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OT: Tipping questions

This is somewhat off the subject but when I use to go back to Lincoln in the eighties and nineties (I was living in Seattle) I thought it was so cheap to go out to eat. Somewhere around 2000 it caught up with the rest of the country. I no longer think of it as being any different than anyplace else. Small town Nebraska is another thing. When we are back in Mecca one of my good friends who now lives in Denver says “It is so cheap I can’t afford not to drink”
 
Tipping cultures suck. When people from other countries visit, they don’t know what to do, they want to be appropriate but it is confusing to them. Further, the person performing the service expects a certain amount of a tip - in NYC, they expect 20% and it’s much easier to just tip it than make a point - even on bad service.

As others have suggested, just raise the damn prices and pay your employees as they should be paid. Let’s lose this concept that waiting for the end insures good service. If a restaurant owner has a shitty server, they will pay the consequences by losing business. It is their job to make sure we get good service.
quite obvious that you've either never worked in a restaurant or you simply want to change the culture of restaurant dining in the U.S.
 
I normally tip 20 percent at restaurants. We don’t have state income tax here in Washington so they tax everything else. Our local sales tax is 8.4 %. In Seattle it’s 10.1%. So I gladly tip 20% of the pretax cost of the meal but I don’t pay 20% of the bill after sales tax is added. Why should the state get tipped? (I’ve had all the discussions with waitstaff and of course they don’t agree, but I am sticking to my guns on this one. Besides if it is a really good dinner and good service they get even more than 20%. Six of us were on a boys ski trip this winter and we ate at a pretty fun place known for their prime rib. Between all the extra service we wanted and all the drinks we ran our young waitress pretty hard. She got 35%)
Good reason why Seattle and restaurants outside of Nebraska are superior. Nebraska has some good restaurants, not many....Have you ever noticed why all the national food magazines, Food & Wine, Gourmet (when it was still publishing), American Express magazines, etc., jump from Nebraska from Missouri to Nevada and seldom list Nebraska restaurants? I once asked a world-famous (not pretentious) chef/restaurant critic what it took to have really good restaurants? Response was: "Good eaters"! Ponder that......In the U.S. throughout the U.S., tipping has been a part of the dining out culture.....Change it and expect 25-40% price increases...No one thinks of Nebraska as a culinary destination.
 
It's strange to me that there is a sect of the economy that has a different minimum wage than the rest with the expectation that the customer out of the goodness of their heart makes up the difference or more (yes, I'm oversimplifying). Point being, if you advertise a price, why am I expected to pay more beyond that advertised price (plus tax)?

I lived overseas for a short period where tipping was not customary (and at some places, considered insulting). Were the prices higher than normal to pay employees more? Yes. But then that was all you were expected to pay, and I'm happier doing it compared to not playing a game.

Nonetheless, I do tip.

You need to have a broader understanding. Comparisons of different cultures doesn't work here.
 
excuse me sir, but you are burying my "off the grid" joke to @RedMyMind

Kindly stop artificially increasing your post count by replying to everyone individually when you could have combined your posts into one single reply.
 
Tipping is part of their wage which allows the more deserving to earn more money. When a business has to pay $10-14/hr for wait staff vs the $2.13 many pay their staff their overhead goes up. Do you want a commission based system solely based on what you perceive to be quality service or higher priced entrees? Don’t eat out if you don’t understand the economics of it. There’s plenty of delivery services for those that can’t make the connection. I’ll prefer a system that rewards the individual that I have control over vs higher price.
 
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Kindly stop artificially increasing your post count by replying to everyone individually when you could have combined your posts into one single reply.
Hey, at least he hasn't started four additional threads on tipping.

Yet.
 
Tipping is part of their wage which allows the more deserving to earn more money. When a business has to pay $10-14/hr for wait staff vs the $2.13 many pay their staff their overhead goes up. Do you want a commission based system solely based on what you perceive to be quality service or higher priced entrees? Don’t eat out if you don’t understand the economics of it. There’s plenty of delivery services for those that can’t make the connection. I’ll prefer a system that rewards the individual that I have control over vs higher price.
My point is, we don’t really have a choice anymore and frankly shouldn’t. Include the 20% in our bill and pay the servers accordingly. If you have a shitty customer service agent, we don’t get the right to pay less. We can complain and damage their reputation online. Brands who understand this will make sure they have great service.

I’m suggesting individuals shouldn’t have the right to judge what is good or not. You get a cheap ass and all of the sudden his empty glass of water will convince him that he can tip 5%. It’s old school and should be changed.
 
Good reason why Seattle and restaurants outside of Nebraska are superior. Nebraska has some good restaurants, not many....Have you ever noticed why all the national food magazines, Food & Wine, Gourmet (when it was still publishing), American Express magazines, etc., jump from Nebraska from Missouri to Nevada and seldom list Nebraska restaurants? I once asked a world-famous (not pretentious) chef/restaurant critic what it took to have really good restaurants? Response was: "Good eaters"! Ponder that......In the U.S. throughout the U.S., tipping has been a part of the dining out culture.....Change it and expect 25-40% price increases...No one thinks of Nebraska as a culinary destination.

LOL. Tell us more. I have always wondered why North Dakota isn't a hotbed for presidential campaigns, why people don't normally go to Louisiana for downhill skiing, and why the surfing culture is pretty much non-existent in Tennessee. Any ideas?
 
0 for no food in decent time.
10 for food in decent time.
15 for food in decent time+pleasant service.
20 for food in decent time+pleasant service+hawt!!!...(i only said this for lightspeed's benefit).
 
For those that live in Lincoln, the Tastees Trailers have hit a new low with tipping. There you tip when you place your order. So much for a reward for good service. It's more like you tip or I don't want to think about what would happen otherwise.

The Tastees are great by the way, so I don't want to take any chances and I top the maximum.
Thanks for the info! I've been itching for one for a while now!

I try not to eat out, but when I do its definitely a grading of how attentive the waiter was to our table. Often that is 20% for good service. Also, I normally tip my barber 30%+, because he always does a great job and gets me in whenever I call.
 
You need to have a broader understanding. Comparisons of different cultures doesn't work here.

I agree to a certain extent. Most of the "best" restaurants that are listed are listed because that is where the media are that are covering them. When I used to travel a lot, I would read all of the in-flight magazines as well as different articles about the best steakhouses or other restaurants and would laugh. I'd been to a lot of them and they weren't even close to some that I had in the Midwest or some other places. Food and wine is 100% subjective anyways. If you don't like it, don't eat there, but it doesn't have to be the best just because someone says it is.
 
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Tipping is part of their wage which allows the more deserving to earn more money. When a business has to pay $10-14/hr for wait staff vs the $2.13 many pay their staff their overhead goes up. Do you want a commission based system solely based on what you perceive to be quality service or higher priced entrees? Don’t eat out if you don’t understand the economics of it. There’s plenty of delivery services for those that can’t make the connection. I’ll prefer a system that rewards the individual that I have control over vs higher price.
many places lump all the tips in together and distribute to all the servers. sounds like a failed economic strategy
 
So I could be a part of the discussion, and after reading just the thread title, I ran outside real quick to tip my cow. When I opened this thread it wasn't about cow tipping at all. Such a disappointment :(
 
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I agree to a certain extent. Most of the "best" restaurants that are listed are listed because that is where the media are that are covering them. When I used to travel a lot, I would read all of the in-flight magazines as well as different articles about the best steakhouses or other restaurants and would laugh. I'd been to a lot of them and they weren't even close to some that I had in the Midwest or some other places. Food and wine is 100% subjective anyways. If you don't like it, don't eat there, but it doesn't have to be the best just because someone says it is.
In flight magazine "top steakhouses" etc. is 100% paid to be on that list.
 
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Slow football time of year so I wanted to see some opinions on a couple tipping situations.

One is common to fast food and pizza carry out where on your credit card receipt there is a space to add a tip.

The other is when a waiter takes your order and you don't see them again until they bring the check. So, other waiters are providing the service up to delivery of the check.

My opinion is a tip is a reward for good service, and if you can't tell who provided the service you don't tip. Any other opinions ?
My take on tipping. It’s your money do whatever you want!!
 
$1.00 if the person shows up to take the order, deliver food, and then deliver the check.

20% if they do a good job, like fill my glass and get me napkins, that kind of stuff. I like to be visited 2 times other than hi and bye.

I never tip based on quality of food. The kitchen staff has all the control there, the waiter does not.
 
10% is plenty. They have to be paid minimum anyway so don't feel guilty about that. I don't ever tip for haircuts or carryout. I do try to tip well for delivery since I don't want my food to be delivered cold. There's plenty of room for automation in the food services industry that isn't being utilized because of tipping. Why should I add 15-20% to an already overpriced meal when noone ever shows up to give me a refill and takes 10 minutes to deliver the bill after I'm already done eating.
 
sometimes i have to say, ‘no, let me drink this until its empty’.
 
10% is plenty. They have to be paid minimum anyway so don't feel guilty about that. I don't ever tip for haircuts or carryout. I do try to tip well for delivery since I don't want my food to be delivered cold. There's plenty of room for automation in the food services industry that isn't being utilized because of tipping. Why should I add 15-20% to an already overpriced meal when noone ever shows up to give me a refill and takes 10 minutes to deliver the bill after I'm already done eating.
Wait staff isn't paid the regular minimum wage. They are paid a separate, lower wage that assumes customers won't try to find every reason under the sun not to tip them.
 
Wait staff isn't paid the regular minimum wage. They are paid a separate, lower wage that assumes customers won't try to find every reason under the sun not to tip them.
I know that they have a separate lower wage but they still will be paid the normal minimum wage if they haven't met it through tips. It doesn't bother me at all if the business owner has to pay that. Nice guilt trip though.
 
Wait staff isn't paid the regular minimum wage. They are paid a separate, lower wage that assumes customers won't try to find every reason under the sun not to tip them.
You don’t need a reason not to tip. It’s your money! If you want tip if not don’t.
 
You don’t need a reason not to tip. It’s your money! If you want tip if not don’t.
Of course you don't. So why write a dissertation explaining all the reasons he doesn't tip?

And you're right - it's our money. So if I really think a restaurant is overpriced, I just don't eat there. I don't stiff the wait staff to offset my bad choices.
 
The difference between a good tip and a bad tip is usually $2. Don't be a dick. Tip your wait staff.

If they are particularly rude and obnoxious I will give a crappy tip and probably also talk to their manager. Otherwise, see point number 1.
 
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If restaurants start including the tip in the bill, how am I going to pass unfair judgment and subtly demonstrate my superiority over lowly restaurant workers?

A gentleman tips. 18-20%. 15% if you think it is still 1982. Self-important douchebags look for reasons to stiff the staff.

As for the fast food places where you have historically not tipped, I can see where there is confusion. If you have asked for any special handling - you should tip. That is what a gentleman does. If you order black coffee from Starbucks, you don’t need to tip.

No need to derail to an anti-Starbucks thread. That was just an example.
 
Last place I tipped was 50 cents at Steak and Shake. Terrible service
 
I'm an excellent tipper. I usually throw $2 bills instead of your customary $1. Adds up quickly.
 
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