How much do you tip?

[ez14]

well i've always been told that you need to tip because they work for about nothing. but how many tables can they wait on in an hour? id say 10 isn't to crazy of a number so if every table tips $1 they get $10.00 a hour plus whatever the employer pays i don't really know what that would be but i've heard $3 or $4 so if every table tips $1 they could make maybe $13 or $14 a hour that's more then i make

i tip more then that but dont think you need to tip more then that

Yes, I believe 10 tables in an hour is a crazy number. My daughter has worked as a waitress, and depending on the restaurant, they may only have 3 tables. And if one or two of them sit around talking after they finish eating it ties up the table.

would you mind asking her how many tables is a reasonable number to wait on in a hour for me? i've been wondering that for a couple weeks now

 

[Rafter S]

well i've always been told that you need to tip because they work for about nothing. but how many tables can they wait on in an hour? id say 10 isn't to crazy of a number so if every table tips $1 they get $10.00 a hour plus whatever the employer pays i don't really know what that would be but i've heard $3 or $4 so if every table tips $1 they could make maybe $13 or $14 a hour that's more then i make

i tip more then that but dont think you need to tip more then that

Yes, I believe 10 tables in an hour is a crazy number. My daughter has worked as a waitress, and depending on the restaurant, they may only have 3 tables. And if one or two of them sit around talking after they finish eating it ties up the table.

would you mind asking her how many tables is a reasonable number to wait on in a hour for me? i've been wondering that for a couple weeks now

We're having supper with her tonight. I'll try to remember.

 

[skyhightree1]

Great service - Great Tip
What I don't like is when they add the gratuity on your bill. That give free reign to bad service cause they will get paid the same either way.

I didn't like that either until my daughter started waiting tables. As far as I know that's mostly done for large parties (8 or more) to prevent the waitress working her behind off taking care of a large group for $5.00 (if that).

quote]

Here some restaurants automatically put that on your bill even if not a large party.

 

[ez14]

Yes, I believe 10 tables in an hour is a crazy number. My daughter has worked as a waitress, and depending on the restaurant, they may only have 3 tables. And if one or two of them sit around talking after they finish eating it ties up the table.

would you mind asking her how many tables is a reasonable number to wait on in a hour for me? i've been wondering that for a couple weeks now

We're having supper with her tonight. I'll try to remember.

thanks id appreciate it :tiphat:

 

[TexasBred]

I don't tip based on service. As far as service goes all I expect is for the sever to get the order correct, bring my food, come back one time and one time only to make sure all is well and then just stay out of my way and allow me to enjoy my meal. I have no problem tipping and have been known to tip 100% on occasion and never under 25-30% minimum.

 

[True Grit Farms]

well i've always been told that you need to tip because they work for about nothing. but how many tables can they wait on in an hour? id say 10 isn't to crazy of a number so if every table tips $1 they get $10.00 a hour plus whatever the employer pays i don't really know what that would be but i've heard $3 or $4 so if every table tips $1 they could make maybe $13 or $14 a hour that's more then i make

i tip more then that but dont think you need to tip more then that

Yes, I believe 10 tables in an hour is a crazy number. My daughter has worked as a waitress, and depending on the restaurant, they may only have 3 tables. And if one or two of them sit around talking after they finish eating it ties up the table.

would you mind asking her how many tables is a reasonable number to wait on in a hour for me? i've been wondering that for a couple weeks now

Turning tables is something a server is encouraged to do, politely it's beneficial to both the owner and server. We always gave the best waitresses 6 tables, and the others something less depending on how much they could handle. A photographic memory is needed to make the big bucks as a service provider. The better waitresses would get an extra window table also. Some of our better servers would make $2-3 hundred a night. Most of the bartenders made twice as much.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I've tipped bad service and then given some coaching.

Its usually around 20%. Really good service gets a better tip. If its a son or daughter of a friend its even better.

Neighbor lady waits tables at a place we eat at about once a week. She's a hard working lady. We tend to go a little overboard.

 

[ClinchValley]

I waited tables for 3 years when I was in college. Poor service i will usually leave 10%, because at the end of the night a server pays taxes of 10% of their sales if i remember right. It has to be TERRIBLE service for me to leave 2 pennies along with a note stating "Get a different job."

If they do a mediocre job i will leave 15%.

Good service gets 20%.

Exceptional service gets 25%+.

Servers really do work for peanuts most of the time. In bigger cities they can make a damn good living. But the majority of the time they are scraping by.

One thing people do not realize is when you don't tip, the server will LITERALLY be paying to serve you.

Some people should not try to wait tables. LOL. Myself, i have lost the patience to deal with people in that type of setting. Some people never had the patience.

 

[greybeard]

3rd horse, 2nd race and plant your corn early this year.

 

[slick4591]

well i've always been told that you need to tip because they work for about nothing. but how many tables can they wait on in an hour? id say 10 isn't to crazy of a number so if every table tips $1 they get $10.00 a hour plus whatever the employer pays i don't really know what that would be but i've heard $3 or $4 so if every table tips $1 they could make maybe $13 or $14 a hour that's more then i make

i tip more then that but dont think you need to tip more then that

Yes, I believe 10 tables in an hour is a crazy number. My daughter has worked as a waitress, and depending on the restaurant, they may only have 3 tables. And if one or two of them sit around talking after they finish eating it ties up the table.

would you mind asking her how many tables is a reasonable number to wait on in a hour for me? i've been wondering that for a couple weeks now

When I had the restaurant my best people could only handle 5 (4-6 people) tables at a time and give really good service during peak runs. The law back then was that I had to pay them $2.13 an hour, but they had to make enough tips to bring them up to minimum wage daily. If they didn't turn in the tips to bring them up to minimum wage the difference came out of my pocket. They also didn't keep their job very long as either they were cheating me are not good at their job. Average table turn times are about 45 minutes.

 

[Alan]

My youngest son manages a restaurant, a higher end corporate steak house chain, not a sizzler type. He's started on the bottom and worked his way up, the wait staff, servers, cooks and host staff split all tips. I told him it kind of sounded unfair because the strongest person is making the same as the loafer. He kind of smiled and said the staff watches each other very close, cheaters and loafers are weeded out pretty quick... made sense at that point. For about three years corporate management was trying to get him to to a managers position, he kept refusing and told them it would be a huge pay cut with twice the responsibility. It worked, now all manager get an equal cut of the tips. It's sure changed since the early 80's, then your tips were your tips and the tax on the tips was simply on the honor system. As a young couple I remember my wife would pay very little attention to her pay check and we would focus on her tips for the day. We grew to have our difference, but she was very good at customer service and made big bucks as a waitress.

 

[Rafter S]

Alan mentioned sharing tips. I've also been told that it encourages the staff to be helpful and friendly to all of the customers, not just the ones at their own tables.

 

[HDRider]

Looks like most CT folks are good tippers.

 

[greybeard]

3rd horse, 2nd race and plant your corn early this year.

Seriously, we really do tip--with $. In the last year, we tend to tip closer to 20% than 15% simply because everything anyone has to pay for now has gone up in price--groceries, electricity, cars, babysitters etc and wait staff's base pay has not kept pace. I have the little tip calculator app on my el cheapo flip phone set at 18%, but round up to the next $1--I ain't digging in my pocket for change to make it exactly what the device says it is supposed to be at 18%.

A real life parable from my past........
When my father was alive, I frequently visited him from my home in San Angelo. As many older guys do, he had his favorite places to eat and drink coffee, where all his friends hung out and told lies and shot :bs: ..one in particular. We would usually eat breakfast at his favorite place, then a few hrs later, return to the same place under the guise of "Lets run by the Hot Biscuit and get a cup of coffee". He just wanted to see his buddies. That repeated itself in the afternoon, usually after lunch at the same place and more often than not, return to eat supper when I or my brother were visiting. One day, we got ready to leave after a cup of coffee--my father put a quarter on the table, and I dropped $1. Dad lectured me about that a bit. "You pick that dollar up boy--that's ok for you--you're going back home tonite--I am going to be here every day and them girls will be expecting that $1 every time I come in here."

Tips used to irritate the crap out of me. My thinking was, that "no one forced the employees to work for <$2/hr and depend on tips--and no one had ever given me a tip in my mechanic or machinist work either, so why should it fall on me to pay most of a wait staff's salary?"

My current wife quickly changed that miserly thinking, as she reminded me of the days before I started dating her and used to go into the Kettle restaurant where she worked and trade her $20 bills for equal amts of her $1 & $5 tips, which later that night I was known to slip under the waist bands of young lady's g strings in the seedier establishment around Midland/Odessa. :lol:

 

[Bestoutwest]

Our house, when we do go out, is full of good tippers. My wife was a waitress and worked her tail off for a few extra dollars here and there. There's nothing worse than a table that runs you to death for a few extra dollars or a table that sits there for a couple hours shooting the breeze. I can remember picking her up and having to wait because someone needed some coffee so they could talk. Sidenote-when you do that, drink coffee so you can just talk to your friends and you're keeping her from leaving, don't expect decaf when you ask for it. There's a reason you'll be up all night.

We never hold the waitress accountable for low quality food. Instead, I call the restaurant and complain later. I usually get a free meal.

Does anyone else tip when you pick up something at a pizza joint or a sit down place? We do it b/c the poor server still has to run around and grab all that stuff. It's something my wife taught me. I don't do more than $1, but it usually makes their night.

 

[john250]

I learned early that if you date a woman who worked tables, you best tip fairly.

 

[Rafter S]

I understand that the customers who are the most demanding and difficult are often the worst tippers.

 

[Luca Brasi]

I can remember picking her up and having to wait because someone needed some coffee so they could talk. Sidenote-when you do that, drink coffee so you can just talk to your friends and you're keeping her from leaving, don't expect decaf when you ask for it. There's a reason you'll be up all night.

I start to feel bad when I hear stories about how poorly waitresses are paid and how hard they work, etc, and then I hear something like this, and it makes me never want to tip again. Hello, that is often WHY people go out to eat in the first place, to relax and enjoy themselves, and dog forbid sit and talk. I can count on one hand the number of times when I knew that a place was closing and I was keeping them, usually when traveling and we just haven't been able to find somewhere else to eat. Otherwise, how the heck is anyone supposed to know when a waitress' shift ends? Doing some thing like exchanging regular coffee for decafinated is not only pretty low, and nasty, it may be a criminal liability if the customer has a medical condition which doesn't allow them to have cafein.

I usually tip 15%, sometimes 20, and only a few times when I didn't leave anything when it wasn't deserved. There were a few others in which I kicked myself for leaving a tip when it wasn't deserved.

My father was always a good tipper, but as he got older he just started leaving what he thought was a fair amount for the service, without paying attention to the percentage. Once when 4 of us were at lunch at a swanky touristy area he paid, and I didn't even pay attention to what he left as a tip. The bill was about $150 and he left her $20. It was later in the day for lunch, no one else in the place, and we were in and out in less then an hour. She had the nerve to follow us out on to the sidewalk and ask my father if he was not happy with the service, because he left such a small tip. He was mortified from embarassment, as he was one of those who always felt so bad for the hard working waitresses, and wouldn't dream of not treating them well. I was so pizzed off at that effing little wench that he had to pull me back from going in and letting her and her manager have it. He was the last one to ever make a scene. To this day I regret not going back myself later in the day and setting them straight. In get that there are tons of miserable customers when you work in a service industry, but not all working folks are gems either.

 

[Jogeephus]

Does anyone else tip when you pick up something at a pizza joint or a sit down place? We do it b/c the poor server still has to run around and grab all that stuff. It's something my wife taught me. I don't do more than $1, but it usually makes their night.

I have. Not long ago I went to Hardee's and when I got my burger it looked like the one's they advertise on television. It wasn't thrown together but "constructed with care". It was beautiful - and yes I was starving. When I finished I walked to the counter and asked to speak with the buy who made my burger. The cashier almost freaked and called the manager over and asked what the problem was. I told him nothing at all only I just wanted to thank the guy who made my burger for caring and being conscientious in his job and wanted to give him a tip. The manager was shocked and motioned the guy over - who had been standing there looking like a deer in the headlights - and I handed him a ten and thanked him personally and left.

I don't know why I did this other than I had been in his shoes myself and its not many who will go the extra mile when working a thankless job and for some reason I just wanted to let him know he was appreciated.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Gave a 68% tip today.... at sonic. It was raining and didn't seem appropriate to make her bring my change back.