Marta Daniels ( http://www.howrc.com ) explains that, if you are fortunate enough to receive a discount on your restaurant bill, you should still tip on the pre-discount total or you’re a cheapskate.
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Questions about tipping:
1.) Should you tip on the subtotal of the bill or after tax? I understand that a server has done something in terms of bringing me food and drink and providing me service, so I see why it is appropriate to tip; however, tax is what a state/city is charging each paying customer. So why tip on your OWN tax?
2.) If you order an expensive bottle of wine (say 100 or 200 dollars), are you expected to tip 15-20% on that? I mean really, more work is probably done if I order 2-3 glasses of wine and the server has to keep bringing those, as opposed to opening a bottle once and leaving it at the table.
3.) What do you think of people who work in a restaurant that isn’t fast food but isn’t sit down…do you need to tip people if they clear your tables? I know most people’s gut reaction is to say yes because they’re providing a service BUT if they’re being compensated at minimum wage or above, why should they be entitled to a tip? Aren’t they just fulfilling their job requirement?
Hi Disappointed! Great to hear from you,and great questions. I’m not sure that there are any concrete hard and fast rules when it comes to tipping, but I can tell you what I think and what I think a lot of other servers think.
1) I think that, as a server, I’m not so concerned about the pre-tax/post-tax thing. I mean, clearly I’d rather you tip on the highest total there, but if you are a person who decided that, hey, the subtotal was $50, after tax it was $53, and you would rather tip based upon the $50, I think thats fair. After all, the $3 in tax doesn’t represent any work that I did, so for me to expect to be tipped on the tax isn’t right.
2) I think, as a server, I’m still going to think that the best and most fair rule of thumb is to tip on the total. And even if you order a bottle, a good server shouldn’t just open it and leave it, they should keep up with everyone’s glasses, no one should have to pour more for themselves. That being said, a tip should be based on the service that you receive. 20% and above should be phenomenal service, 18% should be great service, 15% should be good service, 10-15% for adequate service, and anything below should be reserved for below average service, although I do believe that there are very few circumstances that would justify zero tip. Even if the person did a poor job, they still served you to some capacity. So if your bill is $350 ($200 of that being a bottle of wine) and your server just uncorked the bottle for you, didn’t keep up very well on wine and bread refills, and didn’t laugh at your date’s corny jokes, do I think you should leave $70? No,$35-$40 should suffice. But if the server kept all the glasses full, bread stocked,and was a delight to be around, then the 18-20% sounds well earned.
3) Lol! This reply is turning into a blog post! Perhaps I’ll repost as such. So, some restaurants like the ones you’ve described don’t even include tipping the employees in policy. As you said, they are paid minimum wage or above, and that is expected to suffice. In a situation like that, I would say do as you want. If you don’t tip, its okay, but if your thrilled with that particular employee, I’m sure it would make their day. Its kind of like the baristas at Starbucks and places like that. They make a good hourly wage (for this type of work) but the have a tip jar out. I don’t think people should feel obligated to put a tip in, I usually just put the change from the coffee in. But if I’m excited about the particular individual and their customer service, I put a few bucks in.
I get asked a lot by friends and family whether or not and how much to tip the servers at the all you can eat buffet. You know, the people who basically bring you a beverage and clear your plates, but you do the majority of the serving yourself. They are paid more per hour than full service servers, because they have more restaurant related responsibilities that don’t pertain to individual guests, like refilling the buffet, cleaning the tables afterwards and all of that. So I tell people that you should tip them, but that 8-12% should be fine for great service (more if you feel led to tip more).
Yikes, I just wrote a novel! Lol! Hope that answered your questions, if not please let me know. Thanks for all of your support! God bless!