Also, with 20 years experience in the business the standard tip out practise is 10% of my tips to the bar, 10% to the busboys and 5% to the maitre d. Since when did we start having to tip out the dishwashwers or prep cooks? I dont feel that I am better than anyone but I have a set of skills that a dishwashwer does not. In many restuarants that is where you start and work your way up to server. Today, everything has to be “fair” If the dishwasher or prep cook could do my job they would. A journeymen carpenter gets paid more than an apprentice.

My advice to waiters dealing with this weird trend of tipping out to every employee of the restuarant, quit. There are plenty of good establishments who appreciate the rare breed of qualified servers and dont engage in that sort of nonsense.

I generally tip more if I never have to leave my car – especially when the weather is bad (I live in MI), however going in to pick up the food myself always leaves me unsure.

I once worked Friday and Saturday nights at a restaraunt packaging all the carry-out orders, where I was paid a whopping $2/hr (it was quite a while ago). In addition to answering phones, taking orders, packaging them and getting them to the cashier before the customer arrived, I had to make up all the different sizes of sauce cups, noodles, cookies etc., that would be needed to carry the restaraunt through to my next Friday shift. Oh – I also had to help the waitstaff get their sides plated if they were really busy, and if the hostess / cahsier was busy I had to fill in seating people. This restaraunt did not pratice tip-outs to my knowledge, so in my two years if there were ever any tips left I never saw a dime of them. It would have made my day if someone had given me one – no matter how small – and that’s the main reason I tip for in-store carry-out service. But I’ll never know who actually deserves or gets that money!

I didn’t expect to average 20% when I moved home. My style of service didn’t change, I didn’t become a worse server, if anything I am better because I have not jumped through the restaurant revolving door. Sure I was spoiled, but things also cost less here at home than they did in nyc, I dont spent $5.50 on a gallon of orange juice anymore, ya know?

Oh, and to the guy that had a problem with auto-grat on large parties, next time you take your 5 buddies out to eat, do the math on 18% percent of your bill BEFORE tax… that is how much you are giving your server… which actually works out to be right around 15%. So drop your fit about automatically having to give your server 18% if you don’t think they deserve it.

And one more thing, next time you go out to eat, take a look around and especially on a busy night, notice that you are not the only table in your servers section, chances are they are waiting on at least 3 other tables. And try to further notice the progress of the tables around you, if there is a table on either side of you with only menus on the table, chances are the server just got sat, twice, maybe even three times all at once, and imagine having to go get drinks for 12 people all at once, and lemme tell you those trays are not light… your soda glass without anything in it is a lb.

Yes, where I work currently calculates 3% of my sales and I am required to tip that out every shift I work. Although I think that other staff should receive their fair share, this allows for a very unsavory thing to occur. On more than one occasion in just the past year, I have seen a server go home with less than they came in with. Yes, servers are also protected by minimum wage laws, but when someone is counting on what most would consider pocket change to feed their family for one or to more nights, this can be extremely disheartening.

I personally treat every guest of mine with the exact same courtesy and attention(as confirmed by my coworkers and management staff). Yet my tips vary greatly. At least in my case, I tend to therefor believe that tipping is largely due to the guests’ moods or preconceived notions about what is proper in this setting. That is why the debate is mostly about the standards of tipping and not “how bad service in restaurants is lately”. I’ll let that last comment sink in.

18% on a table of six or more is mandatory, by the way, often in places where teenagers and college students frequent. It is a way to protect the waitstaff from kids who order a million things and don’t tip. Have you ever waited on six peoples every need for two hours? It’s no fun. You should be tipping anyway with that kind of demand, who cares if it’s on your bill or not?

Food prices increase. As they do, tabs go up. Dinner out becomes more and more expensive (just basic economics, I know, but just to make a point…) When the bill is higher, the server’s tip goes up. There is no need to increase the percentage. I don’t see why I should be expected to pay 15% tips when there is no clear reason for the standard to have changed.

The “tip” has become a hidden FEE.

In NC where I live and a few other states, the servers make slightly more than $2 an hour, and then are still expected to pay out their tips to the bussers, bartenders, and hostesses. I even worked in a restaurant that split tips with the kitchen as well.

The restaurant industry is always fighting high employee turnover and employee theft….hmmmm wonder why?