appreciation for the server's work, deepened by the many more meals Americans now eat out.
Just as the public realized that folks who toil on assembly lines and sell costume jewelry at the mall deserve a minimum wage, diners have finally caught on to the real value of service. As we approach Labor Day, your server thanks you for that.
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9-08-2009 @8:03AM ibdebi99 said... I have been on all sides server, guest and restaurant owner. I always tip 20%, if the service was great more, if the service was bad, I'll tip 10% but I tell them why and if was terrible I let the manager know and leave nothing.
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9-08-2009 @8:02AM Kent said... WOW! Am I glad I read all this. I don't go out to speak of and when I do it is usually as someone else's guest and as a cash strapped senior I will be in deep cah-cah to even attempt to open my wallet. (Who would want to see the moths fly all over the restaurant?) BUT~ my point is, I am still thinking that anything over 10% is generous! HEY! I said I'm old! :) Anyway, I do agree that the bussing and wait staff should see more base pay. I understand that in Vegas servers actually PAY the owner to work there, the tips are that lavish. I'll never know. But, in the unlikely event I win the lottery and celebrate at a nice restaurant, I'll remember what I've read here. Bring along an envelope full of Benjamin Franklins and pass them out liberally.
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9-08-2009 @8:43AM SMigacz said... I remember watching "High Sierra" and there was a sign behind the diner counter on the wall that stated "Tipping is un-American". What ever happened here?
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9-08-2009 @8:04AM carl said... I never use accepted guidelines for tipping...I tip what I think the server was worth...usually more than the standard 20%, but at times if the server is bad...it will be less
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9-08-2009 @8:04AM John S said... I tip at least 20%, or as high as 25%. I can relate to the problem of foreign tourists. I drove taxi in FL in the 70's and the worst tippers were the French, even if they were from Canada.
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9-08-2009 @8:06AM ben said... I was always confused about % of tipping. I'm going to tip a server more if they bring me a $30 steak then a $6 Hamburger. They are doing the same amount of work and walking the same distance. If there's 2 at a table the tip is doubled but they're only carryinf one extra plate.
Unfortunately some servers think they are entitled to a generous tip regardless of their attitude.
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9-08-2009 @8:19AM Len said... There was an interesting story a few years ago on the NPR program This American Life regarding a restaurant in which the nicest, friendliest waitress was getting smaller tips than the others, despite giving equally good service. As an experiment she began being less outgoing, less friendly, and her tips went up. Go figure.
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9-08-2009 @8:06AM Steve said... In the 80's I would tip 15% if service was really really good. You all have to remember restaurant food is roughly twice as much today as it was in the 80's. A couple beers at $.75 each and a plate of nachos for $2.99 your total was about $4.50. Leave a $1 and things were ok. Drinks, appetizer, and tip less than $6.00. Today, most restaurants have appetizers that exceed the price of a meal. A couple beers at $5 each and a dozen chicken wings for $9.99, now add the tip at 15% (its $3.50 in this case) round up and your little snack and beer just became become $24.00. I'm afraid I don't see where someone can bring me 2 beers and a plate of wings and have it worth $4.00. If I add a $15.00 meal to the game, all of sudden I'm at $35.00 plus tip of $6.00. $41.00. The point is the huge increase in the cost of restaurant food has supplemented the wait staff. In New York and
Boston that little meal is upwards of $60.00, the waitress gets $9. Thats plenty for the six minutes someone spent on me.
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9-08-2009 @8:09AM Waitressing grad student said... auxonic said...
I loath where tipping has ended up. 20% ends up as over $25 on my normal meal for two diners. Multiply that by the four or six people at my table and the five or six tables in the section and the server (shared in any number of ways with other staff) are making a fortune...randomly. I wish a reasonable staffing cost was integrated into the food and we could stop with this nonsense. It's even worse for fancy meals out, am I really supposed to leave a $60 tip?
Doesn't that seem like a lot of money? Maybe to you it is, but keep in mind that in the time it took you to rack up that $300 dollar tab, unless it was just on one expensive bottle of wine, (and let's be honest, if you are *ithcing about a $60 tip, you're probably not buying $300 bottles of wine) you had one person's full attention. That server may only have one other seating at that table that night because people tend to not eat dinner after a certain time.
Also, out of that $60 the server is required to give at least $7 to the bar tender and probably another $12-15 to the support service staff, like the nice man who brought your food, or the one who scraped the crumbs off your table cloth. So if you decided to not tip a full 20% you can see how the tip can quickly be pared down to $20. And unlike you; we, regardless of the generosity of the guests we serve, are rarely stingy when tipping the people who work so hard for us. We tip our support staff based on the amount of sales we had, not the tips we received.
The service you recieve in a "fancy" restaraunt should is also of a higher quality. Your server was not born knowing exactly the right wine to pair with your food, or how to clear and reset your table without you even having to pause in your conversation. These are skills. No it is not rocket science, but it is a craft; and when we do it well, it can be extremely frustrating to not be recognized for it.
So, yes, yes you are really supposed to leave a $60 tip! If you can afford to eat a $300 dollar dinner then you should by all means be prepared to leave a $60 tip. If that number seems shocking to you; maybe you should eat at Chili's or Bickfords. Where you will undoubtedly have to leave no more than six bucks.
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9-08-2009 @8:20PM EVIE said... The way it is right now out there. Times are tough. I tip what I can afford. I too do the double the tax trick. Again 2 mortgages, 2 kids, one in college we do what we can. I feel that should be acceptable.
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9-08-2009 @8:09AM carl said... I tip what I think the Server was worth..to me
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9-08-2009 @8:10AM tina said... I am a server who makes $2.13 an hour, plus tips. The average tip in the small town I work in is 10%. If the quality of service seems to go down it is because the restaurants put more work on the servers. Most restaurants do not have cashiers anymore, so the servers are the cashiers. They will send hostess's and busboys home to save labor (because they are paid more), so the server is stuck doing all those jobs, plus trying to give good service. It is not fair to the servers and especially to the guests. The guests are not getting the service they would like, and blame the servers, who are busting their ass trying to do 4 peoples job so that the restaurant saves money.
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9-08-2009 @8:14AM cecelia said... Tipping is a good thing! Especially for the food industry,because the majority of restaurants only pay their servers $2.13-$3.00 per hr. wages and then the servers have to report their daily tips so they can be taxed as well as their small pay check from the employer! Alot of servers don't make enough tips to even pay them minimum wage for the day at which point the employer is suppose to make up the difference to make min. wage for the employees day pay at least min.wage! Is this really happening? I don't think so!
If you get good service, give a good tip!What would you want for your services? If you get bad service then find out if the cook is the problem with your food or the management is on break before you blame the server for bad service,If it's not the server's fault then take your problem to the management directly and get a discount for your uncomfortable visit with that restaurant,and tip the server!!
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9-11-2009 @8:11AM i_am_ish said... I tend to think that the tip should not be a percentage of the bill at all.
My reason: If I go to a restaurant and order a cheese pizza and a coke for say $15, a 20% tip is $3.
If I order a deluxe pizza and a beer (at the same restaurant), the server does the exact same amount of work, but the bill could come to $25, and I have to tip $5. The server has not done anything different between the two orders, but deserves a higher tip? Why?
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9-08-2009 @8:13AM Josie said... I was a server for 3 years and supported my 3 kids on 10% tips back when a steak cost $5.98. Now a steak is about $18.00, so 15% is more than adequate. Busboys and dishwashers should be making minimum wage (not sharing tips) and stay in school to prepare themselves for better paying jobs.
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9-08-2009 @8:12AM terry said... I tip based on service....in other words if the service is something that I would brag about they get a better tip that one where I need to keep asking for something that I ordered....also if I go someplace that has a beverage server only I shouldnt keep having to ask for a refill of soda when I had finished my first drink over 15 minutes ago and if on the little card left at the table it asks for tips....that gets a buck or 2 otherwise if no asking for tips and great service then that gets more.
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9-08-2009 @8:12AM Christina said... In tough times like these, i save my money for a night out to dinner with my family. I do not go out very often due to how the economy is going, but when i do, it is a special occasion. I have saved and cut coupons if necessary, and am doing whatever it takes to take my children out for a nice time. I feel bullied by articules like these wherei am being told my 15 percent tip is not enough.
How can we expect to give such high amounts? Shouldnt you feel lucky that we are choosing the restaurant you work in to spend our money so that you don't have to be laid off like many other jobs are doing now adays? I feel i should be given appreciation for even showing up, and a server standing around talking, or not checking to see if my orders up at the first sign of it appearing does not constitute a 20 percent tip. WHy is this mandatory? I am a 28 year old woman working 2 jobs, one of them being a graveyard shift, and no one tips me. I work just as hard, if not harder than a food server. I feel these servers complain a little too much about their lack of tips. They chose the restaurant business as their career. Please dont expect 20 percent as a starting off point. Accept 10 or 15 ercent, and if you put in the effort of a great job, than let the customer decide if they want to give more of their haird earned money.
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9-08-2009 @11:07AM JEN said... When I was a waitress 15% of a meal meant a tip of about $6 as the meal was less expensive to increase to 20% is unneeded as the cost of that $40 meal is now $60 giving wait staff a cost of living increase. Of course they wont agree I have a hard time (not that I don't do it) tipping $18 for what amounts to about 15-20 min of someones time wait staff make more than nurses that is why some nurses after finishing school can't afford to leave thier wait job making $250 for 4-5 hours work is not right and don't deny you make that much cause if you don't you work in a dive or are a bad waitress/waiter. I think you should pay them a proper wage it would be cheaper in the long run. Sick of being robbed going out out a meal.
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9-08-2009 @8:15AM Brian said... What servers need to realize is that a tip is customatry and not required. And if any server expects me to tip them more than the customary 15%, they better be exceptional and I should not have to ask for my drink to be refilled. I have been to too many restaurants and had too many servers who know that they're getting tipped and provide less than adequate service. That is not OK. Do a great job and you'll get a great tip. Do a less than average job, act, sound and look miserable and you'll get 10% or less from me. Just like the rest of us, you have to earn your money. If you don't like that, go find a job where how much you earn doesn't depend on the opinions of your customers.
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9-08-2009 @8:32AM LS said... My husband and I are generous tippers, especially if the service is good. We do not believe restaurants should automatically add the gratuity on the check, and there have been instances where my husband has had it removed.
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