Tipping etiquette

[Hawkmoon]

I never order food for take out, except occasionally at McDonald's or Burger King, so I don't know. Is it customary to leave the same tip for take-out that you would leave for full service at a sit-down restaurant?

https://wsvn.com/news/local/outback-server-given-no-tip-on-churchs-735-order-fired-over-facebook-post/

Server at an Outback posted a complaint that she didn't get a tip when a local church picked up a large take-out order. According to her, servers should expect a minimum 15% tip for take-out as well as for full service. That doesn't make any sense to me, and I wouldn't have thought that picking up a take-out order rates a 15% tip. On this order, that would be a $110 tip.

Sure, if she helped carrry it out to the car I'd probably tip something ... but more like $10, not $110.

Am I way off base here?

[Ben]

I never know what's right anymore, so I can only say how I do it.

If I see a "tips appreciated" jar at the local hole in the wall, pizza place (local, not chain), etc., I usually drop in any loose change they give me back plus like a buck or two. That includes the holes in the walls where they call your "for here' order and you can sit down and eat. Certainly not the 20% I leave at a full service sit down place (if service is good).

I get Chinese takeout once in a while and have never seen a tip jar at their takeout counter and have never left a tip. I wouldn't expect to do it in an Outback or whatever either if I was just picking up an order. If they had a tip jar at the Outback, I might be inclined to put in a buck or two, but not a full "sit down tip". Again, that's just me.

[Perd Hapley]

Weird. I thought tipping was only expected for table service or delivery. (Come to think of it, table service is a form of delivery.)

[Fly320s]

I don't tip for carry out food.  And in general, I tip for very few things.  Tipping happens way too often here in the states.

[Grebnaws]

When I pick food up it's specifically because I didn't want to tip for delivery or table service. Sometimes I tip a buck or two for the added expense of takeout containers, or for ordering off the menu at my favorite strip mall Chinese restaurant.

[T.O.M.]

My wife worked her way through school waiting tables.  She's really tough on tips.  She complains  that I overtook.  That said, for take out,  I may throw a buck or two in the jar if the staff was nice, or if it's a place I go to often (because tips and a friendly attitude get better service.)  At sit down places, I tip well beyond 15% for good service.  Why? I know from my wife how hard they work, and how little pay they get.

[sumpnz]

I don't tip.

[zxcvbob]

I usually tip $1 for call-in carry-out orders, and at food trucks.  I don't tip at fast food places like McDonald's, even if there's a tip jar.   I tip generously at sit-down restaurants.  I dunno if I'm doing it right, but it works for me.

For an $800 carry-out?  I'd probably tip $10, or $20 if I was feeling unusually generous.

[lupinus]

For take out? No I don't tip. I'm a good tipper, but I don't tip where it's not due.

If the lady was taken off of her service job, waiting tables where tips are considered a part of her usual/expected compensation, and onto a production job of preparing take out and not compensated accordingly it sounds like her beef should be with her employer. Not the folks who placed the order.

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[bedlamite]

If it comes in foam or cardboard that I have to clean up, no tip. If they pick up the dirty dishes, then I'll tip.

[KD5NRH]

And in general, I tip for very few things.  Tipping happens way too often here in the states.

This.  If you have a problem with your pay rate, take it up with your employer, not the customers.  I'll tip, sometimes well over 20% for good service, but mediocre service might get a buck just so it's clear I didn't forget.  Outright bad service without a clear reason, (or when I can clearly see another table receiving excellent service) and I've chipped in a handful of pennies to spell out "F___ YOU" on the table.

[HankB]

I normally tip 15% and up for good service at a sit-down restaurant. If I have a coupon, I base the tip on what the meal would have cost WITHOUT the coupon, again, depending on the service.

I don't tip at fast food places where I pick up my food at the counter, bring it to my table, and am expected to dump the tray contents in the trash as I'm going out. Ditto with carry out.

I'll give the carhop a tip if I'm eating at a place (e.g., Sonic) where they bring the food out to the car.  Although I haven't eaten at one of those in quite a while, as there are better (less bad?) fast food choices around.

RARELY I'll deliberately leave low or even zero tip due to bad service, making due allowance for how crowded the place is. But then I avoid going back for a LONG time.

[230RN]

I became a pretty good tipper after I was a cab driver, but not in anything but a sit-down restaurant and for some other services.

When Wife1 and I first came to Colorado from NYC, I started to tip a kid who helped bring our groceries out to the car --standard in Noo Yawk --and he asked what the quarter was for.  (Equivalent to about a buck and a half today.)  I was a little shocked.  When I explained it was a tip, he said something to the effect of "We don't get tips for that."  As far as I know, that's still the case for that kind of service.

Terry

[K Frame]

When I pick food up it's specifically because I didn't want to tip for delivery or table service. Sometimes I tip a buck or two for the added expense of takeout containers, or for ordering off the menu at my favorite strip mall Chinese restaurant.

Pretty much this.

[grampster]

I tip 20+ % for sit down dinner.  Same at a bar.  A couple bucks for a $20.00 take out pizza etc.  My feeling about tipping is that if I can afford to go out to eat, I should take care of those who serve me.

[Jamisjockey]

Good to great service gets a good to great tip.
Any service that requires minimal effort, such as takeout, gets a minimal tip.
Anything that is assembly line, like fast casual or fast food...no tip.
I will tip other service workers such as drivers.  But they need to provide a service.  Jerks don't get tips.

[K Frame]

"Jerks don't get tips."

So, you never get a tip from the captain of the Dallas to DC L-1011 then.

Understood...




Only a couple of times have I ever been so pissed off that I've not left a tip, or left an extremely minimal tip. If I'm that aggravated about the service, I always talk with the manager.

I can be a real SOB, but I try very hard to be pleasant and polite to servers. First off, theirs is a tough job. Second, they can spit in your food.

[MechAg94]

Even in lean months I am not so low on funds I can't tip well.  A few dollars here and there won't break my budget or bother me.  I generally start at 20% often a little more.  If I can't afford to do that, I can just make something at home.  Same as Mike, I am rarely upset enough not to leave a tip.  I think the last time it happened we were completely ignored except to drop off the food.

My older brother waited tables getting through college.  He is super nice to anyone who might be handling his food no matter where.  He also would never consider sending it back if there was an issue. 

[Perd Hapley]

I can be a real SOB, but I try very hard to be pleasant and polite to servers. First off, theirs is a tough job. Second, they can spit in your food.

Same here.

[Hawkmoon]

I guess my age is showing (again). First, thanks for the confirmation that a take-out order doesn't automatically require a tip of 15% or more.

Beyond that, I'm old enough that I remember when a 10 percent tip was a good tip. Then I woke up one day and suddenly 20 percent was considered the bare minimum, and (by some reports) somewhat miserly. When and how did that happen? In my wife's native country, 10 percent is still considered a very handsome tip.

I go along (reluctantly) with 20 percent for a sit-down meal in a full-service restaurant, if the server is pleasant and moderately attentive. Maybe a buck in the tip jar at a Chinese take-out. The middle ground is the Chinese buffet. I have to get my own food, but the server brings the beverage and clears the plates between trips back to the food supply. For those I typically tip 10 percent.

[makattak]

I tip 15%.

I'm sorry, but as prices go up, I don't see why the percent of the tip has to go up as well. I'll stick with the 15% I've learned.

For excellent service (or if I'm feeling generous), I'll do 20%.

And for takeout, I'll generally tip nothing. If you want a tip, a significant service needs to be provided and "I boxed up your food" doesn't cut it.

Further, I have no idea if the person ringing me up and handing me the bags did anything other than punch numbers into the cash register.

The one exception: for the local mom and pop Vietnamese place we frequent, we do tip on takeout, but not as much as when we are eating in. Since there's only 3 people who ever work there, I'm fairly certain that they provided all the service.