When I was growing up, I always though the rule of thumb was a 15% tip for breakfast / lunch and a 18% tip for dinner. Recently, however, I’m wondering if my rule of thumb has become outdated and that guidelines for the appropriate tip amount, like almost everything else, have inflated.
Last Saturday, boyfriend and I went to a pizza restaurant where we received okay service. The server was somewhat inattentive and slow, but she was nice enough and the pizza was delicious. Boyfriend generously treated me to dinner and gave a 20%+ tip. I probably would’ve given ~19% (doubled the tax) but no more. Maybe this is another instance of men being better tippers, but maybe I just haven’t kept up with the times.
According to some online research, 20% has become more popular because it’s easier to calculate – just take 10% of the bill and double it. Also, people tend to tip on the total bill, which includes tax. I don’t know if I’m being stingy or what, but I always tip on the pre-tax portion of the bill.
If I receive excellent service, I try to tip 22% to 25%. If I receive good but not outstanding service, I tip 18%-20%. If I receive truly bad service, I STILL tip over 15%. Example: I gave 18% even when boyfriend and I visited a restaurant where we waited 2 hours for our (admittedly delicious) food. But has tip inflation gotten out of hand?
I used to feel pretty good when I tipped 20% – I thought it was a rate that let the server know his/her service is appreciated and recognized. Now, has that percentage become meaningless?
Or am I out of date on the whole tipping scheme?
Is 20% the new 15%? Do you tip 20% for “baseline” service or for “good” service? Is there a convention tipping pre-tax vs. total bill?
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As a current server, I will honestly say I expect 20% and am disappointed when I only get 15%, or even better yet when somebody just flippantly guesses at the amount to tip, not even coming close to the standard. I am good server, I always give great service and I expect the same in my tips. However, people are stingy. They love to spend money on what they eat, but love to pick apart everything little thing a server does so that they can justify leaving a smaller tip.
You must remember, $2.13 is the standard rate of pay for most servers. This barely covers taxes. Not only that, tipping less at lunch is crap. I can't count the number of times I get a $1 tip on a $10 meal. It's the same amount of work and effort, how is it fair that not only do people spend less at lunch, but they tip less? And then, of course, there are the foreigners and teenagers who have no clue what to tip and barely make 10%.
Also, if you sit at a table for an extended period of time, after you are through eating, that's fine, but tip for it. You are taking away business from that server to make another $4, make it up to them.
And I promise you, if you overtip any server, they will appreciate you to no end and you'll have probably made their day. It doesn't take much.
And if something goes wrong with your meal that your server has zero control over, don't take it out of their tip. They can't control the kitchen, they can't control somebody taking the wrong food or somebody dropping their food. If your service is terrible, please try to figure out where the mistake was made before you punish your server by tipping less. Sometimes people just aren't cut out to be servers and they don't do a good job, but sometimes it is truly out of the servers control and it's the servers tips that get the hit.
I'll step off my soapbox now. Sorry for the rant. Feel free to contact me if you ever would like to have a further discussion about this subject.
What I can't understand is the lack of logic here: "If your service is terrible, please try to figure out where the mistake was made before you punish your server by tipping less." HELL NO!
If the FOOD is not great but the service is fine I will not tip less. But if you have a scowl instead of a smile, pretensious attitude, and ignore my requests how is it logical that you still expect a full tip? I agree that paying the servers less than a minimum wage is bull$hit. But this is your risk to take and since I'm paying more for my food to eat out than to make it at home, in the same way, if you want a better tip, provide me with better service.
New America frightens me. Political correctness gone awry, feelings of entitlement everywhere, and now we're expeted to be Freud himself and provide emotional support and understanding to waitresses with PMS or waiters who don't give a damn…
HELL NO!
I tip post-tax (on the entire bill), but 15% is my baseline, not 20. I tip 20% or more only when I’ve had particularly good service, or am in a particularly good mood.
Always tip post-tax. I would say only tip under 20% if you are dissatisfied with the service, and if you have done at least SOMETHING to indicate your displeasure (even having to ask your server for a steak knife, more water, etc. is an indication that s/he was not on the ball).
Obviously if your service is absolutely horrendous you should not feel the need to tip even 15%.
When I waitressed in the 80′s, 10% was a good tip. But in Canada we pay our wait staff min. wage. ($8.00/hr in B.C.) 20% seems bizarre to me.
oh god i hope not i really can’t afford it !
For regular run-of-the-mill service, I tip 15%. For great service, and restaurants that i’m loyal to, I tip 20%. Nothing more. I also tip post-tax. I’ve also noticed, when the bill is small (around $10, I tend to tip a bit more percentage-wise than if I were to get a $100 bill).
I must say though, I really, really hate tax.
One needs to remember that servers make only $2-3 per hour and for the most part receive absolutely no benefits. 20% is standard here in middle America (Indiana) and it is always calculated post-tax. I also think tipping on a different scale for lunch is a bit misguided, servers who work the lunch shift typically make far less money in a given period of time than those who work the dinner service because restaurants typically don’t have as many diners and patrons do not spend as much on alcohol. Please, be kind to those in the service industry, it’s not an easy job.
I tip 20% as a baseline, with more for great service.
I don’t think I always did that–tipping practices in New York are more generous. But I’ve worked in food service and I’ve always been a generous tipper.
And DEFINITELY tip post-tax.
I use the application on my phone to figure out the tip, but I usually tip around 20%. My husband and I definitely overtip a lot of the time, but we also use coupons and Restaurant.com gift cards a lot. We obviously tip on the pre-coupon total but then usually add on because it was still really cheap.
Why post-tax? My friends and I are all pretty fair tippers (i.e. 18%-20%+), but we all calculate on pre-tax amount. For instance, taxes recently went up 1.5% in my county, so the bill automatically went up too. But it’s not really a reflection of service, per se. I do understand that servers depend on tips as a livelihood, and I respect good service. I see 20%+ pre-tax as 19% or 20% total bill, both figures which are within acceptable guidelines to me.
p.s. I really am sorry if I came off like a total bitch. I’m really a lovely person, this is just a hot issue and I couldn’t control the passion.
in oregon, servers get min wage (not the $2/hr thing). i round the bill up to the nearest $10 and do 20% because i’m lazy and we don’t have tax, so those double-the-tax rules don’t work. i think 20% is the norm now. i almost never leave less; and only when it’s a rude waiter/waitress. although if they are slammed, and just short with me, then still 20% because i assume it’s a crappy day and others are shorting them. if it’s a food screw up, that doesn’t change my tip either because they have so little control over the kitchen.
and one more thing… that extra few bucks has pretty much guaranteed AWESOME service at every restaurant i go back to. sometimes even a free beer or something. waiters/waitresses have great memories.
@Typographysnob
I completely agree! I have never worked as a server, but my sister has been supporting herself on being a waitress (and going to school full time). Shes been doing it for 4 years now. What you make per-hour in a restaurant is almost nothing after taxes.
She works 35-38 hours a week and only makes about $400 every MONTH. What she brings home in tips is what keeps her going.
Plus, when you treat a server well they always throw in a little extra.
I generally tip 20% regardless. But I used to be a server, so I feel like my tipping is based on previous horrors with bad tippers.
20% is my standard, but I will adjust it depending on the service or the amount of the check. I was always taught to tip on the pre-tax amount.
My husband and I generally tip 20%, pretty much across the board. Unless the service is terrible, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t tip as well. AND we have a few places that we truly love, and so then we super over tip.
Tipping pre-tax is cheap. Tip post tax. I usually tip 20%, but I have no problems tipping less if I have to wait for a drink or water after I’ve asked for it, or the waiter/waitress is unattentive. I would never tip less than 10% EVER.
If you’ve ever had waiter friends you will soon be guilted into tipping at least 20%. In fact many of them considered 20% stingy. They would hate my grandma, who never tipped more than $2! I think she forgot about inflation, I used to sneak back to the table and leave a few more dollars. I only tip 15% for bad service, nothing more. Why should bad service be rewarded.
I guess I always tip after tax. I never thought of it that way before, but I’m going to look at my bills more carefully now! I tend to tip around 15%, more if it’s really good service, less if it sucks and twice in my life I have left nothing. And before anyone gets up in arms, I was a waitress in college so I do know what it takes to deliver good service and these two people? They weren’t getting it. But generally I tip 15%. I tend to tip more if it’s cash and less if it’s my debit card. Weird.
That is how the waiters make their living from your tip, it’s like going to valet your car for free in a city and stiffing the valet(it’s just not fair). A lot of restaurants require the server to tip out the bartender, food runner, and busboy. So when its all said in done if you leave a small tip they get even less for dealing with you. Just something to keep in mind.
Before I start on my rant… I was a server/bartender for several years.
- I think 20% is crap
- I think that server’s who EXPECT 20% no matter how good of a job they do, have inflated ego’s, or some other such ‘I deserve it’ ego issue
If I have excellent service, excellent food, excellent everything, then yeah – I would tip 20% or better.
If I don’t, then you’re not getting it. You didn’t do your job.
I have no problem leaving just a few bucks (for their tip out to kitchen ect) if service was crap. If you don’t make eye contact with me, aren’t pleasant, take too long,… whatever… if you putz around and chat with your friends instead of SERVING, then you won’t get 20%.
oh.. I should add that I live in Canada (AB/BC), and our sever’s make between $8.00 – $10.00/hour. It’s still not very good, but it’s better then the $2 or $3 that a few others from the states make.
The washington post food critic recently said in an online chat that he always tips pre-tax. When you think about it, it makes sense. if the food and prices are the same at chain restaurants in different states, why should servers in one be tipped more than servers in the other because of the tax differential? I usually go for about 18-20% pre-tax.
I generally tip 15%; 20% if we’re blown away, 10% if there was a problem.
You are right! 20% has become the new 15%. I thonk it slowly happened over the last 5 or 10 years. Maybe because my friends and I are older and more established in our careers? My husband also uses it as a baseline but always tips way more than I would.
Unless the service was utterly AWFUL (which happened once… when the servers started a good fight. no joke.) I tip 20% post tax. I think anything less than that is insulting. When a server truly goes above and beyond, we tip 30-40%. Pricey, but it happens SO rarely.
I usually tip around 20% of the pre-tax amount of the check for good service. For excellent service, I’ve been known to tip 30%. Especially when I’ve had a few drinks!
I always double the tax and round up to the nearest dollar (or sometimes to whatever will make the total not have change). If the person was good, I’ll add another dollar or so. If not, I’ll reduce it by a dollar or so. Maybe that’s not so good, but I’m not so good at math and the least amount of figuring out of the numbers I have to do, the better!
Also, in CA, tax is at 9.75% these days, so doubling the tax is a pretty decent tip, I think.
@Jill
That makes sense to me. I think the pretax vs. post-tax is a matter of opinion and preference. I haven’t really read any formal guidelines that suggested one way or the other.
@Jessie, @Savings
I think 20% is for “good” service. If a waiter/waitress doesn’t bring over the water or straws for 15 minutes (despite us asking very nicely two or three times), I don’t think a 20% is an automatic given. That’s not “awful” service, to be sure, but it’s not really “good” service either.
@Kim
That’s what I usually do – double the tax (19.5% of pretax bill) as a good but not super service, and then add or deduct from there.
The sales tax in SF in 9.5% so whenever I get good service at a restaurant, I just double the tip which some out to 19%. If I get exceptional service, I have gone as high as 25%. If the service is slow, I will still double the tax because it isn’t the servers fault.
But when I get crappy service from the server themselves (which happens on occasion), I won’t tip. Sounds harsh but why am I going to tip you when you are being an a-hole.
I’m a pre-tax tipping person, given that I’m already paying 15% with my taxes. I’m also in Canada, and wait staff are paid at least minimum wage, and tips normally get split amongst everyone working, or at least that’s the case at the restaurants my friends have worked at. I will tip at least 15% (pending service), but usually round up to the nearest .00 or .50. Though today, I went out for lunch after a morning movie, and the 15% tip would have been around 75 cents, and I don’t feel right about leaving less than at least $1 for a tip.
And, there’s a restaurant that we go to which includes suggested tip amounts at 15%, 18% and 20% – they use the pre-tax amount, and I actually like that they add that, as though they are letting you know reasonable amounts for “good”, “very good” and “great” service.
In New York, I believe the tax rate is about 9%, so I follow the “1.3 rule”, introduced to me by my book club. It works GREAT for large groups. You add up the cost of the items you ordered and multiply by 1.3 to get the amount you should leave (my bookclub always hands out copies of a table that calculates 1.3 times various dollar amounts) – this amounts to about a 20% tip. Rather than worry about 1.3 when I’m on my own, I just add 1/3 of the sum of the things I ordered, and then round down to the nearest dollar. It’s really easy and fairly generous.
I’m in the US and tip 20% post-tax unless you are complete crap–then it’s going down. I mean legitimate crap. Not when it’s the kitchen’s fault, some kind of error that is out of servers hands. I mean unattentive, standing around chatting, forgetting to get what your asked for–the list goes on. But..I am going to sum it up like this:
EVERYONE ON THIS EARTH SHOULD WAIT TABLES AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIFE. THEN THEY WOULD HAVE A CLUE ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES AND HOW/WHAT IT MEANS TO TIP OTHERS;)
We usually double the tax. At our 8.25 tax rate that means we’re tipping about 16% on the PRE tax amount. I’ve never thought about this before. Good post!
you have got to be kidding me. this is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever read here-and I’m so frugal I DO dig in trash (for Coke reward points).
“when I was growing up”? do you still wear hairstyles that were fashionable growing up? do you try to negotiate with the grocery store manager for the price of milk and newspapers similar to when you were growing up? because that is JUST as ridiculous as assuming that while the cost of living has skyrocketed that you are ok with keeping a 15%-18% tip guide.
I have never been a server and I also live in one of the VERY few states that affords servers minimum wage, but I have never left less than $3 on a single person meal or 25%. It’s a matter of being classy, and an understanding human being.
@sheeatscrayons
Thanks for stopping by! I tip around 20% for my meals, and I think that’s an acceptable tipping range. It’s great that you tip 25% though, I’m sure the waitstaff all appreciate it. As far as the cost of living / inflation, I’m assuming that the cost of meals have gone up along with COL and therefore the percentage tip which are based on meals have also gone up. That’s why I say that the tipping “percentage” has inflated (no good/bad judgments there), as opposed to the tipping “amount” (which will naturally increase even if the percentage stayed the same, by a virtue of the price of meals increasing).