This might be better suited to a general board, but I wanted to post it here so I can gauge responses based on known users. I have run into a few instances lately when I am unsure about a tipping situation and always seem to zig when I should zag. The first 2 were at places at with which I was previously unfamiliar
Scenario 1: Ordered from the counter at a casual breakfast/lunch spot. The screen came up and I hit 20% without thinking. The gave me a buzzer with which I went up to collect the food when it rang. I went up to get us waters, silverware, etc., and bussed the table when we were done. Obviously 20% way too much in this case. The question is if I should have tipped anything at all.
Scenario 2: The next day we were at a casual dinner spot. You stood in line to order food and drinks (including from the bar). You gave your table number at check out. Remembering the previous day I only tipped about 10% of the bill. There was a bit more actual service at this place. They brought the food to the table and bussed the table. I had to get up to refill our waters and woulld have had to wait in line again if I wanted another drink. . Was the 10% appropriate?
Scenario 3: We ordered take out pizza from Flatbread. I noticed a non disclosed 3% service charge upon checking out, which was listed as a gratuity. Normally I may have tipped a bit more, but the hidden charges irk me. The final check out screen defaulted to the normal options (25%, 20%, 15%), which are absurd for pizza IMO. After hitting āno tipā as I was planning to leave a few more $ in cash, I was the presented with a paper bill to sign with another tip area.
I worked as a waiter and bartender for a long time and my default tip at a full service restaurant starts at 20% of the total (including tax and alcohol) and goes up from there unless the service is blantantly rude or lacking. However, the evolution of tip culture is tiring to me. I had a tip default screen spun around at me at a convenience store the other day! Still, it is always challenging for me to hit āno tipā. Iām training myself though.
My policy is 20% after tax regardless of counter or table service. It aināt gonna make or break us but it might mean a lot to the staff. And I always do it in cash when I can.
I donāt understand why you would tip on the amount after tax. Why does the tax deserve a gratuity? I get especially annoyed when kitchen fees are applied on the after-tax amount.
I donāt tip anything like 20% on counter service or take out. At a strictly take out place, I will give a few dollars cash if I have it. Maybe a $5 or 10 if itās a full dinner for the 4 of us. At a counter service place where Iām carrying my food to a table and clearing my own dishes, I will add a few dollars to the payment at the counter. I think in tipping conversations, what generally happens is that the people who fall on the high side of tipping speak up vigorously, and everyone else keeps quiet. This has the effect of making everyone feel that everyone is tipping more than average. Lake Wobegone effect, letās call it.
In MA, the tipped minimum wage (for anyone who ācustomarilyā receives $20 a month or more in tips) is $6.75 an hour. Meaning next to nothing. Anyone who makes tipped minimum wage is living entirely on tips. It is a dreadful system but itās reality.
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BarneyGrubble
(Aficionado of Beethoven, and Latina singers)
11
Not about food, but on one occasion, when buying an item of clothing online, I was astounded to see a prompt for a tip. I entered zero.
I know that waitstaff, for example, are paid well below minimum wage on the expectation that they will get tips. (Dreadful system, as you say.) Does this rule also apply to people who āonlyā provide counter service? If so, how are people who work behind the counter at food establishments distinguished from those behind the counter at non-food places?
I think its just a matter of tipping habits, or tipping more, like 25% before tax.
Just like tipping the same percentage after ordering an expensive bottle of wine. Its not like the wine deserves a gratuity
itās not shameful - idiots who refuse to accept the reality are making false statements.
all employees must earn the city/state/federal minimum wage.
$2.83 is the ātip creditā - basically what the employer can claim as āwages paidā for tax reporting purposes. employers do not pay FICA/etc. on tip amounts.
if tips + employer paid $2.83/hr do not meet the minimum wage $/hr for the hours worked, the employer must pay more to make it equal the minimum $/hr wage.
I did not intend to imply āyouā - the debate/arguments over tip incomes has raged for many years in many forums and demonstrated the ignorance of many peopleā¦
in one defunct forum, a member claimed to have been waitstaff āfor many yearsā and loudly wailed that employers routinely ripped off/cheated waitstaff tips . . . and thus the loud wail of shameful wages . . . . multiple posts later the same poster stated they made so much in tips that they didnāt care if they got cheated. donāt know about you, but that raised some really big really red flags regarding ātruthā
the city/state/federal minimum wage applies to all workers - the tip credit wage has zero.zilch to do with any of that.
for PA:
āThe minimum wage in Pennsylvania is currently $7.25 per hour, which is the same as the federal minimum wage. However, a bill is set to increase it to $15 per hour in the most populous counties starting in 2026 . . .ā
Personally, Iād do 15% for all three scenarios, possibly 20% for #2. Truth be told it also depends somewhat on the total. If I just order a $7 latte at a counter I tip at least a dollar or more likely 20%. But if Iām ordering coffee and food at the counter and doing all the bussing etc myself, I tend to tip 15% on the total.
I just feel like tipping less than $1 on a drink is silly.
The tipping on tax debate is too played out to get into. I think itās a cultural norm in American cities.
for the case of tipped employees, a definition is needed as to
āwho paysā
vs
āhow much they madeā
itās not the same thing - super super different with Trumpās policy of no (Federal) tax on tips or over-timeā¦ itāll be interesting to see if restos have more/less problems hiring waitstaff with tax free tips . . .
donāt forget the multiple āhigh endā restos who went to āno tipsā & paying a living wage + benefits. the best staff left for venues where they were happy with $2.83 from their employer plus (obviously?) lots of tips . . .
California led the way - $20 minimum wage; all tips were the sole property of the waitstaff, no tip sharing permitted. fortunately, the locals are plum-total-crazy enough to go along with it . . . tourists were not aware and waitstaff got very tidy double dips.
